Learn how to make Instant Pot dirty rice with ground beef, bacon, peppers and Cajun seasoning mix. While the name might not sound appetizing, this dish is all about the flavor! It’s a delicious Creole one-pot recipe the whole family will love. It’s also gluten-free.
What is dirty rice?
If you’ve never heard of or made dirty rice before, here is what you need to know. It’s a popular Creole dish in America’s south and more specifically in the regions of Louisiana. White rice is cooked together with ground beef, pork or chicken, often some liver, as well as bell peppers, celery, onions, and spices. These additions change rice’s color from white to grey or brownish, hence the name ‘dirty rice’. Of course, there is nothing dirty about it and it’s a very delicious and comforting dish. Other names include rice dressing or chicken and rice. It’s a bit like a rice casserole.
Since we love cooking rice in the Instant Pot, it was a no brainer to try making a dirty rice creation in the pressure cooker. It was quick and easy and worked well as a one-pot dish.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE DIRTY RICE
There are many versions of dirty rice with the most traditional recipe featuring ground beef and chicken liver. We decided to go for more of a crowd-pleaser option and used some lovely, salty bacon instead of chicken livers, which are not to everyone’s taste.
Other usual suspects include the trio of onions, celery and bell peppers (you can use any color you like), aromatic garlic, and Cajun or Creole spice mix (we have provided a DIY blend in the recipe notes).
As for rice, long-grain white rice such as Jasmine or Basmati will work great in this dish. And you will need some common garnished like scallions and parsley or cilantro.
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT DIRTY RICE
Using the Instant Pot to make this dirty rice recipe is super simple. There are basically two stages of cooking. Part 1 involved sauteeing and veggies and pre-cooking the beef and bacon slightly. Part 2 is cooking the rice with everything on HIGH pressure for 4 minutes with about 4-5 minutes natural pressure release.
You will find the full list of ingredients, instructions and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below. Here is a handy video for how to make dirty rice in the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Dirty Rice
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Creole
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Instant Pot dirty rice is our version of a popular Creole dish with ground beef, bacon, onions, peppers and celery and a tasty mix of Cajun spices. It’s a one-pot, family-friendly dish that can be served a with a side salad, coleslaw or steamed greens. We used a 6-quart Instant Pot for this recipe.
Ingredients
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1/2 cup diced celery (about 1 large stalk/rib)
1 cup diced red or green pepper (about 1 bell pepper)
3 oz / 90 g streaky bacon, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
0.5 lb / 250 g ground beef (we used 95% meat, 5% fat)
1.25 cups dry Basmati or Jasmine rice, rinsed really well
2 tablespoons Cajun spice mix such as this (or see notes below)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or A1 sauce
350 ml vegetable or chicken stock
Garnishes
A handful of parsley, chopped
1–2 scallions, chopped
Fried shallots like these (optional but adds a lovely flavor and texture)
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot and press the Saute function key. Once hot, add the oil, onions, celery, peppers and bacon and cook for 2 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
- Add garlic and beef and cook for 2 more minutes, breaking the meat apart with a spatula until its color turned from red/pink to greyish.
- Add 1.25 cups of well-rinsed rice, about 2 tablespoons of Cajun spice mix (see notes), a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 350 ml of veggie or chicken stock. Mix through and press Cancel to stop the Saute function.
- Pop the lid on top, lock and make sure the top valve is pointing to Sealing. Press Manual/Pressure Cook and set the time to 4 minutes at HIGH pressure. The Instant Pot will take 5-8 minutes to build up the pressure first. Once the timer is finished, allow about 5 minutes for natural pressure release (NPR) but not much longer as the rice will keep cooking.
- Use the quick release (point the valve to Venting) to let off the remaining pressure and open the lid. Stir through the rice and serve garnished with chopped scallions and parsley. We topped our rice with some fried shallots as well.
Notes
You can use a store-bought Cajun spice mix like this or make your own.
Cajun spice blend
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder or cayenne pepper
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups cooked rice dish
- Calories: 327
- Sugar: 4.4 g
- Sodium: 1469.7 mg
- Fat: 16.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 25.1 g
- Fiber: 1.6 g
- Protein: 18.9 g
- Cholesterol: 52.4 mg
MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES WITH RICE
- Vegetarian Burrito Bowls With Avocado Crema
- Indian Spinach Rice
- Ground Beef & Rice Burritos
- Spanish Rice With Chorizo
- Asparagus & Fennel Risotto
SAVE THIS DIRTY RICE RECIPE TO PINTEREST
Tastes great! but way too spicy for my family’s and I only did 1 tbsp and 1 tsp. If your family isn’t a fan is spice I recommend cutting back on the Cajun seasoning quite a bit. We also swapped out the ground beef for smoked sausage.
★★★★
Can you make this with brown rice? How much time would I need to add?
Brown rice would be 20-22 minutes on HIGH pressure with natural release (depending on how al dente or soft you like the rice)
I made this for supper tonight and it was so good. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Thank you, Sue 🙂
This is one of the tastiest recipes I have ever made in my instant pot!
★★★★★