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I love this Bojangles dirty rice recipe due to loads of sausage and spicy flavors. I think it's a pretty good rendition, and you can create the amount of spice that you and your family like.
If you don't know what Bojangles is - it's a fast food restaurant chain that specializes in Cajun foods.
Chicken and biscuits, dirty rice, and pinto beans, for example. Typically spicy and all about tasty! Just consider that this is a dirty rice recipe that you will love if you like spicy comfort foods.
What is Dirty Rice?
Dirty rice is simply rice that has lots of "stuff" in it to make it flavorful. Typically with sausage, but you could also use ground beef, pork, or turkey.
Lots of spicy flavors along with bell peppers and onions make this dirty rice special.
Add the rice of your choice, but I like a brown rice type since it adds a lot more flavor. But you can also use white rice or wild rice if you like.
You can get your rice cooking first before starting your meat if it's a long-cooking rice.
Sausage, bell pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic, and paprika all add wonderful flavor to make this recipe authentic, hearty, and delicious!
Dirty rice is great as a main course with a side salad, or you can serve it up as a side dish along with pinto beans and corn bread! Also great for potlucks.
What You'll Need
3 cups cooked rice
1 pound ground breakfast sausage
½ large red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if desired)
1 Tablespoon garlic, minced (about 3 large cloves)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or sweet if you want less spicy)
½ teaspoon black pepper
How to Make
In a large heavy skillet, cook sausage until browned (about 10 minutes).
Remove all but about 2 Tablespoons fat.
To oil in pan on medium heat, add bell pepper, onion, garlic, cayenne, paprika, and black pepper and stir.
Cook 10 minutes or until onions are translucent and soft.
Add cooked rice and reduce heat to low.
Stir and heat 5 more minutes (uncovered).
Tips
I like to use brown rice or mixed rice for richer flavor, but you can certainly use white rice - even the quick version - for this recipe. Use whatever rice you have on hand or whatever you like. It will be tasty and fabulous!
For the sausage, use the ground sausage that you prefer. If you like spicy - go for it! If you like mild - that's great! This recipe is very adaptable to various tastes and styles of cooking.
Just be aware that adding the cayenne pepper and smoked paprika will make the dish spicier than just your sausage alone.
My sausage was fairly mild, so the cayenne took the heat up a notch. If you use spicy sausage, you may want to leave the cayenne out.
And, since smoked paprika is spicier than sweet paprika, you may choose to use sweet depending on how spicy your sausage is and how spicy you want your dirty rice to be.
I hope you and your family love this copycat Bojangles Dirty Rice recipe. Don't forget to share, print, and save to your Pinterest for making soon.
And let me know how yours turns out and what type of sausage and rice you used in the comments below. Did you spice it up or make it mild? I want to know!
Dirty Rice and Beans
If you want to make this dish even more hearty, you can add a can of drained black beans (or other beans of choice).
Bojangles doesn't add beans to their recipe, but the beans make a great addition to an already fabulous recipe when you want to switch things up.
Dirty rice and beans is a great, filling main course dish that my whole family loves! You have your meat, beans, rice, and seasonings - all that's missing is bread and a side salad or green vegetable.
You can adapt the beans that your family prefers. I thought black beans would add a nice contrasting color and flavor to this recipe - that's why I chose them.
However, you can certainly add pintos, kidney beans, or black eyed peas if you'd like.
Let me know in the comments if you made your dirty rice with beans or without!
More Dinner Recipes to love:
Tuna and Rice Casserole (on the stove top)
Ground Beef Rice Casserole with Zucchini
Panda Express Fried Rice Recipe (copycat)
Chicken Broccoli Casserole with Rice (One Pot Meal)
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (with mushrooms)
Rice and Beef Tips (hearty & flavorful)
Bojangles Dirty Rice Recipe (easy copycat)
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked rice , white or brown
- 1 pound breakfast sausage , ground (spicy or mild)
- ½ large red bell pepper , chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 small onion , chopped (about 1 cup)
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper , more if you want extra spicy (optional if sausage is spicy)
- 1 Tbsp garlic , minced
- 1 tsp paprika , smoked or sweet (depending on amount of spice wanted)
- ½ tsp black pepper
Dirty Rice and Beans
- 14.5 ounces canned black beans , drained (optional alternative)
Instructions
- In a large heavy skillet, cook sausage until browned, breaking it up as it cooks (about 10 minutes).
- Remove all but 2 Tablespoons of fat from the pan.
- To the pan, add bell pepper, onion, cayenne, garlic, paprika, and black pepper and stir together.
- With heat on medium, cook for about 10 minutes or until bell pepper is softened.
- Add cooked rice to skillet, reduce heat to low, and stir. Heat 5 minutes or until hot throughout. Serve right away.
Dirty Rice and Beans
- If adding beans, add with the rice at the end. Stir together and heat through before serving.
Nutrition
Don't Forget to Pin for Later!
Moved to Nebraska several years ago and they don't have any Bojangles out here. This really hit the spot! It tastes pretty close to how I remember it. Thanks for the recipe!
Yeah - We moved to Idaho several years ago ourselves. Totally missing those certain Southern restaurants! Great to be able to replicate at home. Thanks for your feedback!
Made this today. Its pretty tasty. It lacks a little salt. Over all very good. I used Jimmy Deen regular breakfast sausage. Instant rice,
Thanks Brian! I tend to add salt on the lower end in order to cater to other's preferences. Too much salt is hard to fix, but you can always add more.
We've used a similar recipe we made up, for a number of years, and we really enjoy it. The only differences are that we add dry ground sage (maybe 1/2 tsp.) and a little chopped fresh parsley (about 2 Tbs.) when we combine the sausage and rice. We don't really measure our ingredients, except that we definitely use a ratio of 2 cups of rice to 1/2 lb of sausage. Anyway, thank you for your take on dirty rice! Cheers!
Thanks for your comment, James! Until I started to share my recipes I didn't measure either, but it's necessary for me now in order to share the results. So when I'm in the kitchen creating, I usually have my notebook handy to write down the quantities. Thanks for sharing your alterations! Blessings to you and yours!
Can I freeze this dish?
Yes, I think it would freeze nicely, Kim!
I love Bojangles dirty rice but theirs does not have beans or carrots in it so would not say this is a true copycat recipe. However may try it for it does look good.
Allison - Thanks for your comment. This recipe does not have carrots - that's red bell pepper. Also, the black beans are an addition at the end for those who want to add them - not in the original.
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try your recipe and I love the idea of adding black beans. Going to try it this weekend. Thank you for sharing.
Hope you loved it like we do, Christi!
I made this today. I never had dirty rice before, but I pinned several recipes over the years. I am not sure why I never made it. It was quick and easy to make.
I used Hot Jimmy Dean sausage. I added extra cayenne and a little salt. We like it spicy. It was really good. I did have to use some olive oil because the sausage didnt have a lot of oil. I also added a cup more rice, hive or take.
Thanks!
Awesome! Your additions sound great!
Sally, I really loved this recipe. 5 stars all the way! Used ground beef instead of sausage. I would recommend this dish. Thank you for sharing!