Keto Creole Dirty Rice
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Hey everyone! This Keto Cajun Dirty Rice is so good that it can stand on it’s own or play second fiddle as a side dish. It’ll liven up any meal and it’s even better the next day for lunch.
In traditional dirty rice hamburger meat and sometimes chicken livers are used.
In this version I am only using sausage but feel fee to use ground beef if you like it that way. Just make sure that at least half of the meat is sausage to get the right flavor. It’s fantastic and can be spiced up as much (or as little) as you like.
Now, if you are already rolling your eyes at yet another Keto Cauliflower substitute you can rest assured that you CANNOT taste the cauliflower because there is so much flavor.
Lets get started. This is a simple Keto Dirty Rice dish and wont take more than 30 minutes from start to finish….
If you are ricing your own cauliflower than let’s start there.
Ricing your own fresh cauliflower is SO easy. You just need to cut it into reasonable sized chunks and pulse in a blender or food processor.
I use my blender because it can go in the dishwasher and is less has less pieces to get the job done. This is the one I use. It was inexpensive and has put up with years of my abuse. It was a great buy and recommend it to anyone.
I recommend this method because it’s less expensive than buying pre-riced cauliflower and has more of a firm “rice texture” than the bagged stuff.
Still, I understand if you are short on time. Ironically, the more that I blog about food the less time I have to make spend in the kitchen fussing. No judgement here if you don’t want to mess with ricing your own. Your dinner will still be fantastic!
If you are buying riced cauliflower:
Choose refrigerated over frozen cauliflower rice if it’s available. Frozen veggies are softer when they thaw and you are really going for firm here.
If you are going to make your own blackened seasoning than you should make it ahead of time.
I included this insanely easy Cajun Blackened Seasoning recipe below the dirty rice recipe if you want to make your own. It’ll save you money if you make a lot of Cajun food. Plus, Summer is here and its tasty on barbecued meat.
Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium.
You can do this while you are ricing the cauliflower. I like to use spicy sausage but that is up to you.
Ready?
Gather all of your stuff together:
You’ll need to move quickly once your pan is hot. Having everything in one place is going to be important.
I have had a cast iron wok for years and love it because I know the temperature will stay even and no nasty “non-stick” chemicals will end up in my family’s food.
- Choose your bell pepper and dice.
Green bell pepper is typically used in this dish. But, I like to add color and chose to use frozen bell peppers. I diced them in my blender to save time. (See, I told you that thing was handy.)
- Once your sausage is browned add the bell peppers to the pan with the diced celery.
They should be slightly translucent but still have a little crunch to them.
- Traditional Cajun rice contains white onion.
I opted out of this because onions have sneaky carbs in them. I love green onion and they are lower in carbs…as a very smart person in our Facebook Group pointed out.
So I use those and throw them in after the pan has been turned off. if you decide to add onion to your mix just remember to adjust the macros if you are on a very strict Keto or carb restricted diet.
- Once the meat and veggies are cooked, add the cauliflower and seasonings.
Try to let the cauliflower rice cook on each side before turning. Resist the temptation to stir it too often. Your rice will be much better, firmer and have the little brown bits that make it taste “blackened” or “Cajun”.
- Serve with additional green onions or parsley for garnish.
If you are reading this you have probably already discovered how far cauliflower rice recipes can go in curbing your rice cravings while on the Keto or Paleo Diet. It’s not exactly the same as the “real thing” but by now you know that eating a bowl full of white rice is just like eating a bowl full of sugar.
The big bonus is that this dish tastes really good. And, it did take me a while to even “try” it. But once I had this Keto Fried Rice I was hooked on exchanging cauliflower rice for white rice..
The other recipe that I still can’t believe worked out is this low carb potato salad...or as I like to call it Faux-tato Salad.
That’s it for the Keto Cajun Rice Recipe
I know that you are going to love it but as always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments below.
And, if you have any terrific variations to share with the Keto Community we would love to here from you.
Or, if you are looking for something to serve for dessert check out these low carb options!
Cheers Everyone!
Brandy
Keto Cajun Dirty Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Ground Sausage I like it spicy but this is up to you.
- 16 oz Cauliflower Rice I just use a large head. See post if you are buying pre-riced cauliflower.
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1/2 cup Bell Pepper Finely chopped ( I use frozen)
- 1 Cup Celery Finley chopped
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 2 tsp Blackened Seasoning Or to taste. Recipe to make your own posted below this recipe.
- 1/2 tsp Salt Or to taste
- 1/2 cup Green onion Finely chopped and to taste
- 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes *Optional and to taste.
- Fresh parsley *Optional and to taste
- 1 tsp Allulose (Optional, see post) Adds the "restaurant" taste to the dish. See post for info about this addition.
Instructions
To make your own riced cauliflower ~ Skip if you are buying refrigerated or frozen.
- Chop cauliflower head into reasonable sized pieces.
- Pulse in short bursts in food processor or blender until it is "rice sized". DON'T PUREE
- It should look something like this.
Dirty Cajun Rice
- Brown the sausage in a large frying pan or wok.
- Add Bell Pepper and Celery to the sausage and cook for 2-3 minutes until the veggies are cooked but still a bit crunchy and bright in color.
- Add cauliflower and all seasonings except garnish (Parsley) and cook for 4-5 minutes until hot. Don't overcook the cauliflower or it won't have the "rice" texture. It's a personal choice as to how soft you want it.
- Turn off heat and stir in green onion.
- Garnish with additional green onion, parsley and hot sauce as desired.
Notes
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Nutrition
Make your own Blackened Seasoning…
0 net carbs per teaspoon
Cajun Blackened Seasoning
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper Or to taste
Readers Made These Low Carb Recipes Next:
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this site is provided as a courtesy. I use the values from the USDA Food Composition charts. But, I am human so if anything ever looks off to you on this or ANY site, please feel free to make your own calculations.
