This Cajun Dirty Rice is our new and improved, slimming friendly version of one of our most popular recipes this year!  You could call this… “Filthy” Rice!

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff in the blurb 👍

Thousand of you have made our Dirty Rice, and we’re inundated with questions about it each week. One of the most frequently asked questions, is “can I use Beef mince with it, rather than Pork?”.

You can, but we think that the combination of flavours needed to be adjusted ever so slightly. So here we are, this is Cajun Dirty Rice, using Beef mince.

You don’t need to use the ingredients that we say… you can use what ever vegetables you like. You could use baby corn, courgette, celery, broccoli or even cauliflower!

We have lots of tasty, slimming friendly rice recipes for you to try if you like this Cajun Dirty Rice;

• Dirty Rice
• Savoury Rice
• Nando’s Spicy Rice
• Mexican Rice
• Fakeaway Fried Rice

How many Calories are in this Cajun Dirty Rice?

Each portion of this Cajun Dirty Rice is only 369 calories, This means it falls into our Everyday Light recipe category. You can find all of our other Everyday Light recipes here.

This recipe is great if you’re following a calorie controlled diet, and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers. 

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. If your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

What diets is this Cajun Dirty Rice suitable for?

This Cajun Dirty Rice recipe is suitable if you’re gluten free as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions; 

• Stock pots/cubes
• Worcestershire Sauce

You could also enjoy this Cajun Dirty Rice if you’re dairy free. 

Please make sure to double, and triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

How Weight Watchers friendly is this Cajun Dirty Rice recipe?

This recipe is just 8 Points per portion for those following the WW plan, a huge saving on takeaway fried rice dishes!

How to make Cajun Dirty Rice

This dish is really simple to make, here’s a summary;

• Cook the rice according to the packet with stock and a bayleaf, and then set aside to cool.
• Cook the mince, onions and bacon in a frying pan and add the seasoning.

• Add the carrots, mushrooms, peppers and stock, cooking until the peppers soften.
• Add the cooked rice and spring onion and stir.

• Season to taste and serve.

What should you should serve with Cajun Dirty Rice?

This dish works well as a meal in itself, but if you’d like to serve it with something how about one of these options?

• Chicken Kebab
• Chicken Gyros Kebab
• Spiralized Apple and Beetroot Salad
• Side Salad

Whatever accompaniment you choose, don’t forget to account for the extra calories and/or other nutritional values!

Do you need any special ingredients to make Cajun Dirty Rice?

There isn’t anything special you need to make this Cajun Dirty Rice, though you will need some Cajun Seasoning.

There are different options available in most supermarkets. We used the Tesco version which was pretty mild, but you should probably taste yours and adjust the amount you add to your tastes! 

Like your Cajun Dirty Rice a little milder, or want to feed it to the little ones? Then cut down on the Cajun, and add it little by little.

If you forgot to pick up some Cajun spice mix at the shops, we also have instructions of how to make your own here.

You can also remove the fat and tails from back bacon rather than buying bacon medallions.. Trim it off with scissors before cooking so that the fat doesn’t make it into the dish!

Can you cook Cajun Dirty Rice another way?

This dish doesn’t take long and works best in a pan on the hob. We wouldn’t recommend the slow cooker or pressure cooker for this one!

How do you know when Cajun Dirty Rice is cooked?

Once the Cajun Dirty Rice is cooked there won’t be any excess liquid and the vegetables will have softened. 

The dish takes a total of around 30 minutes to cook on the hob.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe. 

How long can you keep Cajun Dirty Rice in the fridge?

As we all know you can get food poisoning from eating reheated rice, but, it’s not actually the reheating that can cause issues, it is, in fact, the way that the rice has been stored beforehand where the problem begins.

Rice can contain spores that are resistant to heat and can survive the cooking process.

If cooked rice is left standing at room temperature these spores can grow into bacteria. At this point, the bacteria can be destroyed by reheating the rice thoroughly.

You should remember to do the following if you’re going to keep leftover rice:

• Cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) then put it in the fridge immediately. You can split larger portions up into smaller batches to cool quicker.
• Reheat and use any leftover rice (stored in the fridge) within one day.
• When you reheat any rice, always check it is steaming hot all the way through.
• Don’t reheat cooked rice more than once.

Can I freeze Cajun Dirty Rice?

As when keeping rice in the fridge, make sure to do the following if you plan to freeze it:

• Cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) then freeze it immediately. You can split larger portions up into smaller batches to cool quicker.
• Freeze as soon as the rice is cold.
• When you reheat any rice, always check it is steaming hot all the way through.
• Don’t reheat cooked rice more than once.

How do I reheat Cajun Dirty Rice?

From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.

From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until piping hot.

For more information about reheating rice please take a look at the NHS website.

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As the name suggests, this book is entirely focused on meals you can make every day that all come in at 400 calories or less…INCLUDING accompaniments!

There will be 100 NEW & EXCLUSIVE recipes for you to enjoy that are easy, delicious and make slimming hassle-free.

As ever, all the recipes have been tried and tested by our lovely army of recipe testers to ensure that they are amazing. Check out our cookbook page for more information!

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