Dirty Rice with Sausage and Ground Beef (One Pot)
This is classic Southern dirty rice, built on the Cajun vegetable trinity and packed with two kinds of meat. Smoky beef sausage gets browned off first, then the diced peppers and celery soften in that same pan before ground beef joins in to brown and soak up the seasoning. Fold cooked rice through at the end and everything comes together in one pan — the kind of hearty, well-seasoned plate that tastes even better the next day.
The rice move is the part worth copying: none of the rice cooks in this pan. It goes in already done — leftover from the day before or a fresh batch, it works fine both ways — so a container of yesterday's rice in the fridge is all the excuse you need.
There's no onion in my trinity here, either — it's red and green bell pepper, celery, and one whole sweet chili pepper, all diced really nice. Two meats carry it: beef sausage sliced into rounds and browned first, then half a pound of ground beef right behind it. If you want a hearty one-pan dinner on a weeknight, this is that dinner.
Watch me make it — video from my YouTube channel
The recipe
Dirty Rice with Sausage and Ground Beef (One Pot)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced
- 1/2 cup green bell peppers, diced
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 1 sweet chili pepper, broken down and chopped
- beef sausage, sliced into rounds
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- cooked rice (leftover or freshly cooked both work)
- Cajun-style seasoning blend, to taste
- oil, for browning
How to Make It
- Dice 1/2 cup red bell peppers and 1/2 cup green bell peppers.
- Dice 1/2 cup celery.
- Break down and chop 1 sweet chili pepper.
- Combine the peppers and celery as your vegetable trinity and set aside.
- Heat a wok or skillet with a little oil until it's hot enough to brown.
- Brown the beef sausage rounds, then remove and set aside.
- Add the vegetable trinity to the same pan and sauté for about 4 minutes.
- Add 1/2 pound ground beef along with the seasoning.
- Cook and brown the meat for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Return the browned sausage to the pan and mix it in well.
- Fold in the cooked rice until everything is evenly combined.
Curtis's Tips
- Use whichever pan you like best — a wok or a skillet both work here.
- Leftover rice from the day before works just as well as fresh rice, so this is a great way to use up extra rice.
- Season to taste; a Cajun-style blend rounds out all that meat and the trinity nicely.
Why this works
Four turns, one pan — that's the whole method here. The sausage rounds brown first and come out, so the trinity gets that same pan to itself for about four minutes. The ground beef goes in next with the seasoning and browns for another three to four minutes, then the sausage comes back and gets mixed in really well. The cooked rice stirs through last, once everything else is already browned, softened, and seasoned — even the rice was cooked before this pan ever got hot.
- Beef sausage — in the pan twice: browned alone at the start, folded back in near the end.
- Cooked rice — day-old or fresh both work; it just needs a final stir.
FAQ
Can I use leftover rice?
Yes — rice from the day before works just as well as a fresh batch. It goes in fully cooked as the last step and only needs a stir through at the end, so it's a great way to use up extra rice.
Do I need to wash the rice first?
No raw rice ever hits this pan, so there's no rinsing step in this one. You're starting from rice that's already cooked — leftover or fresh — and stirring it in at the very end.
What seasonings go in?
I don't read the blend out loud in the video — the full lineup is in the caption box under it on YouTube. Season to taste as you go; a Cajun-style blend rounds out the two meats and the trinity nicely.
Do I need a wok?
No — I use a wok, but a skillet does the same job; grab whichever you prefer. Just get it hot enough to brown the sausage first.
Estimated nutrition, per serving (recipe makes about 4 servings): ~655 calories · 25 g protein · 39 g fat · 50 g carbs. Computed from the ingredient list using standard reference values — an estimate, not a lab analysis; your exact brands and portions will vary.
