Cajun Rice

About This Recipe

Cajun rice is the boldly seasoned rice pot of south Louisiana: long-grain rice toasted in fat with the Cajun trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper, then simmered in stock with paprika, cayenne, garlic, and thyme until every grain is stained russet and packed with flavor. It sits somewhere between a simple side and a meal — add smoked sausage or leftover chicken and it becomes dinner. Unlike its cousin dirty rice, it skips the chicken livers, making it the everyday workhorse of Cajun home cooking. The keys are toasting the raw rice for nuttiness and resisting the urge to stir while it steams.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1.5 cupslong-grain white rice(rinsed briefly)
• 2 tbspvegetable oil or butter
• 1 mediumyellow onion(finely diced)
• 2 stalkscelery(finely diced)
• 1 mediumgreen bell pepper(finely diced)
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1.5 tspCajun seasoning (Tony Chachere's)
• 1 tspsmoked paprika
• 0.25 tspcayenne pepper
• 0.5 tspdried thyme
• 2.75 cupschicken stock(hot)
• 4scallions(sliced; plus fresh parsley, for finishing)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare

   Finely dice one onion, two celery ribs, and one green bell pepper, and mince three garlic cloves. Rinse the rice briefly and drain well, and measure your stock and spice blend so the cooking moves without pauses.

2. 2

   Cook

   Heat oil or butter in a heavy pot over medium heat and sauté the trinity for 6 to 8 minutes until soft and lightly browned at the edges. Add garlic and spices and cook 1 minute until intensely fragrant.

3. 3

   Combine

   Stir in the rice and toast 2 to 3 minutes, coating every grain in the seasoned fat. Pour in hot stock, scrape up any browned bits, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 18 minutes.

   Toasting the rice in the seasoned fat keeps the grains separate and adds a nutty depth plain boiled rice never gets.

4. 4

   Serve

   Rest the pot off heat, lid on, for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork and fold in sliced scallions and parsley. Taste for salt and finish with hot sauce to preference.

   Resist stirring while it simmers; agitation releases starch and turns the pot gummy.

Variations

• •

  Sausage Cajun rice: brown sliced andouille first and cook the rice in its rendered fat.

• •

  Shrimp version: stir raw shrimp in for the final 5 minutes of steaming.

• •

  Holy trinity plus: add diced jalapeño and smoked paprika for extra fire and smoke.

• •

  Brown rice adaptation: increase stock to 2¼ cups per cup and simmer 40 to 45 minutes.

Storage

Cool quickly and refrigerate within an hour, keeping up to 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat with a splash of stock in a covered skillet; it also fries beautifully into next-day rice with an egg.

Frequently Asked Questions