Bring a bit of New Orleans to your dinner table with this simple and tasty entree.
A few weeks ago Laura and I took a four-day trip to New Orleans. She’d never been and it was my first time there since way back in 2002. We went because it was one of the items on her dad’s bucket list, which she’s finishing for him after his death. We also wanted to attend The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was celebrating its fiftieth year. And, of course, we were all about finding the best vegan food in The Big Easy.
We stayed on the northern edge of the French Quarter, but tried to avoid that area because neither of us drink and are more interested in exploring the culture of other parts of the city than dealing with the partying on Bourbon Street. We did venture into the Quarter during off-hours though, to try some tasty vegan dishes at Killer Po’Boys and The Gumbo Shop. Both were amazing.
But the real treat came when we headed uptown to Audubon Park. On the way we stopped at the plant-based café called Seed. It sits between two other vegan establishments, Cocoally and Green Fork. It was so great to see so much veganism! The café’s menu is INSANE. We had Southern Fried Tofu Nuggets—which were maybe the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten—chai smoothies, gumbo and vegan beignets. Such an amazing meal! I didn’t feel bad eating so many calories because we didn’t have a car and were walking an average of ten miles per day every day we were there. So we burned it all off pretty quickly.
Needless to say, visiting NOLA inspired me to think about how I could bring that local flavor to this site. There are a lot of spicy staples down there, but one that I’ve always been a fan of is good old Creole dirty rice. Like a lot of local creations it’s (obviously) rice-based and often includes things like pork sausage and chicken gizzards. Well, that’s not my cup of tea, so to create this Beyond Beef Dirty Rice I swapped out all of that meat for—you guessed it—Beyond Meat’s Beyond Beef. A few months back I started crumbling up their Beyond Burgers into “ground meat,” which I went on to use in this delicious tostada recipe. But now you can just buy a block of “beef” and save yourself the extra work. It’s fantastic.
This dirty rice is really easy to make. Everything goes into one pot and it doesn’t take very long at all—about a half hour. There’s a little Cajun flare in there with some pretty great spices, which, when mixed with the Beyond “meat” and vegetables makes for some amazing flavor. You can add a little Tabasco on top for even more kick, too! That’s what I do, and then add a dallop of vegan sour cream to top it all off. So good!
Tell Me What You Think
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this Beyond Beef Dirty Rice if you make it. So drop me a comment below, and be sure to tag @nutfreevegan on social media if you’re posting photos. It’s always super fun to see these dishes out in the wild!
Beyond Beef Dirty Rice
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 package Beyond Meat Beyond Beef
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and diced
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp. oregano
- 1 Tbsp. basil
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice I used white, but brown would work, too
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 dash hot sauce if desired
- 2 scallions chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add Beyond Beef and use a spatula to break it up. Allow to brown—about 5 minutes—and remove from pot. Set aside.
- Add onion, peppers and celery. Cook until onion turns translucent—about 5 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients. Stir thoroughly and increase heat just until boiling.
- Reduce to a low simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir Beyond Meat back in and cook until rice is tender—about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Top with Tabasco and/or scallions and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This dirty rice sounds delicious and I definitely plan to try it with a different protein source but just as an FYI from a mom of a child with a peanut allergy – Beyond Meat products are made with pea protein which can cause an allergic reaction in people with peanut allergies. Personally my son had a reaction after eating Beyond sausages. I know your site caters more to tree but avoidance but I thought you might be interested anyway.
Kayla, thank you so much for commenting. I had no idea that a peanut allergy could be triggered by pea protein. I’m going to research it a bit and try to find out why that is. Going forward I’ll definitely note the potential for an allergic reaction when I post anything that uses pea protein!
What type of sides would you serve with this (if any)? I’m trying to figure out a full meal. Thanks! 😄
Stefanie, this is a pretty hearty dish on its own. But if I were going to make a side with it I’d go with something else Creole. Maybe some okra or greens, or maybe some corn bread. Let me know what you end up with and I hope you love the rice!
Hello do you pre-cook the rice
Hello, Sonia! The rice should not be pre-cooked. It’ll get softer as the recipe progresses. Hope you enjoy it!
Do you put the lid back on in step #5 after you stir it and the next 10 minutes cooks?
Thanks!
Hi Jen. Yes, the lid should go back on. Thanks for catching that omission; I’ll update the recipe!
Looks delicious- looking forward to trying it!
Quick question when do you add the beyond meat back in with the veggies ?
Thank you
Hi Cherie,
I’ve updated the recipe to show where the Beyond Beef goes back in—right after the five minutes of simmering. I hope you enjoy the dish!
hey! i’ve made this at least 3-4 times and it’s amazing everytime. (though the rice turns out a bit mushy, it’s still amazing!) i put everything in rice cooker and it makes a really fast/easy meal also nutritious 🙂 thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that, Kait! Not about the mushy rice though. Maybe try skipping the last step if the rice seems done before you get there.
I just made this, and I can’t stop eating it! Excellent recipe. The only thing I changed was the addition of red kidney beans. I thought about adding diced tomatoes, but that would have ruined it. Thank you for a warm comfort meal idea on a cold Spring day during this pandemic. I hope you and yours are safe and well.
That’s so great, Jen. I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipe! It’s one of my favorites, too. The red beans are a great idea. I might try that next time I make this—which, if the recent past is any indicator, will be within two or three days. 😂
I hope you’re staying safe as well!
Made this for dinner, was so easy and very tasty. Plenty for dinner for 2 and leftovers for lunch. Might have been a bit heavy with the paprika but I didn’t have a fresh chili so it all turned out. Might add a little bit of cumin for depth next time, there was heat but needed another level of flavor.
Another great recipe from you to add to my regular rotation along with your beef stew. Thank you!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed this, Ros! And the cumin is a great addition. 🙂
I made this but added chopped mushrooms and some fire-roasted diced tomatoes and no oil. I also make the rice separately so it won’t get overcooked. For me, it doesn’t need to be a one-pot dish but I can see the appeal for others. It is the best Dirty Rice dish I have ever had and I’ve had some very delicious versions back before I went vegan. My family went crazy for it and we were all sad when the last bits were scraped out of the pan. I love it best using jasmine rice. I also used oregano and basil fresh from our garden and that made it even more awesome.
Glad to hear your and your family enjoyed the recipe, Jen! And your substitutions sound great—I might them next time I make this. And I can totally relate to being sad when there’s none left! 🙂
I plan on making this for potluck. How many does your recipe feed? So I know whether to double it or not.
Hi, Stephanie. This will yield four hearty servings, so if you’re feeding more people than that you might want to double it or serve smaller portions. I hope everyone enjoys the meal!
Thank you. I’ll definitely be doubling it.
Omg
This is so good!
My non vegan family was shocked how tasty it is.
Thank you so much for this recipe!!
All the way from Israel))
I’m so happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the recipe, Alisa!
This is soooo good! Do you have nutritional information on the dish?
Hi Lorna. Sorry for the delayed response; I had to go back and add up all the ingredients’ calories again. I switched recipe plugins on the site and the new one wiped out all of the nutritional information from past recipes! I’m glad you commented so that I can remember to go back and add everything back in.
I’ve updated this particular recipe, but it makes six servings and each has 289 calories.
I made this tonight with slight modifications, but it was delicious. Only 2 modifications. I used Impossible Burger instead because I like it better than Beyond, and I added 2 habenero peppers in lieu of hot sauce. Everything else was the same and I LOVED it!!! I normally don’t post comments, so def this was a winner in my book
I’m so glad you liked it, Alice! And thank you for leaving a comment. 😀
This recipe is flippin’ fantastic!
I’ve only made a few modifications based on what I had on hand:
I used chicken bouillon cubes for the broth (I know, its a vegan site)
I used yellow bell pepper and threw it in minutes before everything was done cooking
I used pickled jalapeños since I had no fresh jalapeño
I soaked basmati rice and threw it in raw to cook with the batch
It was perfection!
Thanks for a fabulous recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Melissa. Your substitutions sound delicious!
I always follow recipes on the first run exactly as they are written. I figure that someone has taken a considerable amount of time to develop the recipe, so first shot, no changes. That said, I would be hard pressed to make any improvements on this dish as it is presented. Absolutely delicious! And there is enough for another nights meal, so consequently I can’t wait for the day to be over and finish it off. BTW, I’ve had some great Dirty Rice here and there and in New Orleans as well, and this is as good as I have had the pleasure of devouring! In regard to some comments above, I would like to suggest that one of the key elements regarding the cooking process is the use of a dutch oven. Any fear of over cooking the rice will evaporate using this tool. It’s must have in the kitchen, especially for this dish. Great job chef!
Thanks so much for the comment, Mike! It makes me really happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe. And comparing it to NOLA dirty rice is such an honor!
Made this tonight. I realized after I’d started cooking I only had about a cup of rice. Added half a cup of brown lentils to substitute and it came out fantastic, and had extra fiber! Really loved this recipe, as did the omnivores in our house. Everyone wanted seconds.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Missa! Lentils are a great idea as a rice replacement. But “Dirty lentils” sounds kind of weird. 😂
is the basil fresh or dried?
Hello! Either would work. I always prefer fresh, but dried would taste just fine.
This recipe was amazing, me and my son loved it. Thanks.
I’m so happy to hear that Piedad!
Amazing! I don’t – love – the smell of Beyond Beef and the first few bites are a little iffy, but this recipe made it more than bearable. It’s downright delicious! Thank you so much for sharing with the world. We need more Beyond Beef recipes 😅
So glad you enjoyed this, Shay!
I made the recipe omitting the red bell pepper. Once cooked I stuffed 6 sweet bells with the rice, and baked on 375 for 40 minutes in a small baking dish with a little salted water in the bottom. The peppers cooked through, white the top of the mixture got a little toasty. Really good. The whole family loved it.