Dirty Rice Dairy-Free

If you dream of easy Hamburger Helper for dinner but have milk allergy to navigate, this dairy-free dirty rice is an excellent substitute!

It's still an easy one-dish meal and uses a pound of burger along with healthy veggies your kids won't even notice. 

See the recipe for this simple dairy-free dinner option below. 

That's right, in this milk allergy family we've never had the ease of whipping up a box of Hamburger Helper for quick dinner. 

But when my hubby first made this dirty rice dish for the family, 

it reminded me exactly of that. 

A one-dish hamburger and rice dish that's full of flavor and super easy for busy nights.

I love that it's a complete meal in one dish.

Protein, grain, and veggies. What's not to love?

WHAT KIND OF MEAT IN DIRTY RICE

We make our dirty rice with either ground beef, ground venison, or a mixture of both.

The recipe has so much flavor that it masks the gamey taste of venison, which is always welcome in my book.

WHAT KIND OF BROTH IN DIRTY RICE 

We've used store-bought beef broth for this recipe before. 

But more often than not, we use the homemade chicken broth we have in our freezer. 

WHAT KIND OF RICE IN DIRTY RICE

We've used both white and brown rice in our dirty rice recipe. 

And in this recipe, we cook the rice ahead of time. It's a great recipe for day-old refrigerated rice. 

The rice is added to the cooked meat, veggies and broth in the last five minutes.

See the full instructions below.

WHAT MAKES DIRTY RICE SPICY

The good news is, when making dirty rice for kids, is that the spice level is really all about the pepper. 

If your kids won't eat spicy food, omit or limit the ground pepper in the dish. 

If you want spicy dirty rice, add enough ground pepper to suit your taste. 

It's that easy! 

WHAT TO SERVE WITH DIRTY RICE

Honestly, dirty rice is a filling and nutritious dinner that can stand alone. 

But my family will never turn down delicious homemade bread that takes me hardly any work at all. 

They also always like a nice fruit salad with this dish.

See the easy dirty-rice recipe below.

DIRTY RICE RECIPE DAIRY-FREE

DIRTY RICE INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground venison or beef
2 teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon pepper (adjust to level of spiciness you like)
1 cup chicken broth
3 cups hot cooked rice (brown or white)

HOW TO COOK DIRTY RICE

Heat 2 tbs. oil in your Dutch oven.

Add 2 tbs. flour to the oil and cook until flour is brown. Stir constantly to prevent burning.

Add 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup chopped celery, ½ cup chopped green pepper, and 2 cloves minced garlic. 

Cook until veggies are tender.

Add in 1 pound of ground meat. 

Add 2 tsp. salt as the meat is cooking.

Add pepper, while meat is cooking, according to how spicy you want it. About ¾ tsp. for medium heat. 

Cook and stir until meat is fully browned.

Add 1 cup broth, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes so the liquid thickens.

Stir in 3 cups cooked, hot brown or white rice.

Cook 5 minutes longer.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Hope you love this dirty rice recipe as much as we do.

You can save our rice recipe on Pinterest. 

And click here for more dairy-free dinner ideas your kids will like!