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In Louisiana cooking, rice is practically its own food group. There’s steamed white rice as the base for dishes like gumbo, crawfish étouffée, and red beans and rice. There’s rice that’s cooked with seasonings and sausage for a one-pot meal, like jambalaya. There’s dirty rice that’s speckled with meat and seasonings, using underutilized organ meat like chicken livers and gizzards. And finally, there’s rice dressing—a more “dressed up” version of dirty rice. This dish combines rice, ground meat, aromatics, and traditional Creole and Cajun spices. It’s the ideal accompaniment for a few slices of turkey and a pool of warm gravy—after all, for many Louisianans, a meal is incomplete without rice, and Thanksgiving is no exception.
Why is this dish so important at the Louisiana Thanksgiving table? I’d argue that Southern and soul food staple sides like macaroni and cheese, candied yams, and braised collard greens are core to the feast. That mac and cheese plays the creamy, stretchy-cheese role; candied yams cover the sweet, almost-dessert-like side; and collards are the essential green vegetable. This leaves room for a savory, highly-seasoned, umami-packed starch that will also be the ideal vehicle for sopping up your homemade gravy.
What’s in rice dressing?
Some Louisianans use “rice dressing” and “dirty rice” interchangeably, but not me. For my rice dressing each Thanksgiving, I skip the organ meats that are customary in dirty rice. The Worcestershire sauce in my recipe packs a savory punch, while the Creole trinity of onions, celery, and bell pepper—plus the garlicky Creole seasoning and hot sauce round out the dish with some heat and paprika sweetness. Some Southern cooks add roux or even canned cream of mushroom soup to their rice dressing, but the ground pork packs more than enough fat and richness in my version. Half of the ground pork can be swapped out with ground turkey if desired, but I prefer to limit my turkey to the Thanksgiving centerpiece—a whole, roasted bird.
Wait, what about cornbread dressing?
Let’s be clear: this dish, though called “dressing,” doesn’t replace cornbread dressing, which I’d also consider mandatory on Thanksgiving. The two sides are quite different, after all. Rice dressing, prepared on the stovetop in a single skillet (which is particularly helpful when managing the oven during busy Thanksgiving prep!), is an addition that heightens and fills out the meal with a little spice and bursts of protein-packed flavor thanks to the ground pork speckled throughout. Your cornbread dressing gets its flavor and juiciness from turkey drippings and stock; rice dressing gets all it needs from the ground pork, spices, and aromatics. Make room for both on the holiday table.
Should you stuff rice dressing into your turkey?
Some people opt to stuff the rice dressing right into the cavity of the holiday bird, making it a “stuffing” rather than a dressing. That way, the drippings from the turkey flavor the rice dressing. But preparing it on the side has some advantages, especially when you’re hosting a Louisiana Thanksgiving.
To prepare it as a stuffing, the mixture needs to be baked inside the bird as the Thanksgiving turkey is roasting in the oven. But many Louisianans opt for a fried turkey instead. The turducken—a triple portmanteau of chicken, duck, and turkey, each stuffed inside the other—is attributed to New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme and quite popular in the Bayou State. Since the turkey’s cavity in this case is already bursting with other fowl, it’s prudent to prepare the rice dressing on the side. At the opposite end of the labor-intensive spectrum, you’ll want your rice dressing on the side if you’re butterflying and flattening the bird: a spatchcocked turkey cooks relatively quickly and easily, but doesn’t offer sufficient space for stuffing rice dressing inside.
Even if you’re making a traditional roasted turkey, I recommend making this rice dressing as a side. Filling your turkey’s cavity can slow down cooking time, resulting in a bird that’s dry rather than juicy. Wash it down with a glass of sweet tea as you commune with family and friends. This rice dressing is so good, you may opt for seconds instead of grabbing a slice of pecan pie for dessert.
