Takeout is an excellent solution when you don’t have time to cook and want a meal on your table fast. But making some of these dishes at home is a breeze. If you’re a fan of Chinese food, especially Cajun fried rice, we give you an easy recipe to make in under 30 minutes in a single pan!
If you need help with meal prep and more simple recipes to incorporate into your daily menu, contact us today!
What Is Cajun Fried Rice?
As its name says, Cajun fried rice is fried rice enriched with a bunch of flavorful seasonings, like Asian or Cajun seasoning blend. It’s a form of dirty rice, simply by how the cooked rice looks after being mixed with all other ingredients in the skillet.
Cajun fried rice can be both a main course and a side dish. It’s filling and full of nutrients, as it combines healthy food like rice, meat, seafood, and cooked vegetables.
What You Need for Cajun Fried Rice
This dish combines simple and widely available ingredients, making the best combo of Asian and Cajun cuisine.
Rice
Cajun rice is an excellent way to use leftover rice. One-day-old white or brown rice can speed up prep time. That makes this dish an excellent choice for anyone who doesn’t want to waste food but uses it to the fullest.
If you don’t have pre-cooked rice on hand, you can make a fresh one on a stovetop or rice cooker. Make sure to cool it after cooking by spreading rice over a parchment paper and leaving it for a few hours at room temperature. Stir it from time to time to speed up cooling.
Meat
Any meat can get into Cajun fried rice, depending on your taste and what you have in the fridge. You can make use of pre-cooked or roasted pork, chicken, or beef. For fans of seafood, Cajun shrimp fried rice is an excellent choice.
Another great option is making this dish with Andouille sausage or ham. Adding smoked meat is a great alternative when you don’t have ready-made roast or cooked meat.
Vegetables
Vegetables in Cajun fried rice add flavors, texture, and a load of nutrients. This recipe contains onions, bell pepper, and celery, but you’re free to add carrots, green beans, and peas for more crispiness and taste.
Seasoning
This is a cherry on top of this flavorful dish. Cajun seasoning is a perfect mixture of cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and a pinch of thyme. This blend, loaded with flavor, rounds all ingredients and gives it the specific aroma of Southern cuisine.
Cajun Fried Rice Recipe
To make this tasty skillet dish at home, you’ll need the following:
- Cooking oil, 2 tbsp.
- Cooked brown or white rice, 6 cups
- Diced onion, ¼ cup
- Green onions, 2 sliced pcs
- Bell peppers (choose any color you want), 2 sliced pcs.
- Andouille sausage, 6 medium-sized pcs.
- Celery, 2 ribs
- Cajun seasoning, 2 tbsp.
- Soy sauce, ½ cup
- Cooking wine, about 2 tbsp.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: shrimp, scrambled eggs, extra vegetables, minced garlic, parsley, hot sauce
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Instructions
- Grab a large pan and pour in oil. When heated to medium-high, add chopped Andouille sausage and cook until browned.
- If you make Cajun shrimp fried rice, remove the sausage, then add seasoned shrimp to the pan. Cook for about a minute on each side, then remove from the skillet.
- Add onions, celery, sliced green onions, and diced bell pepper. Then add half the amount of Cajun seasoning and mix everything well.
- After a few minutes, add two tablespoons of soy sauce and reduce the heat to medium. That way, you deglaze the mixture and “wake up” that extra flavor from the skillet bottom.
- Pour in half the amount of cooked rice and cooking wine into the skillet. If you add eggs to your fried rice, now is the time to do so. Stir until combined and drop the heat to low.
- Add the rest of the rice, soy sauce, and Cajun seasoning to the pan. Combine all ingredients well.
- Season to taste, garnish with green onion and hot sauce and serve your Cajun rice warm.
Nutrients per serving
This recipe is for eight servings, and here are the nutritional values per serving:
- Calories per serving: 207 kcal
- Carbs: 34 g
- Protein: 5 g (if you add shrimp, it’ll be 8 g of protein per serving)
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Sugar: 1 g
- Potassium: 978 mg
- Sodium: 213 mg
Frequently Asked Questions
What to Serve With Shrimp Cajun Fried Rice?
As a side dish, fried rice goes well with roast, BBQ, and Shepherd’s pie. But if you serve it as a main course, add a bowl of a crisp salad made of tomatoes and cucumbers.
As for drinks, you can pair this dish with beer, white wine, and even a lemonade, depending on the occasion and time of the day.
How to Store Cajun Fried Rice?
You can keep Cajun fried rice in the fridge for up to four days. To store, let it cool at room temperature, then put it in an airtight container.
If you plan to freeze it, move it to a freezer bag and keep it in the freezer for up to three months.
Wrap Up
Cajun fried rice is an excellent recipe to print on a recipe card and have on hand for sudden guests or when you just need comfort food fast. It’s a simple, one-pan dish anyone can make.
For more fried rice recipes, visit our website to plan your meals with ease!
