Plant-Based Louisiana Rice Dressing
RECIPE BELOW!! I’ve been wanting to try using walnuts for a meat substitute, and I decided this was the perfect dish to do it with! I’ve done this recipe with tofu before and loved it, but the walnuts make it a pretty quick and easy dish!
Rice Dressing is traditionally made with meats and sometimes livers of chicken, pork, and/or beef. You would brown all the meat, cook your Cajun trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper in the grease, then mix everything together.
To make this plant-based, I went with a nut (walnuts) because of their fat content and ability to mimic ground meat really well. I also added some extra virgin olive oil to add to the fat content since a rice dressing is always a pretty moist dish. The olive oil was fantastic at mimicking the grease from a traditional rice dressing, yet olive oil is a plant-based/healthier fat :) You CAN make this oil-free as well! Just use water to cook the veggies or use some vegetable broth.
You could also cook your rice in some vegetable broth for a little more flavor as well. Feel free to add whichever cajun spice blend you like. I did not because many of them are spicy, and I always loved the savory rice dressings, not so much the spicy ones.
I'll check back in with the 30 minute walnut soak results!
WATCH THE VIDEO for a step-by-step guide to making this dish!
I can't wait for y'all to make this for the next potluck or get together you have. ENJOY!!
Plant-Based Louisiana Rice Dressing
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole walnuts, SOAKED OVERNIGHT or at least 8 hours
- 2 cups dry brown rice
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 bell pepper, seeded & diced (green or red)
- 1/2 - 1 whole head of garlic, minced (taste preference)
- 3 Tbsps low sodium soy sauce
- 3 Tbsps vegan Worcestershire (Lord Sandy's)
- 2 Tbsps olive oil for sautéing
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- Green onions for garnish *optional
- Parley for garnish *optional
Instructions
- COOK RICE: Bring 4 1/2 c of water to a boil in a medium stock pot. Stir in rice, REDUCE HEAT to low, cover, and cook for 35 minutes, or until there is no more steam releasing from the pot. Remove from heat & set aside when done.
- While the rice cooks, in a medium-large stock pot SAUTÉ ONION, CELERY, and BELL PEPPER in olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until soft (you should be able to cut through a piece of celery easily with the end of your spoon).
- While veggies are softening, in a food processor or blender DRAIN & PULSE THE WALNUTS until small bits form, scraping the sides of the food processor or blender and repeating until evenly chopped. If you won't have a blender/food processor, you can try chopping into small bits with your knife. You want it to look like ground meat.
- ADD SALT, PEPPER, GARLIC, GROUND WALNUTS, SOY SAUCE, AND WORCESTERSHIRE to the pot, evenly mix, and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- ADD RICE to the pot and evenly mix. Taste & adjust seasonings. Garnish with green onions & parsley if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can use white rice if you wish, just reduce the water to only 4 cups. I like brown because it's more whole food plant based than the white rice.
- If using gluten-free soy sauce, this recipe is gluten-free!
- Try using coconut aminos or another type of amino if you have a soy allergy. You can omit it if you wish and add more salt to make up for the umami/savory flavor.
- Top the dressing with walnuts or pecans for extra presentation points and health! Pecans are very common in the south, and it's not uncommon to use them as a garnish on various dishes.
- I would imagine you could sub in another nut for walnut, however I have not tried it yet and cannot attest to the final result. Let me know how it turns out in the comments if you do a substitution!