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!!