This exhaust gas purifying catalyst is provided with a substrate and a catalyst layer formed on a surface of the substrate. The catalyst layer contains zeolite particles that support a metal, and a rare earth element-containing compound that contains a rare earth element. The rare earth element-containing compound is added in such an amount that the molar ratio of the rare earth element relative to Si contained in the zeolite is 0.001 to 0.014 in terms of oxides.