Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
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Thanks to the pressure cooker, everyone’s favorite New Orleans dish can be made in no time! No need to presoak the beans either. Simply throw everything into the Instant Pot and let it do the work for you. SO EASY!
So I’ll be completely honest with you.
I never cook with dried beans. Never, ever, ever.
I have always used canned beans instead. That is, until now.
Because hello? The IP can pressure cook the beans in just a fraction of the time it would take in real life! (“Real life” meaning stovetop.)
And guess what? There’s no pre-soak needed here either!
So there you have it. Red beans and rice literally from scratch using dried beans.
If you want to keep it vegetarian, you can omit the andouille sausage but still keep the same cooking time in the IP.
Just be sure to serve warm with rice and a dash of Tabasco for a kick of heat!
Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups white long grain rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 12.8-ounce package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 1 pound dry red beans
- 1 ½ teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon dried sage
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cup low sodium vegetable broth
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or more, to taste
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 3 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Add olive oil and sausage. Cook, stirring frequently, until sausage is lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Add garlic, onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in sausage, red beans, Cajun seasoning, oregano, basil, sage, thyme, bay leaves and vegetable broth; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 30-35 minutes. When finished cooking, release pressure naturally according to manufacturer's directions, about 20-30 minutes.*
- Serve immediately with rice and hot sauce, garnished with green onions, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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The only way to cook red beans is low & slow = creamy.
It also works amazingly well in the Instant Pot. Have you tried it? “Don’t knock it until you try it” is what I’ve been told, and it’s very true in this case! 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly, cooked for 35 minutes in a 6 quart Insta Pot, and the beans were still stiff. I think soaking the beans may be the answer
I just finished. The beans were definitely still stiff, I put it back for another 15 minutes, tried again, still stiff, then now its on for another 30. The recipe is definitely good. I may soak the beans next time before trying the recipe again.
I’m trying this Friday night! Sounds yummy!!
This looks so simple and so delicious!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Would the “CAJUN SEASONING” listed in the recipe be
Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning?
It is my opinion that any pressure cooker will out-perform slow cookers in all ways.
If one has an expensive modern stove-top pressure cooker, I estimate one may reduce the on-pressure cooking time for this recipe listed for the Instant Pot by 5 minutes. This is due to the higher pressure of the heftier European pots compared to the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot has been such a great success due to its popular price point and it is a pressure cooker. There are charts online for comparing cooking times for various foods at 15PSI and the lower pressured Instant Pot.
Hi Ross! Cajun seasoning is a blend of seasonings for Cajun cuisine that generally includes chiles and other spices such as celery, garlic, mustard, onion, and pepper.
Since you are already cooking your rice, you can also do that in the Instant Pot. Within 5 minutes, you’ll have great rice, clean the pot, and then start the beans according to your recipe.
Yah!! Great idea!!
If you cook the rice PIP (cook the rice in a bowl that fits in the pot), you wouldn’t have to clean the pot.
Hi Chungah. I LOVE your site. I don’t have an instant pot. How can I adapt the recipe for another method. It looks delicious. Thanks.
Hi Val! Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Hi Val! I don’t have an instant pot, but have done many of the recipes using my pressure cooker and it works very well. If you do have a pressure cooker you can follow Chunga’s recipe exactly. The only thing I would suggest is to bring the mixture to a simmer after you add everything to the pot, then start your timing as soon as you have locked your lid down. If you wait until it comes up to full pressure to start your timing you may over cook it. I plan on trying this recipe this week!
It’s actually Jennifer!
On many occasions, I have cooked a similar recipe for red beans and rice in my Crock-pot. I did soak the beans for several hours and then browned the sausage before hand. The Crock-pot took about six hours to cook, compared to 30 plus minutes in the IP but is still good. Being semi- retired, the Crock-pot is still my cooker of choice although I might have to break down and eventually an IP purchase.
Many of us don’t have an Instant Pot. I am one of them and I have no intention of buying one because I have a wonderful Crockpot and a very modern Pressure Cooker. I love your recipes, so I would appreciate it if you would publish along with your Instant Pot recipes a slow cooker version for us who don’t have an Instant Pot.
Hi Surya-Patricia! I completely understand what you are saying but these recipes are specifically tested in the Instant Pot at this time. A slow cooker version may have to be re-developed and tested and retested to ensure proper cooking times.
However, there are many tested slow cooker recipes you can try instead! 🙂
https://damndelicious.net/category/slow-cooker/
Follow her instructions in your pressure cooker. The IP is an electric pressure.
The Instant Pot is simply fabulous. The main reason I got one myself is because I was looking for a stainless steel crockpot to replace my teflon crockpot, and that wasn’t easy because so many (most actually) are made with teflon and we now know how truly horrible teflon is to cook with for ones health. But instead of just a crockpot, I found myself with this amazing kitchen tool that could do so much more.
I’ve been following Chungah’s website for years now and was thrilled to see her add a special section just for the Instant Pot because until then, all I had was my little booklet that came with it and guess work. You’re asking for Chungah to commit to twice the work load for any one recipe made for that Instant Pot, that’s a bit much.
Do yourself a huge favor and invest in the Instant Pot. You won’t regret it.
Here’s a Slow-Cooker recipe for Red Beans and Rice:
https://www.camelliabrand.com/recipes/slow-cooker-red-beans-and-rice/
Do I have to brown the sausage and veg first or can I just dump it all in and go?
Yes, I recommend browning the sausage first.
I browned the sausage and sauteed the veg but even after almost an hour my beans were not done. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Was it supposed to be a NPR?
Oh no – what kind of Instant Pot did you use?
Sherman. We ate them a little hard and flavor wise they were great, just still kind of hard.
I don’t have any experience using the Sherman brand. This recipe was tested and retested using the Instant Pot brand. Sorry!
Chefman
Autocorrect changed it
Gotcha! All Instant Pot recipes are tested in the Instant Pot brand so please use your best judgment when using a different brand or different kind of pressure cooker.
My beans also turned out hard. I think it is because of the Cajun seasoning being added before the beans are cooked. Cajun seasoning (at least the Tony Cacheras) is mainly salt, and salt makes beans tough if you add it before the beans are cooked. The next time I try it, I will wait until the end to add the Cajun seasoning.
The older the beans are the longer they take to cook, so that’s another possibility. Even if you just bought then, they could have been on store shelf for a while. They’re safe, just cook longer when older.
Same here and I do have an instant pot. Beans were hard and not totally cooked. Had to cook for 10 more minutes. Still not perfect but better. Please advise.
I’ve not made the recipe yet but from looking around at recipes with dry beans there are a few things to try.
35 min or more high pressure with 20-30 min natural release.
Some beans are older and need more cooking time. You can just bring it back up to pressure and cook longer if you have time. Try to buy from someplace that rotates their stock and keeps fresher beans.
If you add any acid then the beans need extra cook time…like maybe double.
If you are at altitude above 3000 feet then you will need to adjust your cooking times (for everything) longer.
Hope this help
In Denver I had to double the cook time to 60 min and then slow release while using an InstaPot. The slow release took almost 45 min.
No idea on how to gauge the age of dried beans.
All other non-dried bean recipes have cooked with recommended times.
Completely agree to Sara. Perfect idea !
So excited with all of your IP recipes they have all been delicious. I had almost given up on using my IP because I couldn’t find many appealing recipes…thank you Chungah
I will have to try this since I’ve been looking for a good red beans & rice recipe. However, I’ll have to make this first THEN make the rice because using the IP to make rice is the only way I make it anymore. It comes out perfect every time!
Or buy a cheap rice cooker. I get both going at once. Sometimes to steam vegetables and sometimes for rice. If you google around, you can find one with a stainless steel liner.
Even better, get a second IP.
What is an instant pot &where do I find one?
It’s a pressure cooker, you can find them on amazon or most places that sell kitchen appliances. Hope that helps!
Love read beans for couple of reasons, they help in Diabetes and Increase Antioxidant Intake. Love this recipe.