Red Beans and Rice
by Chungah
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Louisiana red beans and rice! With smoky andouille sausage, the holy trinity, and the creamiest red beans, topped with white rice.
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Why you’ll love this red beans and rice recipe
- Comfort food goodness. Firstly, this dish is quintessential comfort food, consisting of thick, creamy, tender beans, smoky andouille sausage, and Cajun seasoning.
- Budget-friendly. Red beans and rice is not only budget-friendly, but also incredibly filling, making it an economical, high protein, and high fiber dinner for the entire family to enjoy.
- Versatile and flexible. This recipe can easily be customized with different proteins or made vegetarian-friendly!
- Makes for the best leftovers. The flavors meld even more overnight, making for the most perfect leftovers and meal prep.
What is red beans and rice?
Red beans and rice is a classic Louisiana dish made with red beans, sausage, and the “holy trinity” (onions, bell pepper, and celery), typically served over white rice alongside cornbread and hot sauce.
Monday tradition
This dish was served on Mondays known as the “wash day” tradition, a day devoted to laundry. Cooking a pot of red beans, a slow cooked, no-fuss meal, allowed more time for chores to be completed.
How to make red beans and rice
- Cook the rice. Cook the rice to package instructions. Long grain white rice (ex. jasmine) is generally the gold standard for red beans and rice.
- Brown the sausage. While the rice is cooking, brown the sausage in batches until lightly browned; set aside.
- Add the holy trinity. Stir in the onion, bell pepper, and celery until tender.
- Cook the aromatics. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, and Cajun seasoning until fragrant.
- Simmer. Add the red beans, chicken stock, hot sauce, bay leaf, and cooked sausage, simmering for 15 minutes covered, and then an additional 15 minutes uncovered.
- Mash the beans. Using a wooden spoon, mash the beans for a creamier consistency.
- Serve. Top with the cooked rice, garnished with parsley, and served alongside some cornbread.
what to serve with red beans and rice
Red Beans and Rice: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! There is no need for an overnight or quick soak here. This is a super quick recipe using canned red beans – perfect for when you just don’t have the time to soak dry beans.
I recommend using small red beans or kidney beans.
Traditionally red beans and rice is prepared with spicy andouille sausage but kielbasa is also a solid option.
The spice level can be adjusted to mild by using mild andouille sausage and omitting the hot sauce.
Absolutely! Similar to lasagna, red beans and rice taste better the very next day, allowing the flavors to meld and intensify overnight.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the rice (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked rice when serving.
Red Beans and Rice
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 (12.8-ounce) package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons Cajun seasoning, salt-free
- 3 (15-ounce) cans small red beans or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, add sausage, and cook, stirring frequently, until sausage is lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes; set aside.
- Add onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic and Cajun seasoning until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in red beans, chicken stock, hot sauce, bay leaf and sausage; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover; continue to simmer until reduced, an additional 15 minutes.
- Using a wooden spoon, mash beans until slightly thickened, if desired; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, topped with rice and garnished with parsley, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Serve with long grain white rice. Use long grain, basmati or jasmine rice – all light and fluffy to absorb and soak up the creamy, saucy beans. Avoid short grain, sushi rice or instant rice.
- Tomato paste adds so much flavor. Tomato paste adds body and richness in small amounts without adding too much liquid. Opt for tomato paste in a tube, using up only what you need at a time without having to open up a whole can.
- Use small red beans or kidney beans. Soaking dry beans is not required here. Canned red beans (or kidney beans) allows this recipe to come together so fast, making it a true weeknight hero.
- Mash the beans. Add the finishing touches by mashing up about 1 cup of the softened beans off to the side of the pot – this is what makes the red beans and rice so thick and velvety creamy.
- Make it vegetarian. For our vegetarian friends, substitute plant-based sausage for the andouille sausage, and vegetable stock for the chicken stock.
- Pair with cornbread. Serve with a scoop of rice and a side of cornbread, a quintessential pairing.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This is WONDERFUL! My family wants me to make it all the time! I make my own Cajun seasoning, but other than that, I stick to the recipe.
Your recipe is delicious but everyone knows you really need to do the dry Camila Beans
Minnette,
I have those beans in my pantry. Did you use them, and if so, the entire 1 pound bag, and at what stage of cooking?
Thank you kindly,
Allison
True to its name, this dish is “Damn Delicious!” I thought for sure we would have leftovers for a couple of days, but it was all gone on day one. This will definitely make it into our regular meal rotation. Thanks for sharing this awesomeness!
This recipe was easy, and the flavors were wonderful. But I followed it exactly and found it too soupy for my taste – not creamy at all. Next time I’ll try reducing the broth by at least a cup, and pureeing a cup or so of the cooked beans in a food processor, rather than mashing them against the side of the pot, which didn’t thicken it at all. Otherwise, it’s very flavorful.
Absolutely delish!!
Being southern I did however saute some bacon in the Dutch oven to get my oil needed and added even more flavor.. thanks so much for sharing!!
I highly recommend two or three tablespoons of butter for the sautéing.
I’m going to use the recipe but I’m going to use dried red beans.
Thank you for your recipe
You have done it again!
SO amazing and easy yet delicious!
Thank you!
Thank you. I’m from Louisiana but I live in cali now. This made my day!
5/5
Makes a delicious red beans and rice that is comparable to my mother in laws. And she lived in NOLA her whole life. Don’t tell her I rated this recipe that highly though, haha.
This is my go-to red beans and rice recipe. Everyone loves it b/c it is SO good! Its one of only 2 recipes that my extremely picky 13 yr old son actively requests. My only caution is to know the heat/salt/flavor of your Cajun seasoning and keep it in mind as all brands have different levels.
I’ll fix next Monday. I’ve wanting some red beans and rice. I looks so good
Absolutly the best red beans and rice I’ve ever tasted! Thanks for the recipe!
Really wonderful recipe that lives up to its description. This will become my go to red beans and rice recipe.
So good! Everyone in the family loved it! I will be making it again soon 🙂
I’ve been looking for a delicious red beans and rice recipe for a long time and I finally found it! I followed the recipe exactly except I made my own Cajun seasoning mix and I used dry red beans that I soaked overnight. Loveee❤️
This is delicious! One of my favorite go to comfort dishes! Vey easy recipe. I omit the salt because there is enough in the sausage already. As I write this I am again making this dish. I have made and served this to friends who have been to New Orleans. They say this is the real deal folks!
This is sooooooo good and sooooo easy! This recipe is constant rotation! Thanks so much 🙂
Wow! I was craving red beans and rice after having some from Popeyes the other day. I have a go to recipe for authentic red beans and rice made with dry beans and it’s delicious but I didn’t have time to do the dry bean method. I searched for a quick red beans and rice recipe and when I saw Damn Delicious I instantly clicked the link. I have made SO many of your recipes and like your name they are always DAMN DELICIOUS! Well, yet again, these beans, like many recipes before them, did not disappoint! They are soft and creamy and taste like I cooked them all day long. They are every bit as good as my dry beans but oh so much quicker and easier! Thank you for yet another amazing recipe!
I made this a couple of days ago and It was quite good, I was expecting it to be a bit off compared to some “more involved” recipes, but this is very authentic and quite easy to make; it also reheat very well.
I did add a little extra broth and let it simmer a bit longer and it thickened up nicely, smaahwd about half the beans and it was perfect. With spicy Anidoulle sausage it had just the right amount of heat without losing flavor. Everything in the recipe is spot on.
I will 100% be making this again
I’ve made this recipe several times and everyone in my house loves it! Its very easy to make. One minor substitute is I swapped the andouille sausage for kielbasa. Love it!
Made this last night! It was great! Not too spicy, not too juicy. Added okra and it was perfect with out becoming dry with the extra addition! Definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing!!
So I used a mix of white and brown rice and black beans instead of red (which is a big change obvi) and used a sausage other than anidoulle. Didnt thicken as much after 30 minutes of simmering but some cornstarch cured that. Still very delicious. Will make again. Maybe even with actual red beans 😉
This sounds delicious and I plan on making it this weekend. Can it be made in a crock pot?
Could you use wild rice?
Have not made yet.