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?
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I’ve made this recipe on four separate occasions over the course of several months, and it has drawn rave reviews every time. I like to add a little more kick than the recipe calls for by adding a teaspoon of cayenne, smoky paprika and a squirt of lemon juice. So easy to make and so yummy. This coming from a guy who loves cajun and creole food!
Over the course of the summer, I made this on four separate occasions. It drew rave reviews every time. I like to add a little more kick then the recipe calls for by adding a teaspoon of cayenne, smoky paprika and a squirt of lemon juice. So easy to make and so yummy. This coming from a guy who loves cajun and creole food!
I am not one to normally leave reviews…good or bad, but I just had to tell you how much we enjoyed this recipe! I made this for my family tonight, and I made it according to the recipe exactly, and it left us full and looking forward to leftovers for tomorrow before our bellies have even had the chance to digest! It is soooo good! Hands down the best Red Beans and Rice recipe i have tried yet! Thank you for sharing…we will absolutely be making this again, probably real soon, lol!
Oh love this recipe. I had to modify just a little because there were a couple of spices I didn’t have ( onion salt or jasmine rice). I skipped the onion salt and used brown long grain rice. My daughter and I were working on genealogy. My grandmother and mother in law are both from the southern states. In honor of them!
Just a thought. My friend is a chef in an upscale restaurant in Minneapolis. He has mad this recipe and his tip is to use a potato masher or other kitchen “tool” to mash about 13 of the beans, after they have cooked long enough to soften. Doing this thickens the dish to a more stew-like consistency and gives it a velvety texture.
This is a great red beans and rice recipe. I use kielbasa instead of andouille because my wife can’t do hot but it’s still really good
Shared it with a Louisana native and she loveddddd it as well as my young college child. It’s a winner!
This was amazing. So easy to make and tasted delicious!!
I don’t usually write reviews but because we ALL thought this recipe was AH-mazing, I had to leave a comment and say that this has been our favorite pandemic new recipe. I used Ragin’ Cajun andouille sausage and Tony Cachere’s seasoning. Wouldn’t change a thing. Delicious!
Amazingly easy recipe!! Turned it perfect. I wanted something fresh and home made, not Zataranz out of a box. It hit the spot!!
A mini can of spicy V-8 substituted for part of the chicken stock gives this outstanding dish just the right amount of heat
Amazing!!! Can’t stop eating. This recipe is quick and delicious. Thanks for making a new family dinner favorite!
I do declare, this was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten! I made this last night and my husband and I couldn’t stop saying how delicious it was. I made the recipe as written (but used dried small red beans) and the Cajun seasoning I used was a recipe from “Oh She Glow”s (her 10-spice recipe). Thank you for sharing this brilliant recipe, I will definitely make it again!
AMAZING!!! Made it as written—except I used avocado oil as I was out of EVOO! YUM!
Loved this! Easy and so flavorful. Thanks for sharing!
We really liked this quick and tasty recipe. Forgive me, instead of red beans I used leftover small white beans I’d cooked up the day before. To me, beans have different textures, but color doesn’t really matter. I also used some jalapeño and cheddar smoked sausage, but otherwise followed the recipe. Gosh it was good. Our rice servings were too generous, so next time I will use less rice per bowl. Definitely making this again!
As a guy from New Orleans, who never learned how to cook, (I know, but my ex did all the cooking), this has been a godsend for me. I’ve fixed it as written, and I’ve also cooked the dry beans myself. Frankly, there isn’t much difference, that I can tell.
I’ve used commercial chicken stock in the box, and I’ve now gone to using chicken boullion cubes, and, once again, I find no difference. I omit the salt from the recipe, allowing those to add their own (I add none). Louisiana Fish Fry cajun seasoning, and Crystal hot sauce, are my go-to’s from home…
As I’m living in Wisconsin currently, these Midwesterners absolutely LOVE this recipe…as do I…..
I’m bringing it to a dinner party in a couple of days, by request…again……
This is spot on. I used Creole seasoning instead of Cajun, it was spectacular still. Also, Zatarains has their own sausage out, I bougth that and it was perfect. Now I need to get into a food coma. Thank you for the recipe!
Found this recipe from Google and I LOVED it as does my wife. I also subbed smoked sausage for the meat didn’t have the celery, used Tony Chachere’s Carole seasoning and it turned out fantastic!
Delicious! I used the cajun style andoulli sausage and didn’t have parsley or basmati rice. I used brown rice. I’ll use this recipe from now on and will buy basmati rice because I like the texture.
Another rice that’s good is Jasmine if you cannot fine Basmati