Red Beans and Rice
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So thick, so creamy and so flavorful! The beans are cooked just right – perfectly tender, served with rice and smoky andouille sausage.
Featured Comment
I kind of have a thing for Louisiana. I don’t know if it’s all the beignets and the powdered sugar I leave on my pants or if it’s the classic red beans and rice, but I keep returning to this state again and again.
We just got back last week and I’m ready for another trip back. But until then, I’ll be making the creamiest (and quickest) red beans and rice every. single. day.
tips and tricks for success
- 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 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.
- Serve with cornbread. Serve with a scoop of rice and a side of cornbread, a quintessential pairing.
what to serve with red beans and rice
Red Beans and Rice: Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! 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.
We recommend using small red beans or kidney beans.
Traditionally red beans and rice is prepared with spicy andouille sausage but you can substitute any sausage (such as kielbasa) to your liking.
The spice level can be adjusted to mild by using mild andouille sausage and omitting the hot sauce.
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
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
Equipment
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.
Did you make this recipe?
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I made this for dinner tonight and it was outstanding. It will go in out recipe book. I made the beans from scratch and used the whole bag. Mashing a cup of beans really thickened everything nicely.
Very tasty and easy recipe! I didn’t have red beans so I used canned black beans. Also did not have Cajun seasoning so I used a packet of Goya Sazon. This has salt as does the chicken broth so I did not add any additional salt. Otherwise followed the recipe and I really liked it! Definitely would make it again!
I followed this recipe with a few exceptions. I used dry red beans and precooked them in the instapot. I used Eckrich smoked sausage. I seasoned the beans with smokey bacon. It was so delicious, I ate until it hurt.
Hahah, ate until it hurt; this cracked me up.
I’ve reviewed this recipe before, still loving it. 🙂 Just wanted to note that we most recently made this with Spanish Chorizo since we can’t find Andouille where we’re living now, and Sriracha since it was what we had on hand. Added some Cayenne to that and it came out really nice.
Good recipe but I would like the nutritional information please
I didn’t go exactly by the recipe but close enough
Hi it came out great! Thank you!
Can I use the red beans instead of black beans in a “black bean and rice recipe”?
Thank you!
Very tasty. I followed the recipe exactly. I feel it could’ve used salt, but otherwise, very tasty. I used Marie Sharp’s Habanero hot sauce
This was good! It was a delicious and hearty dinner that my husband and I both enjoyed.
This is my go-to red beans and rice recipe! My favorite part about New Orleans is the red beans and this is a delicious and easy recipe that anyone can make!
Made this recipe today because we were missing red beans and rice from one of our favorite restaurants. We decided that this was so incredibly yummy and it might even been better than what we had at the restaurant. Definitely a keeper!
I made this tonight and it was so good! The whole family loved it! The only thing I did differently is the rice, I went with regular short grained white rice. I look forward to making it again.
Loved this recipe. I typically cook riffs of recipes where I am familiar with the flavors. Today I made my version of this. Some of the riffs used was more celery, roasted garlic bouillon, v8 and rotel tomatoes with Serrano shinies, green onions, crab boil seasoning, raw bulk sausage rather than smoked, and probably other things.
It ended up being more of a chilli than a traditional preparation, but it was great.
Really good recipie, totally enjoyed it! Making it again today unfortunately don’t have all the correct ingredients to match the recipe due to the quarantine and low pantry but have sausage, Jacobs cattle beans and chicken rice soup so off I go.
Excellent. I’ve made these several times and at a couple of parties, I had to share the recipe. From a N’awlins boy, just learning how to cook, these are very good.
I didn’t know canned beans could taste sooo good! Excellent recipe. My husband and sons loved them and were being for more!
This was very good! We used kielbasa. Because that’s what we had. My mom was looking for a recipe to use up her red kidney beans that she was soaking. Also. We didn’t have any kind of hot sauce. So we used red pepper flakes and paprika. we didn’t have a bay leaf either. This was easy and delish!
Oh my gosh, just what I needed!!! Delicious. I had to substitute chorizo for andouille as I couldn’t find it in the UK (especially these days!) But it turned out delicious regardless. fantastic thanks for sharing made my day!
My husband from the other room with his second bowl of taste test beans was, “Yum. Yom yum yum yum yum.”
Him and the children are more sensitive to the spicy ingredients so I adjusted it to a heaping half teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (I like Louisiana Crawfish and Seafood Boil), just a few shakes of Valentina hot sauce, and added a teaspoon of sugar. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
Thank you for posting this great recipe. I am using dry Camellia beans, so I will prep per your instructions in an earlier post, but I would also like to use our Instant Pot to speed up the process.
I made tasso ham which I will use in addition to the andouille sausage.
I made this today during Covid quarantine. I actually cooked the beans separately in my instant pot with just some salt and the new made dirty rice with the rest of the ingredients. Delicious.