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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My husband loved it. He exclaimed this is SERIOUS!! many times. My son surprisingly said something too, he usually is picky.
Made my homemade cornbread too!
Absolutely will be making this again and again!
Looking on site for another of your recipes!
Thanks,
Mrs. Jones
Thank you so much. Made this tonight and it turned out fantastic.
I added a bit of cayenne and it was spicy and delish.
Will definitely use the recipe again.
Hi!! Relatively new cooker here!! I have not made red beans and rice before (). I was unable to find canned red beans at my grocery but purchased bagged, dry red beans. What can I do? Thank you I’m advance! I am so excited to cook this recipe!!!
You can cook the beans before you need them for the recipe. If you happen to have a slow cooker that would be the easiest – start the beans in the morning and they would be ready for dinner time and just use them as you would the canned beans. About 3/4 cup of dried beans is equivalent to a 15 oz can of beans. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can just do it on the stove. Here are some suggestions. Although soaking dried beans isn’t strictly necessary, sometimes it helps speed up cooking if they’ve been sitting on the store shelf for a bit. Fresher dried beans (an oxymoron, I know) cook more quickly.
Regardless, if you are starting from dried beans – first sort through them on the counter to look for rocks and other debris. Once sorted and when you are ready to start, rinse the beans in a colander under cold running water. If you want to soak placed the clean beans in a big bowl and cover with cold water and leave overnight. When you are ready to cook, place the beans in the slow cooker or pot, fill the pot so the beans are covered by two inches of water. People have different theories on salting, but I prefer to salt before cooking. If you are doing the 3/4 cup I would say about 3/4 tsp of Kosher salt. If you were making the whole 16 oz bag I would do 2 tsp. If you made the whole bag you could simply freeze the cooked beans in their liquid and use them in the future. In the slow cooker – cook on low for 8 hrs or high for around 6. You can test for doneness at the 6 hour mark. Cook till tender. On the stove, bring the beans to a rapid boil and then boil for 5 minutes. Then simmer until tender – this will take several hours. On the stove you will need to monitor the water level – just add hot water if it gets low. Hope this helps!
Extremely good.
So very delicious! Definitely adding it to my week night rotation!
Stuck at home with pantry items, but fortunately, the pantry items included home jarred red beans and homemade (frozen) vegetable stock. My wife is vegetarian so I excluded the sausage and added a few drops of Wrights Liquid Smoke. Everyone (except the 10-year-old) loved it. I definitely will make this again.
Delicious and easy! Made it with Andouille and hot links. Used two cans of black beans bc that’s what I had. So much flavor!
I just made this for dinner and it was really delicious- full of flavor and nice and spicy! Stuck at home under the coronavirus quarantine and still can’t find dry beans so had to use canned kidney beans which made me nervous but the texture was fine. I drained and rinsed them thoroughly before adding them. I also had to use water instead of chicken broth but this recipe has so much other flavor I don’t think it lost anything. I am excited to make this again next week with some homemade hush puppies.
My son asked if I would make something that included andouille sausage, as he was feeling nostalgic from our New Orleans visit. I searched online for a recipe and came across yours. I followed the directions (except for scaling down the veggies and seasoning) but only used two (2) cans of beans because I didn’t have three. Didn’t want to overpower the dish since I was not using the full three cans the recipe called for. I must say, it was delicious!!! The cajun seasoning and hot sauce gives it just enough heat to not be unbearable. This is definitely going to be put (and kept) in my rotation. I’ve been trying to find new ways to incorporate beans into my meals and thanks to you, I’m one step closer. My son, who can be a pit picky, loved this. Thank you for sharing!!!
My 1st time ever making red beans and rice. I used dried dark red beans. Cooked the beans in water and chicken bullion. Saved 3 cups of that liquid to combine later with the recipe. SO FLAVOR FULL!!!! Followed every step to a “T”. DELICIOUS! Love finding a recipe that is “THE ONE”, the first time I make it. Definitely a keeper!
I made this today and OH MY LORD!!! It is sooooo good! I followed the directions precisely. Only thing I changed is I used Louisiana Cajun Seasoning that had salt included. I will be making this again and again!
Fantastic recipe – have made as written several times and it never disappoints. Easy and delicious!
This recipe is fantastic and easy to follow! I used kielbasa (what I had on hand) and it was really good!
I just made this dish and honeyyyyy. Flavorful and such an amazing taste.
Wow! This recipe blew my socks off! I made it exactly according to the recipe except that I used Jenny-O Turkey Andouille sausage. You’d never know the difference! Your recipes are always spot on!
Thanks!
Can I give you 100 stars. WOW !!!!! This recipe is so deliciously amazing that it has been added to my kitchen cookbook. This is my go to meal when I need my NOLA fix. Yes I will be signing up.
This has become a go to!!! Love this dish.
This was great and SUPER easy to make. Thank you so much! My husband asked me to make sure I save this one and put it in my cook book.
Enjoyed what I made but can’t help but wonder if I did something wrong. Mine did not end up looking as red as the one in the picture. Mine was more of a brown color. Also I used organic canned dark red kidney beans. I’m thinking these were not the right type of bean lol.
Any ideas as to why mine looked so different?
Matt, You can actually buy canned beans called Red Beans. They are not as big or as thick skinned as kidney beans. Walmart for sure carries them; Safeway too, I think. Maybe the brand of tomato paste lent to the color being not so red. But hey…if it tasted good, who cares! I hope that helps.
I made this using canned and rinsed red beans instead of Kidney beans and thought it was wonderful! Posting on another group I was admonished by a cook who was in New Orleans because I did not use Kidney beans; though I found people and sites backing both versions. Various explanations of the why and wherefore of Cajun versus Creole recipes. I had never heard of and have since I found that I might be able to get it here in North Texas (H-E-B) or by ordering online, so I might add some pickled pork to the preparation in the future.
Absolute banger of a recipe.
There’s a lot of RB&R recipes out there, but this is by far the easiest and most flavorful I’ve found. Bookmarked!
I used butter instead of oil to cook the holy trio (onion, celery, pepper) and added pre-cooked sausage at the very end.