Red Beans and Rice
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So thick, creamy, flavorful! Beans are cooked just right. Perfectly tender served with rice and smoky andouille sausage!
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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.
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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.
I made this today and it is delicious! We don’t eat meat so I just followed the rest of the recipe until I got to the stock. Oh no, I only had a cup and a half of veggie stock. Went with that anyway and I think it just made for an even more concentrated and tasty sauce. We will be having this again.
Yum, yum, yum, and yum; one for me, one from my husband, and two from our tummies. Oh, this was so good. Thank you. Definitely a keeper.
My family loved this recipe!! Prefect for Mardi Gras Day
This is a good recipe to make from scratch. It was easy if onion celery and green pepper or chopped up in advance. My Cajun seasoning was salty, so I held back and added my own blend of cayenne, chili powder, and Spanish smoky paprika to taste. As a last step, I rinsed and drained a can of red kidney beans and mash them before adding to the pot. This served as additional thickening for the dish. I like serving the rice on the side or sparingly over the top so this is a great way to serve red beans and rice!
Made this for Mardi Gras and it was absolutely delicious!! I used smoked kielbasa and browned some more to add to each serving. Also made sure to scoop out the cup of beans to mash them well for extra creaminess. Served bowls with generous 1/4 cups of basmati & chopped fresh parsley, and big chunks of your go-to cornbread on the side. This is a total keeper for any time of year. So good, i was looking for more even though it lasted me for days. Thank you so much for this!! xx
Excellent. I prefer for the celery, bell pepper and onions to be super soft, so I simply cooked longer. I used jasmine rice instead cooked with chicken bouillon. Will do this one again!
So yummy
All the picky eaters loved it
This is the best red beans and rice I have ever had, hands down. So flavorful and easy to make. I’ve been to New Orleans four times and have never had red beans and rice that compare. Side note, if you can get your hands on it, savannah sausage andouille is fantastic. The only other that I think compares is Registers in the panhandle of FL.
Don’t make this! It is TOO DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!! We used smoked turkey wing instead of sausage, cut the salt in half and used the cauliflower rice. Absolutely fabulous! Even my picky “I only want peanut butter and jelly!” sandwich eater ate some without complaint.
First time making red beans and rice without it being from zatirans ha. This was a good hearty supper. The family loved it! I made it this in my Dutch oven/crockpot that is removable. I added bacon In there to add some Smokey notes and followed the rest of the recipe. Will make again! Thanks!!
Wow. This was SO so good. I doubled it, to make extras for lunches this week.The only change I made was to use cilantro-lime rice to top the red beans with. We are happily eating leftovers!
Excellent recipe. My only change was to add a tsp of oregano, thyme, and ground sage.
Damn delicious!!
Made this tonight and it was perfect. Didn’t add hot sauce because the andouille sausage was spicy enough for my kids. We LOVED it and this is the PERFECT quick red and rice recipe! Took me 15 minutes to get everything into a pot. (A timesaver is to use half a package of frozen prechopped trinity veg mix or creole mix-a mix of celery, onion, and green bell peppers)