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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Very, very good! I’ll be making again& again.
This is the best red beans and rice I have ever had. I had to make it again the next day . I pretty much followed the recipe but added my own spices ( adobo, garlic, onion powder, celery seed, coarse steak seasoning, a pack of sazon , a couple dash’s of franks red sauce ) This was such a yummy meal! Coupled-it with jiffy corn muffins. Perfection
Loved it! Made other day substituted some ingredients, this is now on my go to recipes for easy and using up some canned beans. just doing part of recipe will be 4 to 5 meals, served with brown rice. Froze the last 2 servings to see how it tastes when thawed to know how much to make in future. Normally putting something spicy with heat in the freezer will intensify the heat, so plan to pull out of freezer in next week or 2.
Have been searching for the perfect red beans and recipe for years and it’s finally here. BEST I’ve ever had. Thank you!!
We love hearing that, Sarah! Thank you for sharing.
Very, very good. Will keep this recipe, but will cut down the chicken stock. Had a soup like consistency. But, definitely tasty!
Made this last night for dinner. I followed the recipe and it was absolutely delicious!!! I did add chicken just in case my kids didn’t like the sausage but other than that it was amazing! Will definitely be making again
Oh wow!!! This was so good! Love the mild heat of the andouille sausage and the flavor of the Cajun seasoning. Great recipe that will be repeated!
This was my first time to make red beans and rice and oh boy was it ever delicious. As others suggested I only used 2 cups of chicken broth. It will be in our meals rotation.
Super excited to make this meal for the week. Anyone have a recommended hot sauce for this?
Crystal! This recipe is so good!
It was awesome. So rich and easy to make it will be a dish served plenty
So we have made this twice and it is our favorite red bens and rice recipe. The second time I added another can of beans, and along with the Andouille sausage, a couple of grilled chicken thighs from the night before that I cubed and some grilled jumbo shrimp that I seasoned with the same Louisiana seasoning. WOW! Of course I use Minute rice just because I like it, but… it was wonderful.
Tried this recipe today.
Didn’t have any fresh garlic so substituted garlic powder.
Halfway through found out I had no chicken stock so substituted beef broth. Still simmering but does smell great. Hope it tastes as good as it smells!
Wonderful recipe. Thank you for sharing.
This was incredibly tasty! Just the perfect amount of heat. So so good!
This is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a recipe and and cook and baking daily as it’s my profession I’m reviewing this ‘cause I’ve made it at least 15 times and it’s deliciousHaha I was starting to feel guilty I hadn’t commented how great it is! I like the little heat from the seasonings but it certainly can be adjusted to your likes. Leftovers are as good if not better the next day!
I have tried other Red Beans and Rice Recipes, which were good, but I tried yours and it was tasty! The spices tickled my tongue and my throat. I like spice! I will add more spice the next time. Nice flavor! I used dried beans because it was what I had at home. I soaked overnight. I cooked them for an hour after rinsing them. Now, I like my beans with a little bite, and if you use dried beans, you may consider using either a pressure cooker or cook them longer, to get them softer. Next time, I will try the canned beans in the recipe. I’m going in the house to eat leftovers! I can’t wait to taste the developed flavors! Hats off to you!
Tried this tonight, and it was excellent! Thank you!
Delicious but would like to know the calories and protein count. Please and thank you
Yes, nutrition info would be amazing! I make this regularly!
Hot damn, this is so good. Made it vegan with veg chorizo sausage and vegetable broth and it was heavenly. Thank you so for sharing these with us!
Very good and versatile. Used some orphaned Italian sausage and browned them with a slice of bacon to create a bit of smokiness. No celery on hand but didn’t really miss it. Lots of depth of flavor! Thank you for a fast easy recipe that tastes restaurant quality.