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 have just made it and it tast delicious! What you have to be careful about is a salt – chicken stock and sausage are salty, so don’t overdose it ;).
It’s very tasty and I will do it surely again!
Monday night dinner with my sons (a 20 year tradition). And what do we serve on Mondays? Red beans rice!
Really lovely recipe: quick and easy to make; all of the required ingredients but nothing else; used what’s on hand (red beans in cans) rather than hours of soaking dry beans for a really minimal benefit.
I love Cajun cooking, and would heartily recommend this if you want to get a solid red bean & rice as quickly and simply as possible.
been using this recipes for two years and it’s been a hit every since. i’ve chose a different meat but even with that variation it’s still comes out great. thank you so much
Been using this recipe for about 2 years now. I can only use about a 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning, because a member of my family can’t handle that much spice… lol. But its still good. I’ve shared this recipe with friends and family and they all love it as well.
made this yesterday and it was amazing
This was so delicious!! I did mash some of the beans up so it was creamier. My new favorite recipe.
This is so funny! I’ve heard of red beans & rice for a long, LONG time, but in my little mind I thought, “Okay, red beans & rice. You make rice and add red beans, right?” LOL! Thank you so much for the education! I discovered your recipe about two months ago and have made this every week since! I have made a few ajustments – even though I live in France, my supermarket doesn’t seem to have andouille sausage, so I’ve been using a smoked pork and garlic sausage. Since it isn’t as smokey as I’d like, I’ve added smoked lardon . . . after all, everything’s better with bacon, right? Last time I added my favorite condiment which, at least for me, brought it up another notch – Yotam Ottolenghi’s lemon paste. It just added a bit of brightness, which it does to everything I add it to and it is the easiest thing in the world to make. In any case, I’m in LOVE! Thank you so much! Now I’m going to go make some red beans & rice!
Your recipe sounds delicious. Speaking of beans, I just made my first french cassoulet with Camellia brand white beans and chicken thighs instead of duck confit. Was wonderful. Nothing like long, long simmered beans in a dish. Used salt pork and chicken broth. And some pork butt. I will have to look up
Yotam Ottolenghi’s lemon paste. Do you put that in many stews?
Jim D
I’ve made this about 10 times now. ALWAYS delicious. I use authentic smoked andouille from a smokehouse near me. The flavor is amazing.
About 5 seconds with an immersion blender makes them really creamy.
I’ve made this recipe about 4 times,I cut back on the Cajun spice and double everything else,and it is awesome! I just noticed that it says to rinse and drain the beans, oops I’ve never did that but have to use cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce that’s probably why , and I’ve used a can or two of chili beans in sauce and it turns out great !
Made this for my card party and it was a hit! Will definitely be making this again. Just wonderful!
This was soooo yummy!! Will definitely make again. Thank you!!
This was delicious and easy! My family really enjoyed it!
Made this tonight for the first time – seriously so delicious! Just the right amount of heat. Served it with rice and cornbread – excited for leftovers tomorrow!
First time making red beans and rice and boy, oh boy… This won’t be the last time I make it. 5 stars
Made this for Fat Tuesday. My oh my it’s good!! Definitely a keeper. I’d eat this any day!
It looks just like yours!
Solid. Stepped up the seasoning and hot sauce, but definitely one of the better RB&R recipes.
Yeah, this is good! I used dried red beans, cooked with ham or a strip or two of bacon, instead of canned, and long grain white rice. Camellia brand red beans are the best.
Made this recipe & it was delicious
We decided it’s a keeper!
Just yummy!
Thank you
I’ve made it twice now. Looks nothing like pictures. It’s tasty but what am I doing wrong? Using Red kidney beans… my food and your pictures are wildly different.
It should, I just made it mine looks the same. Try red beans instead of kidney beans. I smash my red beans after its done , as it said you can, but doesn’t look like they did.
A few seconds with an immersion blender works very well