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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My family and I have this at least once a month or as often as twice a week! It’s amazing! When I cook this I make a triple batch plus 2 cans of black beans, use New Orleans seasoning in addition to the other seasonings and add an extra beef Kalbausa. I spelled it as close as possible. It’s absolutely wonderful! I make a triple batch and that leaves about 1 batch for left overs. It’s even better the next day!! Oh, I also thicken it a bit more with a corn starch white wash. Thank you for this! It’s going to be a passed down recipe!!
I’d eat it every week
I’m vegan so I used vegetable broth and instead of andouille sausage I used “Beyond Meat” brats. I love spicy but wasn’t sure how spicy it would be so I stuck exactly to the recipe. I would add more hot sauce and more cajun spice. I really liked it a lot!
This is one of my family’s favorite meals, and I make it about once a month! Love it! I always buy Goya brand beans and substituted pink beans when they were out of red, and they worked great. I use a locally made andouille sausage and the only think I do differently is cook the sausages on the grill and then slice them and throw them in to brown. I just think it’s easier to slice them once they are cooked and cooled down a bit. I also like to add fresh minced garlic. Fantastic and easy recipe!
I have made this several times and it is perfect each and every time. The only slight changes I have made is I increased the hot sauce to 1 Tbls.
I grew up in Louisiana and have eaten tons of RB&R, but haven’t been successful at making it the way I remember, until now. This recipe is it! The flavor and consistency are perfect. So delicious and comforting. My whole family loved it too. I can’t wait to make it again!
This recipe is strikingly similar to Millie Pearltree’s red beans, sausage, and rice recipe in the WW app for those of you who are counting points. Delicious and super easy to make, plus, not too much clean up after if you do it all in a dutch oven! It’s become a comfort food staple in our house; even my nine year old loves it!
I had never made red beans and rice before. Found this recipe a few months ago, made it and it was a hit. It’s what’s for dinner tonight too.
I made this tonight. I am sensitive to spice so I reduced the spicy seasonings. I also added diced red pepper and fresh corn because I enjoy them. This was extremely delicious and my fiancé was a big fan too. We are looking forward to leftovers tomorrow. Thanks!!
Made this version for the first time yesterday. Couldn’t find canned red beans that weren’t kidney beans here in the Bay Area, so we bought a bag of dried small, red beans. Used the quick soak method on the stovetop and then cooked the beans in the Instant Pot as I wasn’t sure the simmering phase would cook them enough. Used Slap Ya Mama original blend Cajun seasoning which contains salt and so omitted adding salt. No hot sauce added as the andouille we used had some heat in it. Even with some adjustments it turned out great.
I’ve made this recipe several times and it always turns out well. I use a 1 lb bag of little red beans from Walmart for $1,28, soaking overnight and then rinsing in a colander. Stores longer in the fridge and maintains its consistency. I prefer Ragin Cajun sausage and the same brand of Cajun spices. Don’t use hot sauce in the cooking as the spice blend does the trick. When serving, put the rice on one side of the bowl and the beans on the other.
Great recipe!
Amazing. I follow this recipe exactly and it comes out perfect every time. The ultimate comfort food!
This Red Beans & Rice recipe is the best thing I’ve made from Pinterest. I use smoked sausage and put a few shrimp in too.
This is my favorite recipe! Incredible!! Question: How long does this keep in the refrigerator? (Just the soup – I do not combine with rice until serving) Thank you!!
My family and I have this at least once a month or as often as twice a week! It’s amazing! When I cook this I make a triple batch plus 2 cans of black beans, use New Orleans seasoning in addition to the other seasonings and add an extra beef Kalbausa. I spelled it as close as possible. It’s absolutely wonderful! I make a triple batch and that leaves about 1 batch for left overs. It’s even better the next day!! Oh, I also thicken it a bit more with a corn starch white wash. Thank you for this! It’s going to be a passed down recipe!!
We make this a lot and love it! We make a vegan version by using vegetable stock and beyond sausage links (which I cut in slices) instead. So good!
So delicious! And it’s even better on the 2nd day! Will make again for sure
Made this for Fat Tuesday! Kids and the hubs loved it!!
Made this for dinner tonight… Fat Tuesday. Absolutely delicious! Didn’t change a thing!
Thank you
I just made this for fat tuesdsy.
I highly recomed this recioie its one of the best I ever used.
The only thing I change was draining the liquids before serving into a separate bowl.
I prefer mine a bit more less like soup.
And then added the separated liquid to my preference .
But thats just me
I would defiently recomed this recipe to everyone
So so good! Almost too spicy but that’s pretty adjustable. Serving the rice over the beans is the way to go!