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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I cook a lot and this is probably my favorite recipe of all time! So delicious! Making your sesame chicken bowls next- fingers crossed it’s near as good as this recipe. Thanks!
Says “serve immediately”, but it’s even better the next day.
You’re so right! Just like gumbo, always better the next day.
This was perfect. Good as if not better than red beans and rice that I have had in NOLA.
This was a hit, even with substitutions. We had two cans of black beans and a can of navy beans. We also used little smokies because that is all we had on hand. It was still awesome!
Fast become a family favorite, Easy to put together and wonderful flavors, We substitute the andouille sausage for a less spicy version for the kids, But I sneak one in every now and then to keep them on their toes!!
Very Good! Not hard at all to make and very delicious.
Please make this recipe. It’s amazing. So damn delicious.
This is one of our favorites!
Does anyone know how this recipe doubles?
My husband requested I cook this for his birthday for his whole family
You can easily double this recipe. I’ve been making red beans and rice (I’m from Louisiana) for decades. Like gumbo, it’s really better the next day so if you can, make it the day before you plan to serve it. It also freezes well.
Fantastic and comforting! Plant based so I subbed field roast chorizo (not traditional, but had a nice smoky flavor- worked better than I expected) and veggie broth. Next time I would add one more can of beans, but overall it was a huge hit!! I served with cornbread. Thanks for the great, simple recipe.
very very good and very easy to make. i can’t wait to eat my leftovers tomorrow! the only change i made was to use my homemade emeril’s cajun spice that contains salt. i just didn’t add any additional salt later. this is a fantastic recipe!
This turned out really good…since I am a Louisiana resident, I added a little more Cajun seasoning(Tony Chachere is the best] and used Conecuh sausage. And I used real beans soaking them over night. Add some crusty French bread and it
Hits the spot!!
oo, adding some crusty French bread sounds great!
This was the best recipe. My husband is from New Orleans and loved it. We’ve decided it’s a keeper recipe just like most of your recipes are.
This recipe is amazing! I’ve been sick and wanted an easy comfort food recipe. I’m not ready for spicy yet so I used Lil Smokies instead of andouille and replaced the hot sauce with apple cider vinegar. I added carrot to bump up the nutrition a bit and used cook in bag rice for the convenience. This is going into the meal rotation!! I can’t wait to try the spicier version.
This is indeed Damn Delicious!
I made this last night and, apparently, it was “BUSSIN”. My preteen boys and my husband loved it. I followed the recipe as is. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and intend to make it again this weekend. It is so simple and so delicious. We substituted beef sausage since we don’t eat pork. It was still really really good. I go to your site often to look for different recipes to cook. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes!
This was banging I added shrimp to ours and it was probably the best dish I’ve made
It’s hard to find good sausage for this. I lived in Alabama most of my life and can’t find anything quite like “conecuh” sausage in Cali. I’m disappointed every time I make anything without it. But overall a good recipe. If you’re a good cook you can add/subtract whatever to make it to your taste.
@Mark! That is so funny. I’m from Alabama and I think Cali lacks A LOT of things.. one of the biggest reasons I think I gotta head back south.. but conecuh sausage is like no other!! Something you will only find in the south (Monroe sausage too -made in my home county.. though I like conecuh better haha). I used the chicken andouille sausage from trader joe’s. But seriously, nothing is like good southern food (which is hard to come by out West)!
Side note: conecuh on light bread … bombbbb!!
Omg Conecuh is the best!!! I also made this recipe it was very good. Family loved it!
I substituted cut up little smokies instead of andouille sausage. I included the juice the smokies were packaged in and it added the perfect smoky flavor like I remember Mother’s in New Orleans had when I first ate this dish. Also, it has salt so I didn’t add any extra. It turned out perfect. I made honey corn bread to go with it and my family absolutely loved it.
This was so good even my husband who is extremely picky loved it. Never thought I would find a decent recipe that wasn’t crazy salty. I had to make a few modifications due to what was available and not available at my store. Couldnt find cajun seasoning so I googled it and made my own and no andouille sausage but I found a cajun sausage so I used that. Love that there will be leftovers. After the meal my husband told me to go sit down and he will clean the kitchen that never happens.
I love Red Beans & Rice. This recipe was very simple and authentic to down south. I did have to add another can of beans, because I felt like there was less beans than other ingredients in the dish. I also added 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke. Otherwise, it was a very simple and delicious recipe.