Every Monday, you can find a pot of red beans and rice cooking in someone’s kitchen in New Orleans. The food writer and New Orleans bon vivant Pableaux Johnson’s house is no exception. The dish, an easy meal from when people used to reserve Monday to do the wash, was once made with the pork bone left over from Sunday supper. In this version, Mr. Johnson strongly encourages the use of hand-made Louisiana Andouille, but smoked sausage will do. —Kim Severson
Louisiana Style Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
Classic Louisiana style red beans and rice are a naturally budget friendly meal that will give you leftovers for days! Freezer friendly!
Prep: 15min
Total: 615min
Yield: 6
Serving Size: 1.5 cups
Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1.5 cups, calories 715 kcal, Carbohydrate 89 g, Protein 34 g, Fat 25 g, Sodium 1799 mg, Fiber 14 g
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. dry red beans ($1.49)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 14 oz. Andouille sausage ($3.79)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 1 green bell pepper ($0.69)
- 3 ribs celery ($0.46)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.20)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried thyme ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 bay leaves ($0.60)
- 6 cups water ($0.00)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp salt, or to taste ($0.10)
- 1.5 cups long grain white rice (uncooked) ($0.93)
- 3 green onions ($0.22)
Instruction:
- The night before, add the dry beans to a large bowl with double their volume in water. Allow the beans to soak in the refrigerator overnight.
- When you’re ready to start cooking, slice the sausage into rounds. Add the cooking oil and sliced sausage to a large pot and cook over medium until the sausage pieces are browned. Remove the cooked sausage with a slotted spoon to a clean bowl. Place the cooked sausage in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- While the sausage is cooking, dice the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Mince the garlic.
- After removing the cooked sausage, add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the pot. Sauté the vegetables over medium heat until the onions are soft, allowing the moisture from the vegetables to help dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the pot as you stir.
- Add the smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, black pepper, and bay leaves to the pot. Stir and cook for one minute more.
- Drain and rinse the soaked beans. Add them to the pot along with 6 cups water and give the pot a brief stir to combine the ingredients.
- Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the pot boil for one hour, stirring occasionally. Replace the lid every time you stir.
- After boiling for one hour, the beans should be tender. Begin to smash the beans with the back of a spoon against the side of the pot. Continue smashing the beans and letting the pot simmer without a lid for 30 minutes to thicken the pot.
- While the beans are simmering for their final 30 minutes, cook the rice. Add the rice and 3 cups water to a sauce pot. Place a lid on top, turn the heat on to high, and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let the rice simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let the rice rest for 5 minutes without removing the lid. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.
- Once the red beans have thickened, add the cooked sausage back to the pot along with 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley. Stir to combine. Taste the red beans and add salt to your liking. Start with 1 tsp and add more as needed. I used 1 Tbsp total (3 tsp).
- Serve the red beans in a bowl topped with a scoop of rice and a sprinkle of sliced green onions.
Red Beans and Rice
A Monday night staple in New Orleans, this iconic and easy one-pot dish has deep roots in the city’s history. Much before the time of washing machines, New Orleanians dedicated their Mondays to laundry — a day-long affair that left little time to prepare any meals. So they combined rice and kidney beans with aromatics, spices and ham bone leftover from Sunday supper in one big pot and let it simmer until it was time to eat. This streamlined version of the dish leaves out the ham, but has the rice cooking in chicken stock for extra flavor. The rice and beans get cooked separately to ensure that the grains don’t overcook and hold their shape. Although there’s some debate on the lineage of this dish (some trace it back to enslaved West African people, other’s credit Haitian refugees fleeing the revolution), everyone can agree that red beans and rice is synonymous with the very essence of New Orleans.
Prep: 0 10min0
Total: 0 30min0
Yield: 8 servings
Nutrition Facts: Sugar 3 grams, Protein 11 grams, Fiber 9.5 grams, Carbohydrate 43 grams, Sodium 315 milligrams, Cholesterol 4 milligrams, Saturated Fat 1 grams, Fat 4 grams, calories 247
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade and minced
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and small diced
- 2 (1-pound) cans red kidney beans
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
Instruction:
- Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Saute garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper until tender. Stir in kidney beans, onion powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Reduce heat to low and let mixture simmer slowly while you cook the rice.
- Bring the chicken stock to a boil and stir in rice and butter. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Fold rice and beans gently together and transfer to a serving dish. Serve garnished with cilantro.
Red Beans and Rice
Red Beans and Rice
Prep: 5min
Yield: 4
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (14 oz) beef broth
- 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
- 2 cups Minute® White Rice
- hot pepper sauce (optional)
Instruction:
- In just 4 simple steps you can enjoy this Red Beans and Rice dish made with sautéed green pepper and onion, red kidney beans, white rice and Cajun seasoning simmered in beef broth. Step 1
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bell peppers and onions; cook and stir until crisp-tender. Step 2
- Add beans, broth and seasoning; stir. Bring to a boil. Step 3
- Stir in rice and cover. Remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve with pepper sauce, if using. Recipe Tip To turn this dish into a quick, complete meal, add 2 cups of diced ham or cooked sausage at the same time as the broth.
Make the Perfect Red Beans and Rice
FAQ
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