You just can’t trust everyone’s red beans and rice boos. But you can trust this one. I cook mine low and slow with tons of spices and meat until it thickens up like a stick to ya bones stew. I make a huge pot of this at least once a week, and everyone is straight up satisfied. Spoon this over a bowl of white rice and get your whole life!! Popeye’s ain’t got nothing on this!
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How to Make Red Beans and Rice
These step-by-step photos show how to make red beans and rice, but be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and detailed instructions. Skip to the → Red Beans and Rice Recipe
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1. Sauté the veggies
Cook the onions, celery, and bell peppers in olive oil until they caramelize and become tender.
2. Add the sausage
Brown the sliced sausage, then stir in the garlic and cook briefly without burning.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients
Increase the heat and add the stock, water, Worcestershire, hot sauce, creole seasoning, salt, pepper, and beans.
4. Simmer the red beans and serve with rice
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and cook until the beans soften and the pot thickens before serving with rice.
Full Red Beans and Rice Recipe
Red Beans and Rice Recipe
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I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onions
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- ½ cup finely chopped bell peppers
- 3 andouille sausage links, cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 4-5 cups water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper up to 1/4 tsp but taste later
- 1 pound dried red beans already soaked overnight and drained
- Cooked rice to serve with beans
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onions, celery and bell peppers and cook about 10-12 minutes or until they begin to caramelize and tenderize. Next add in sausage and brown for about 4-5 minutes. Add in minced garlic and cook for 1 minute making sure not to burn.
- Turn heat up to medium high and add chicken stock, water, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, creole seasoning, salt and pepper then stir in red beans.
- Bring liquid to a boil then turn heat down to medium low, cover with lid and cook for 2 1/2 – 3 hours or until beans are tender and liquid as thickened. Check flavor of beans and season with salt and pepper to taste if necessary, stir and turn off heat.
- Let cool for 15 minutes and allow beans to continue thickening. Serve with rice.
Notes
- How to Store and Reheat your Red Beans and Rice
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- Fridge: Make sure the beans cool down to room temperature before you store them up. Add them to an airtight container or resealable plastic bag letting out all the air. Store the leftover beans and rice in separate containers in the fridge for about 4 days.
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- Freezer: These freeze super well. They last up to 6 months.
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- Reheat: If frozen, thaw them out overnight in the fridge. Return the cajun red beans and rice to a pot and heat on the stove until warmed through. If they dry out a bit, just toss some more stock in the pot.
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Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Don’t forget to soak those beans! Overnight is best but if you forget, just quick soak! Add the beans to a large pot over high heat until boiling. Boil for 5 minutes then cover with a lid and turn off the heat letting them sit for at least an hour. Drain and use.
- Really let the flavors of the trinity develop. Make sure the veggies are soft before moving on with cooking to add more bomb flavor.
- Check on the beans as they cook. They will take a while to cook but it’s a good idea to give them a stir every now and then.
- Let the the pot sit after cooking. They will cool down slightly during this time and the liquid with thicken up slightly making them even better. About 15-20 minutes is good!
Serving Suggetions
- Cornbread: This Southern cornbread is always a fave but you can also serve it with hot water cornbread, hush puppies, or some baked corn muffins!
- Veggies: Get your vegetable on with some Southern classics like these collard greens, vinegar coleslaw or Southern green beans.
- Fry it Up: Fried catfish or fried chicken is a great country protein to pair with this.
- Other Cajun and Creole dishes: If you’re looking to combine your spicy red beans and rice with other dishes, I love this seafood gumbo, shrimp creole and blackened fish.
- Dessert: Don’t forget those beignets or bananas foster boos!
Recipe Help
Yep! Saute all of your trinity ingredients upfront. Then add all the ingredients to a standard-sized crockpot and cook until tender. You can add all of the ingredients in the morning and have dinner in the evening!
Yep. Not only does it help the beans cook up in less time but it makes the easier to digest which alleviates some of the uncomfortable side effects of eating beans. If you forget to soak them the night before, you can do a quick soak. Boil the dry beans for five minutes in water. Then turn it off and let it sit for an hour. Then you can drain the water and continue making the recipe.
Yep! Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock, remove the sausage from the recipe and replace the worchestershire with soy sauce.
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Made this last night including your creole seasoning. It was excellent! Due to dietary needs I used turkey smoked sausage and added one extra teaspoon of the creole seasoning.
Thanks for sharing your recipes.
I love that you made the seasoning too. That’s how you do it. Turkey smoked sausage is a great swap, and adding a little extra Creole seasoning sounds perfect. I’m so glad it turned out excellent for you. Thank you for cooking along with me and making it your own.
By far, the best RB&R recipe. I used the crock pot, added cooked bacon, and the meal tasted like I was back in Louisiana!
Thank you so much!! That’s the highest compliment!
What was the brand of vegan sausage that you used?
Beyond meat and impossible have some great brands. Also soyfrito is also good and has a nice spice.
So good!! Based on another reviewer I reduced the water to four cups and the thickness was perfect.. Definitely a keeper! Thank you!!
You’re so welcome!
I love this recipe!!!! It is on rotation at my house along with many of my Italian grandmothers recipes!
I really appreciate how if times are tight I know we can still eat good! Bless you!❤️
Awe, thank you so much, Molly!
SO happy to have found and tried this recipe! Red beans and rice is one of my favorite meals of all time ;and my husband and I travel to New Orleans every year so we can satisfy our cravings. This recipe was a great way to try and do it at home. I loved the flavor so much, and it was SO easy. I think I miscalculated the water perhaps, as I had SO much extra liquid. I also soaked my dry beans for like 24 hours, lol, so maybe they didn’t absorb as much water as it was supposed to while cooking. But it was super easy to remove the extra liquid, and the seasonings were still perfect. I love Tony Chachere’s cajun/creole seasoning, and the seasoning salt was a great addition as well instead of regular salt. Oh and the worcestershire was brilliant, loved that addition! So easy and so cheap to make as well, I can’t wait to make this all the itme!
I grew up on red beans and rice and my husband was never into it. This recipe turned him into a RBR fan! Cant thank you enough. Its a pretty solid recipe!
Yay! So happy to hear that!
My husband and i loved this recipe. It was the perfect spicinessand we made cornbread with it. It will be a staple in our home from now on.
Thanks so much Debbie!!
I made a substitution by using chopped ham with liquid hickory SMOKE FOR the sausage. Came out delicious! Thanks for the amazing Recipe
Yum that sounds so good!
Amazing recipe! I left out the water and used a little more chicken stock also added black beans with my kidney beans and some cumin and red pepper spice and it came out delicious!!!
Yay, so happy to hear that, Deb!