Red beans and rice is a quintessential Louisiana Creole dish made with red beans (obviously), the holy trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper, spices, and andouille sausage. It’s both easy to make and absolutely delicious!
When Susan and I were in New Orleans, I ordered Red Beans and Rice at a restaurant. It was good, but not great. Susan’s Red Beans and Rice on the other hand is amazing, and it’s really easy to make. She used canned beans rather than dried beans.
Ingredients
Susan used the following ingredients: Andouille sausage, the holy trinity (onion, celery and bell pepper), garlic, canned petite diced tomatoes, canned red kidney beans, Creole seasoning and dried oregano.
Making Red Beans and Rice
The most time consuming part of this recipe is chopping all of the vegetables. Once Susan had her mise en place, she started cooking the Red Beans and Rice. First she cooked the andouille sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until the sausage was well browned, this took about 10 minutes.
Then she removed the cooked sausage from the Dutch oven to paper towels to drain. In the same Dutch oven, Susan added the onions and cooked them for about 5 minutes. The onions gave off a fair amount of liquid, this allowed her to scrap up the bits from the bottom of the pan left from the sausage. She did, however, add a Tablespoon or so of chicken broth to help in scraping up the bits.
Then she added the celery and bell pepper, stirring to combine the chopped vegetables.
Next she added about another tablespoon of chicken broth and cooked the vegetables, covered, over medium heat for about 20 minutes. During this time she stirred the vegetables about every five minutes to scrap up the bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven.
Then she added the minced garlic and cooked the mixture for another 30 seconds, just until the garlic was fragrant. Don’t over cooke the garlic or it will burn.
Next she added the tomatoes, gave the mixture a stir, then covered the pot and let the mixture cook for about 10 minutes.
She returned the cooked sausage and the red beans, which were drained and rinsed, to the Dutch oven. She stirred the mixture and cooked it covered for about 15 minutes.
Finally she added the Creole seasonings and oregano. She gave the mixture a stir and tasted it to correct the seasonings. As it turned out, the seasonings were perfect.
While the Red Bean mixture was cooking, Susan prepared the rice. First she brought water, chicken broth and unsalted butter to a boil. Then, she added the rice and gave it a quick stir. She placed a paper towel on top of the pan, covered the pan with the lid and lowered the heat to medium low. After 20-25 minutes, the rice was perfectly cooked.
Time for dinner! Susan paired with the Red Beans and Rice with a freshly baked baguette. The Red Beans and Rice was perfectly seasoned and way better than anything that we had in New Orleans. Yum!
If you’re looking for some more Cajun and Creole recipes check out my Cajun Chicken Fricassee, Pasta Jambalaya, or Shrimp Étouffée. Or if you’d like to see a whole host of NewOrleans inspired recipes, head over to my Ultimate Mardi Gras Recipe Collection.
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Susan’s Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients
Red Beans
- 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
- 1 medium onion, chopped (1-½ cups)
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped (1-½ cups)
- 4 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 29 ounces (2 14.5 to 15.5 ounce cans) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 14.5 ounce can petit diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ Tablespoon Creole seasoning
- Sliced green onion tops or chopped parsley for garnish optional
Rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup uncooked rice
Instructions
Red Beans
- Cook the andouille sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring constantly, until well browned, about 10 minutes. Drain well on paper towels, pressing as much fat as possible from pieces. Cover with paper towels to absorb grease and an upside-down plate to keep warm. Set aside.
- Add onion to Dutch oven; cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up bits from bottom of pan. If necessary, add a Tablespoon of chicken broth to help scrape bits from the bottom of the pan. Add celery and bell pepper to Dutch oven; stir to combine. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic; cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add petite diced tomatoes; stir to combine. Cover pan and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add cooked sausage and red kidney beans; stir to combine. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add seasonings; taste to correct seasonings. Serve over rice. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.
Rice
- Add water, chicken broth and unsalted butter to medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add rice; stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium low; cover pan with paper towels and then pan top. Cook 20-25 minutes, or until rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.
Nutrition
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