As a lot of you probably know, we moved to Louisiana about a year ago. When we announced that we were moving here, we heard one of two things: 1) “Why?!” and 2) “The food there is absolutely amazing.” Actually, a lot of times we heard both.
I’ll spare you the gory details of our move down here, but I will tell you that it involved a missed flight, a week in an extended-stay hotel that my 3-year-old referred to as the “ho-temple” (and I won’t lie, he wasn’t too far off), and leaving our families on the other side of the country.
Our first night here, we went to an Italian restaurant where the waitress called the little girl at the table next to us “little mama” and I felt so out of place and conspicuous with my “definitely not from here” accent and having NEVER referred to anyone as “little mama.” I was convinced that everyone was going to automatically hate me.
So this is my version–red beans from a Utah girl living in the South and learning from the best…Oh, and if it looks familiar, I borrowed some seasonings from Sara’s black beans.
You’re also going to need about 6 cups of chicken broth. I’m using Sara’s recipe for homemade chicken broth. In case you’re curious, those little plastic containers that Talenti gelato comes in are the perfect thing for freezing 2 cups of chicken broth, which is about the equivalent of one can.
Also, it’s kind of funny to see your husband’s reaction when he opens up the freezer and sees 8 Talenti gelato lids, pulls one out, and realizes it’s chicken broth.
You’ll also need to cut about about 1/3-1/2 pound of smoked pork sausage. Try and find the good stuff–even if you don’t live in Texas or Louisiana where good smoked sausage is widely available in grocery stores, many butchers around the country smoke their own sausage and sell it in their shops.
and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low all day. Or you can start on high until it starts to simmer and then switch it to low. If you live at a high elevation, you’ll need to cook the beans longer or soak them overnight before slow cooking the next day.
When beans are tender, mash about 85-90% of them against the side of the crock pot. Give them a taste and add any extra seasonings if you need to, particularly more Cajun seasoning or salt and pepper. Replace lid and set heat to “low.” Or off. Whatever. It’s pretty hard to screw stuff up in the crockpot. In a medium saucepan, bring 4 c. water, 1 Tbsp. white vinegar, and 2 c. of white rice to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and steam for 20 minutes.
Now…this may be heresy to people who grew up eating red beans and rice, but I prefer it with the beans on bottom and the rice on top. I just think it’s prettier.
Serves about 8, with 1 c. beans and 1/2 c. rice per person.
1/3–1/2 lb. smoked sausage (Andouille sausage if you can find it), quartered and cut into thin slices. You can also use a large, meaty ham bone.
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low all day. Or you can start on high until it starts to simmer and then switch it to low. If you’re at a high elevation, the beans will need to cook longer and/or you need to soak them overnight before you start cooking them in the morning.
Or off. Whatever. It’s pretty hard to screw stuff up in the crockpot. In a medium saucepan, bring 4 c. water, 1 Tbsp. white vinegar, and 2 c. of white rice to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and steam for 20 minutes.
Freezer Instructions: Chop sausage, onion, and garlic and place in a quart-sized freezer bag. In a gallon-sized freezer bag, place the remaining ingredients except the rice and broth. When ready to cook, place the contents of both bags in a slow cooker and add the water. Cook according to the recipe directions and serve with rice.
This will go perfectly with the King Cake I’m planning on making this month. Thanks for the awesome crockpot recipe!
Oh I think this sounds so good! We love slow-cooker meals on Sunday so I think I’ll try this one this week. Yum, thanks Kate!
This recipe looks great, but I have a question. Do you not soak the beans first? I usually have to soak them all night and then cook them all day to get them soft.
Hey Kate- Have you ever tried this with canned beans (and less water of course)? I’ve got a bunch and I’m wondering how it would turn out…maybe I’ll give it a shot and come back with a report. I’m thinking if I used canned beans it might even work better on the stove-top simmering for a little while so the beans don’t turn into mush. Hmmm…any thoughts?
Kathy–I’ve never soaked the beans and they turn out great in the crockpot. On the stovetop, however, I’ve found I definitely need to soak them first.
Sara–I’m SURE you could try it with canned beans; you’ll just have to get around 8 c. of mashed beans and liquid (you want it semi-soupy, not thick like caneed refried beans).
That looks so good!! I can’t wait to try it. My husband will love it!
Please try Fried Okra before ridding it off to Hell for eternity!
I’m not going to lie, I probably won’t make this. My husband has serious gas issues when he eats stuff like this, sorry TMI. But I will say that I absolutely feel entertained when I read the history behind what you are making. You and Sara have some of the funniest expressions I have ever read. Thanks for brightening my day!
I just tried Sara’s Black Bean Soup this week and loved it. The flavors amazing. I love beans and rice, so this recipe I want to try too. Also, Costco has the most delicious Andouille sausage. So if anyone is looking for a good one. I think they come in 3 packages of 6 or so. You can freeze what you don’t use.
Wish I could find andouille. Very Louisiana.
Ahhh… a Utah girl living in Louisiana. I moved to Utah from Louisiana about 4 years ago. I can relate to your story! I’m not from Louisiana, just lived there for a couple of years. I’ve been craving red beans and rice. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
We love to eat beans and rice! I can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks Kate! And Hi to Miss Sara. . .
I thought these were fantastic! I’ve made another recipe a few times by some guy named Emeril and I thought that one was pretty good, but I think these taste even better! I made it even healthier with turkey smoked sausage and throwing in some red bell pepper I had too.
I made this today and we all thought it was yummy!
I put everything in my crock pot last night and then just let it all sit over night in the fridge. Then this morning I just plugged it in and turned it on before we left for church. It was so easy that way. We used turkey sausage too.
Wow, Kate, delicious!! Lanny made it for dinner tonight, and when he said rice and beans I thought, “Wha–?” Then he said it was coming from your blog so I knew it would be good…and it was!
North or South Louisiana? I’m in the South. I’ve never seen cinnamon in red beans but am going to try it. The idea of cooking in the crock pot is great too! Never tried it but am anxious to see how well it works for me so I won’t have to keep checking that the beans don’t burn. I’ve got ham and tasso on hand so may use that instead of the Andouille. Thanks for posting this!
I have the beans in the crock pot for about 5 hours now, they are for tomorrow’s dinner, I’ll finish them tomorrow as they are not soft enough yet.
We used to joke “Way up North in Shreveport”. We even thought BR was north 😉 growing up in NO and Met. We’re almost at the coast but near the TX border now, can’t get much more southern especially since RITA wiped out what WAS south of us.
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while. I finally made it for dinner tonight. I love this recipe! So easy! Delicious! I think my husband was convinced as soon as he saw the sausage! Up until now I’ve been intimidated by dried beans. I can’t believe how easy this recipe was! Thank you so much for the recipe!
I too once was a Utah girl living in Louisiana… I cried the whole 27 hours it took us to drive there.
But everybody was right… some of the kindest people and the best food in the whole world! I miss living there every day.
I can’t wait to try your recipe… we loooooooooooooooooo red beans and rice!
oh and we make our own gumbo… my husband hates louisiana gumbo which is so weird since he’s the one from louisiana.
How we do ours… no veggies. None. Just chicken, sausage and roux with lots of tony’s and served over rice… YUMMY!
This is the best red beans dish I have ever had…spiced just right! I have to admit that I have been eating it cold out of the leftover dish all morning.
Couple things… reading this made me homesick, slightly. I'm not from Louisianna, nor have I ever lived there. But we recently lived in Gulfport, Mississippi for 18 months. Everything was foreign to me when we got there, but I made it home and tried out all those cajun recipes. Some were good, some not so good! I liked red beans and rice though; I'll have to try your recipe. I love the crock-pot idea!
And secondly, I noticed the WW points. Were you counting points for awhile, because I've never noticed them before… Can you do that for all your recipes?? I love WW, and LOVE having the points there! YEA!
Mmm red beans and rice! My dad lives in Louisiana so I've eaten my fair share while visiting him. I tried making it at home several times using kidney beans and was always disappointed because it didn't taste quite right… Next time I was down in Louisiana, I took a close look at the red beans and realized they were way too small to be kidney beans. They actually are a bean variety called red beans! Bought a bag of dried red beans, took them home to Alaska, and made perfect crock pot red beans and rice 🙂 They've even started selling dried red beans at the store here so I don't have to bring them home in my suitcase. I suspect which variety of beans you use may be a regional thing?
So excited about trying this recipe! The red beans are simmering as I type. I'll report back when it is all said and done.
Had to come back with the results. They came out delicious! I didn't change anything to the recipe and loved it! Thanks for the recipes ladies!
I made this for dinner tonight. Loved it! My kids even ate it, and that is what I consider success.
I made this for dinner last night. Not only was it simple to make, both of my kids LOVED it!
So, so, so good. Next time I will have my rice prepared before I taste the beans – once I started “tasting,” I couldn’t stop!
P.S. Every recipe I’ve tried from this site has been not just good, but stellar. Thanks so much.
I tried this and sadly it was not a recipe I would make again. I’ll just go back to traditional New Orleans Style Red Beans and ham. No cinnamon.
So since finding your blog, I have made a few of your recipes, all yummy I might add. I am making red beans this week and I said I was going to give your recipe a try because it is so different from mine, but now I’m scared my kids won’t eat them. Can you tell me, with the cumin and the cinnamon (and this might sound strange) are they chili-tasting? I have had Houston (the city) red beans and they are different from new Orleans red beans, and I think these maybe more like that- they put the green onions on top. As you can see I’m having second thoughts now that the time is here…my kids usually devour beans and rice, I don’t want them to turn on me.
Seriously, if they even kind of taste like Poyeyes I’m in. I’m gonna follow you blindly. Because if you can closely replicate Popeyes beans with only 4 WW points (I’ve heard they put, or used to put, lard in there). Sorry to be a PITA. We’ ll see.
Okay, I was seriously mocked by someone who lived here for loving Popeye’s red beans, so now I feel completely vindicated! 🙂 The flavor of these beans will differ so much depending on the sausage you use, but I really think the cinnamon is the thing that makes them taste Popeye’s-ish. You just need a little pinch–start out very small and then add a little more if you need it.
I’m a country boy from Illinois. Been eating ham’n beans with cornbread my whole life. Went to NO for a couple of weeks last year and been doing some Cajun cooking. You really can’t mess up beans in the crock pot I’ve thrown about every spice in the cupboard in there and also some brown sugar. I pretty much always put in the trinity, green pepper, onion, and celery. Minced garlic a must also. Cinnamon just a pinch is good. Saute’ the sausage and throw it in for the last half to one hour of cooking. Beans are a very healthy food.
Ahhh! Thanks for this recipe. We did the same thing…. moved from the west to L.A. (lower Alabama). I love the south and was looking for a good Red Beans and Rice recipe. I don’t like Gumbo either! Love this site! Do you have a good Etouffee recipe?
Hi! Just wanted to say I loved your red beans and rice, and I’ve had plenty over the years. Dry beans always seem to take forever for me, so I did soak the beans, but otherwise I stuck to the recipe exactly and had perfect results. Thanks!
I know that some people don’t cook the okra enough to get rid of the slime effect. Try cutting up okra,celery and onions with a little cooking oil and baking them together for a few hours. You will need to stir this every now and then and it will cook down perfectly. No slime but nicely browned. We also usually don’t use roux and okra in the same gumbo. They are both used for thickening but I have had it both ways and I love gumbo. That being said the people in other parts of the state don’t smother the okra down like we do and you have all these big chunks floating around. My way is the old cajun down the bayou way and of course I think it is the best way.
We love this recipe!!! So good, made it for my extended family too and the kids turned their noses up till they tried it, they all wanted seconds!!! Tomorrow though hubby has asked that I sub Black beans but keep the rest the same (reminds him of Brazil a bit) so I hope it’s as good!
Just tried this yesterday! AWESOME! Thanks so much! I have always tried to “recreate” Popeye’s red beans and rice and failed…this is spot on!
I lived in Gonzales LA for 5 years and ohh those cajon folk were so friendly and loving! I ate my first red beans and rice at some hole in the wall under an interstate underpass. I thought I was in heaven. You forgot to tell everyone to serve it with corn bread…preferably crumbled into the red beans and rice. mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!
Have this simmering on the stove top & love the aroma! Used small red beans instead of kidney. Can’t wait for supper!
I am making this tonight so I will let you know how it turns out!
I too, lived in Louisiana. We moved there with some excitement though as we’ve lived all over the U.S. and just moved from West Texas and I was SO desperate for trees and green! EVERYONE was so sweet and friendly. The more East you go in the South, the sweeter people get. MHO. But people in La. are lovely. Of everywhere we’ve lived Bossier City was my favorite place ever.. and one day we’ll move back. I sure miss the shopping!!
FYI I LOVE Popeye’s Red Beans and Rice. 🙂 Which is how I found your blog, searching for a copy cat type recipe. We don’t have them where we live. Which is back in Texas. North Central-ish. My family’s from the north. And my husband and I debated (him being a born Texan and southern boy) what red beans were. He said they’re found as “Red Beans” I always thought they were pinto beans. :/ Just until I read above.. Had I known I’d have run out and got some and proper sausage too. I live in the country and it’s a pain to drive into town when it’s onlya couple of things. I thought I could improvise. I won’t do that again.
K, I tasted the soupy part and it’s so good! The house smells of cinnamon which is the reason for my panic! 🙂 I see why you don’t add salt to the recipe! The Tonys is awesome! I had gotten two cans and a bunch of samples from their company and I’ve used it sparingly and don’t cook enough “cajun” flavored foods. Oh God I miss real dirty rice.. I’ll let ya know how it goes in spite of having tampered with the recipe! I bet it’s awesome though! Better if it were properly made I’ll bet! Thank you! 🙂 So happy to have stumbled across your blog and I can’t wait to read more and make more of your recipes!
ONE more question… sorry to fill your wall. How does one steam rice!?
I made this tonight after finding it on Pinterest. All I can say is OMG this is excellent. And the cinnamon adds a wonderful flavor.
This post is old, so I don’t know if you will even see this comment, but I hope you do.
My family loves these beans. This is one of the only “beans and rice” dishes that certain picky children do not grumble over, and that my carnivore husband eats enough of to not be starving in an hour.
I recently had to go dairy free, and all of the chicken base I have contains whey. Boo hiss. Do you think I could just maybe use chicken broth and decrease the water by that amount instead?
I had these at a friend’s house for the first time this week and they are excellent! I’m glad you reposted the recipe for me.
I am having a horrible time trying to scroll through your website. The advertisement are slowing and freezing it constantly. I’ve even tried closing them, only to have the site stop completely. Unfortunately it causes me to leave your site very quickly. Several times, I leave before I even see what you have posted because I’m so frustrated. That said, I enjoy your recipes and I keep trying, hoping the ads have changed.
One of my very favorite recipes from your site! One I come back to often. I served s mission in Louisiana and this is the best recipe I could find for red beans and rice! Yum! Thanks!
Natalie, when were you here?!
I love beans and rice, and this looks delicious!!! I’d make it more often, except don’t y’all need some bean-o or something after eating it; or am I the only one 🙁 ? Kate, does it help to drain the soak water off repeatedly? That would kinda’ nix the easy idea of throwing it all in the crockpot at the beginning, right?
Nope, no need to drain–there’s just enough broth to reach a good consistency once the beans cooked and they’re mashed a little. As for the beano, I don’t ever need such things. KIDDING. It just kind of comes with the territory, lol!
I’ve heard the soaking and disposing of the soaking water helps, but that hasn’t been my experience. Nevertheless, you could try soaking these beans in plain water overnight, then draining before proceeding with the recipe as written.
Is this spicy? I’ve never had Popeye’s so that comparison doesn’t help me. I don’t like spicy at all and neither do my kids. The creole/cajun seasoning sounds like it would be spicy.
The Cajun seasoning *is* spicy, but relative to the rest of the dish, you’re not using very much. I would definitely recommend staying away from Andouille or other spicy sausage if you’re trying to stay away from spice, use the Cajun seasoning, and then when they’re done cooking, use season to taste with salt. Hope that helps!
I made this today. It was so good! Even my non-bean-eating 11 year old ate it. Better yet, my food allergy kid can eat this with us.
Any tips for cooking it in the pressure cooker?
This is a GREAT recipe, but I want to share a few modifications that have worked well for me.
Traditional Red Beans & Rice should really be made with Tasso ‘ham.’ It is a sweet ham, but if you don’t live in the deep south, it is extremely expensive.
I have used smoked sausage and Andouille sausage, but I have not been satisfied with the flavor they give to the dish. DO NOT use Chorizo… Also, DO NOT add the meat at the beginning – wait until the last 30 minutes, after you have smashed the beans and thickened the solution.
I tried using a ‘Maple-cured Ham’ in the recipe today with very good results. The sweetness of the ham more closely represents the ‘Tasso’ that belongs in it, and I believe it pairs well with the cinnamon in the recipe. I used a cinnamon/sugar mix, and it was great.
I also threw in a diced jalapeno from my garden.
Red Beans & Rice does not need to be a dull dish. Done right, it will be savory and full of flavor.
Made this today in my Instapot and it was amazing. Southern comfort food at its finest. Thank you for sharing.