Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Recipe

Louisiana Red Beans and Rice is a mouth-watering dish with a thick and creamy texture and a depth of flavor that is simply irresistible. Passed down through generations, this family recipe is sure to leave your guests asking for seconds.

This Red Beans and Rice Recipe is a recipe that I inherited from my mother-in-law. It’s a combination of recipes – my husband’s late Grandma from New Orleans, his late Maw from Bogalusa, and now I’ve tweaked it a little based on a trick I learned from the chef we had at our wedding in New Orleans.

Making authentic Louisiana red beans and rice is a bit of a labor of love because it takes some time – I always make a double-batch and freeze some – but it is a fairly easy recipe. This particular recipe has the stamp of approval from my Cajun husband and his brother, and it is one of our family’s favorite meals. I always serve it to guests with instant pot white rice and homemade southern cornbread because it is the ultimate comfort food, and everyone loves it.

While mostly known for its flavor, red beans and rice also has some cultural significance. In Louisiana, red beans are traditionally served on Mondays, which used to be known as “wash day” or “laundry day,” and families would cook a huge pot of beans while doing their laundry. (A lot of families still do!)

It’s a staple in Louisiana cuisine and is loved by locals and visitors alike. And just like gumbo or etouffee, every family makes their own variation. Whether you try it at a family gathering or in a restaurant, this is a must-try dish.

• Red Beans – I like to use Camellia Beans. These are dry beans that are large red kidney beans. Do NOT use canned beans. You want to use dry beans for this recipe so that the beans can soak up all of the delicious flavors of the broth. If you use canned beans, they will get really mushy.
• Butter
• Bacon
• Seasoning Ham, Leftover Ham, or Ham Hocks – You can use leftover holiday ham, a ham bone, or smoked turkey necks – it’s really a matter of personal preference and a matter of what you happen to have on hand. Use what you have and what you need to use up. Pork bones and smoked meats will impart such an amazing flavor to a pot of red beans, but I don’t recommend using something that can splinter into little pieces, like leftover smoked chicken or turkey carcasses with little bones. (Save those for collard greens!)
• Filtered Water
• Chicken Broth or Chicken Stock
• The Cajun Holy Trinity – Onion, Celery, and Green Bell Pepper
• Garlic
• Bay Leaves
• Spices – Kosher Salt, Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning, Dried Parsley, and Black Pepper
• Cooked White Rice for serving – I use my Instant Pot to make long grain white rice, but you can use your favorite kind of rice.
• Pepperoncini Peppers and their Vinegar for serving

There are generally different brands of red beans that you can buy, but whenever possible, I highly recommend purchasing them from the New Orleans-based company Camellia Beans. If you can’t find them, Blue Runner Red Beans are also good, and if not, use what you can find. (You’ll notice that the store brand or Goya brand will be more of a purple color than red, but they will work in a pinch.)

• Cold Soak: Add the red beans to a large bowl with 8 cups of water. I usually soak the beans until most of the liquid is absorbed, which takes at least two hours. I usually soak them for 2-4 hours. (You can also soak them overnight to start cooking your red beans in the morning.) When the beans have absorbed most of the liquid, drain them and rinse them off.
• Hot Soak: If you are in a hurry, you can also do a “hot soak” or “fast soak,” which is how I make butter beans. Place your beans in a large pot with 8 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Once the water begins boiling, cover the pot and remove it from the heat. Let the beans sit in the hot water for 30 minutes to an hour, then rinse them and set them aside until you are ready to add them to the boiling stock.

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add a tablespoon of butter. Once the butter is melted, add the diced bacon. Cook until it starts to get a little crispy. (Pictures 1-3)

Add the seasoning ham and cook until the ham is lightly seared and the bacon is crispy on the edges. (Pictures 4-5) While the ham and bacon are cooking, you can dice up the holy trinity – the onion, green pepper, and celery – and don’t forget the pope, the garlic. If desired, you can remove the ham and bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon and leave the bacon grease and butter behind, but for convenience, you can also just leave it all in the pot.

Now, add the holy trinity – onions, celery, green peppers, and then garlic (the pope!) and saute it all until the onions are translucent. (Pictures 6-7)

Does your dog stare at you while you cook?

When the onions are nice and soft, add salt, pepper, parsley, and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning. (Pictures 8-9) Mix well.

(If you do not have access to Tony’s Seasoning, you can make your own homemade Bayou Blast Cajun Seasoning or Homemade Creole Seasoning.)

Next, add water, chicken broth, and bay leaves to the pot. (Pictures 10-11) Stir well, then bring this to a boil.

Now, add the soaked beans to the boiling broth. (Picture 12-13) Bring everything back up to a boil, then reduce the heat to keep it at a simmer. On my stove, this is usually the 2 or 3 out of 9 on the stove’s knob.

Let the beans simmer over low heat for about 1 ½ – 2 hours at a minimum. (Picture 14-15) Check on the beans and give them a stir every 30 minutes or so, making sure to stir all the way down to the bottom of the pot, checking to make sure that the bottom is not burning. If it seems like the beans are bubbling a little too aggressively, you can turn the heat down even more.

The beans will be pretty thick after two hours, but once they are taken off the heat, they will continue to thicken up.

Toward the end of the cooking time, slice up some smoky andouille sausage or smoked sausage (my husband likes the brand DD’s) and cook it in a frying pan.

Get a nice sear on all of the pieces of sausage, and add some to your bowl of red beans when serving. You can add the sausage directly to the pot of red beans, but we prefer to add it to the bowl when serving so that the sausage stays crispy, and everyone can add as much as they want.

On the side, you can serve:

• Southern Cornbread
• Collard Greens
• Fried Catfish or Fried Chicken Tenders

Here are some more ideas of what to serve with red beans and rice.

If you are heating red beans for a large group or need to keep them warm for a long time, you can use a crock pot or slow cooker on keep warm mode – just make sure everything is thoroughly heated first and keep the cover on so that the beans don’t dry out.

Reheat any leftover rice covered with a damp paper towel to remove the crunchiness in the rice.

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