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Red beans and rice is one of Louisiana’s most beloved comfort foods. Traditionally it simmered all day on Mondays, wash day, while the laundry got done, often with the ham bone left over from Sunday dinner. That pot filled the house with the smell of smoked sausage and spice, and the tradition never left.
Every family has its own version, but the heart of it stays the same: red beans, the Holy Trinity, smoked meat, and plenty of time. The secret is patience. Let the beans cook down until they’re creamy, not just soft. (Want the history? Read why Louisiana cooks red beans on Mondays.)
Classic Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
Serves
6 to 8
Prep
20 min + soak overnight
Cook
2½ to 3 hrs
Pot
Dutch oven
Ingredients
The beans and meat
- 1 lb dried red kidney beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked overnight
- 1 lb smoked sausage or andouille, sliced into rounds
- 1 smoked ham hock or leftover ham bone (optional, but traditional)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or bacon grease
The Holy Trinity (and the Pope)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
The pot
- 8 cups water or chicken broth, plus more as needed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, plus salt, black pepper, and hot sauce to taste
- Cooked long-grain white rice and sliced green onions, for serving
Instructions
- Soak the beans. The night before, rinse the beans, pick out any small stones or broken beans, and cover them with a few inches of water. In the morning, drain and rinse them.
- Brown the sausage. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Scoop it out and set aside, leaving the drippings in the pot.
- Cook the Trinity. Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery to the drippings and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 1 minute.
- Build the pot. Add the drained beans, the ham hock if you’re using one, bay leaves, thyme, Cajun seasoning, and 8 cups of water or broth. Bring to a boil and let it boil hard for 10 minutes.
- Simmer low and slow. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, partly covered, for 2 to 2½ hours. Stir every 20 minutes or so, scraping the bottom so nothing sticks, and add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
- Make it creamy. When the beans are completely tender, mash about a cup of them against the side of the pot and stir them back in. Return the sausage to the pot and simmer 20 to 30 minutes more, until thick and creamy.
- Finish and serve. Pull out the bay leaves and ham hock (shred any meat off the bone back into the pot). Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce, then serve over rice with green onions on top.
Lagniappe: the creamy secret
Many Louisiana cooks mash a ladle of beans against the side of the pot near the end of cooking. That thickens red beans naturally and gives them their creamy, slow-cooked texture, with no flour or cream needed.
- Salt at the end. Smoked sausage and ham hock add plenty of salt, so taste before you add more.
- Old beans won’t soften. If your beans are still firm after 3 hours, they’re probably old. Buy fresh dried beans from a store that sells a lot of them.
- Better on Tuesday. Like gumbo, red beans taste even better the next day.
What you’ll need
- A heavy cast iron Dutch oven
- A flat-edged wooden spoon for scraping the bottom
- Your favorite Cajun seasoning blend
- Long-grain Louisiana rice
Made this? Tell us whether your family uses a ham hock, and what day you cook yours. Leave a comment below or send us a note.
[…] since 1937. When you grow that much rice, it ends up in everything: under the gumbo, under the red beans, and on the holiday table, dressed up with giblets and gravy until it turns a rich, speckled brown. […]