Red beans and rice
Creamy, smoky red beans simmered with onion, garlic and Cajun spices and spooned over rice, the New Orleans Monday dinner made from cans.
- 45 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $1.51 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced (optional)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)
- 1 tsp hot sauce, for serving (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- 2 cups water
Each serving has about 530 calories, 17 g protein, 95 g carbs and 8 g fat, and costs about $1.51 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No kidney beans? Pinto beans or black beans work.
- No vegetable broth? Chicken broth works.
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No hot sauce? Sriracha works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, 6 to 8 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Stir in the garlic, smoked paprika, thyme, oregano, cayenne and pepper and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the beans, broth, bay leaves and ½ teaspoon salt. over high heat, then and with the for 25 minutes.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Low heatTimer: 25 min
Meanwhile, the rice, then put it in a with 2 cups water and ¾ teaspoon salt and over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir the rice once, cover, and cook on low for 15 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave the lid on until the beans are ready.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Fish out the bay leaves. Mash about a third of the beans against the side of the pot with your spoon and stir, until the pot turns thick and creamy.
Dolly’s tip: This is the trick that makes red beans creamy without any cream.Taste and add salt if it needs it. Spoon the beans over the rice and top with green onions and hot sauce.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
