How To Make Red Beans And Rice In Louisiana Style? Budget, Ingredients

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the dry beans to a big dish with double their volume in water the night before. Allow the beans to soak overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Slice the sausage into rounds when you’re ready to start cooking. In a large pot, combine the cooking oil and sliced sausage and cook over medium heat until the sausage pieces are browned. With a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked sausage to a clean basin. Refrigerate the cooked sausage while you finish up the rest of the meal.
3. Dice the onion, bell pepper, and celery while the sausage is frying. Garlic should be minced.
4. Remove the cooked sausage from the pot and add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Sauté over medium heat, stirring to dissolve any browned pieces from the bottom of the pot with the moisture from the veggies.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, black pepper, and bay leaves. Cook for another minute after stirring.
6. The soaked beans should be drained and rinsed. Add them to the pot, along with 6 cups of water, and stir briefly to blend the ingredients.
7. Put the cover on the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high to bring it to a boil. Once the pot is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for one hour, stirring occasionally. Every time you stir, replace the lid.
8. The beans should be tender after an hour of boiling. Begin smashing the beans against the pot’s side with the back of a spoon. To thicken the stew, continue pounding the beans and letting it simmer without a lid for another 30 minutes.
9. Cook the rice while the beans finish cooking for the last 30 minutes. In a saucepot, combine the rice and 3 cups of water. Put a lid on top, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Once the rice is boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat after 15 minutes and leave the rice to rest for 5 minutes without removing the lid. Before serving, fluff the rice with a fork.
10. Return the cooked sausage and 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley to the pot after the red beans have thickened. Stir everything together. Taste the red beans and season with salt to taste. Begin with 1 teaspoon and increase as needed. I used a total of 1 tablespoon (3 tsp).
11. Serve the red beans in a bowl with a scoop of rice and chopped green onions on top.

NUTRITION

• Serving: 1.5 cups
• Calories: 715 kcal
• Carbohydrates: 89 g
• Protein: 34 g
• Fat: 25 g
• Sodium: 1799 mg
• Fiber: 14 g

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING RED BEANS AND RICE

1. You may find one sort of red bean or the other depending on where you reside. Red beans and rice can be made with little red beans or kidney beans (dark or light). This dish calls for one pound of dry beans.
2. Soak the beans in water overnight (using twice as much water as beans). Use one of the other ways given in this article if you neglected to soak your beans.
3. Andouille sausage was used. This particular box is 14 ounces, but any amount between 12 and 16 ounces will suffice. If you can’t find Andouille sausage, any other smoked pig or beef sausage will suffice.
4. In a big pot with 2 tablespoons frying oil, slice the sausage into rounds. Cook until the sausage is nicely browned over medium heat. With a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a clean bowl and refrigerate while you finish the rest of the dish. You can drain most of the fat leftover from the sausage if you want to lessen the fat in your red beans. But I kept the fat since it adds so much flavor!
5. Dice one onion, one green bell pepper, and around three ribs of celery while the sausage is frying. The “holy trinity” is a flavor combination of onion, bell pepper, and celery. However, I prefer to add four garlic cloves, so mince those as well.
6. After removing the sausage, add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic to the saucepan. Over medium heat, sauté the vegetables until the onions are tender. As you stir, use the moisture from the veggies to dissolve the browned meat chunks off the bottom of the saucepan.
7. Add the Cajun seasoning (2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and around 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper) and two bay leaves once the vegetables have softened. Cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
8. After draining and rinsing the red beans, add them to the pot with 6 cups of new water.
9. Stir the spices and other ingredients around in the saucepan briefly to disperse them. Cover the pot with a lid and bring it to a full boil over medium-high heat. Once the beans are boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for one hour, stirring regularly.
10. The beans should be tender after an hour of boiling, but the pot will still appear to be somewhat watery. Begin smashing the red beans against the pot’s side with your spoon to thicken it. Allow the red beans to continue to boil for a further 30 minutes without a lid. I stood for about 10 minutes, smashed my beans, and then let it boil for another 20 minutes (30 min total).
11. Cook your rice as the red beans finish their last 30 minutes of simmering. In a saucepot, combine 1.5 cups long-grain white rice and 3 cups water. Cover with a cover, increase the heat to high and allow to come to a boil. Once the rice is boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat after 15 minutes and leave the pot to rest for another 5 minutes without removing the lid. Just before serving, fluff the rice with a fork.
12. The red beans will have thickened considerably after crushing and boiling for a little longer. As they cool, they’ll continue to thicken even more.
13. Return the cooked Andouille sausage, along with about 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, to the pot. Stir everything together. Taste the red beans and season with salt to taste. To bring out the flavors in red beans and rice, you’ll need at least SOME salt. I used 1 Tbsp. for the entire pot, but you can start with 1 tsp and add more to taste.

Serve the red beans with a scoop of cooked rice on top, as well as a chopped green onion!