New Orleans Style Red Beans and Rice

Every time I go to New Orleans, Louisiana, I have to make time to take a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Right there in the heart of the French Quarter, not only do the highly trained chefs cook delicious things in front of you – like gumbo, pralines, jambalaya, and bananas foster – but as they’re chopping and stirring, they’re also talking about the history and culture that surrounded the founding of the dishes.

One of the first classes I took was on a Monday. And the reason I remember that was because we had red beans in rice. As Chef Belton explained, the history of this regional dish came about because Mondays were wash days. Before the women would sit around washing their laundry by hand, they would put a pot of beans on the stove with a leftover ham bone in it. The beans would cook while the women would wash their family’s clothes and by the time the laundry was hung and dried, dinner was ready.

Fast forward to today’s cooking and we still love our multitasking abilities! Instant Pots and slow cookers have made cooking even easier and allowed us to do more than ever before!

So for today’s recipe, you can cook it the traditional way on the stove or you can make it in the slow cooker like I did. I didn’t try to make it in the Instant Pot, but I’m sure you can.

For this recipe, it’s all about the seasoning. You can use a classic like Tony Chachere’s, but my personal favorite is the spice blend Joe’s Stuff that they sell at the New Orleans’s School of Cooking.

So if you’re looking for a hearty recipe for dinner, this is the one! This traditional New Orleans style red beans and rice recipe features slow cooked beans, hearty sausage, and a classic cajun flavor that’ll make you wanna slap your mama!

New Orleans Style Red Beans & Rice

This traditional New Orleans style red beans and rice recipe features slow cooked beans, hearty sausage, and a classic cajun flavor that'll make you wanna slap your mama!

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 6 hours hrs

Total Time 6 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 white onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 8 cups water
• 1 pound dried red beans
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 1 pound smoked sausage cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning such as Joe's Stuff or Tony Chachere's
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage or 1/4 teaspoon fresh sage
• 3 cups cooked white rice

Method

 

1. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Cook and stir onion, garlic, celery, and bell pepper until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Stovetop instructions

1. Combine water, red beans, and ham hock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir onion mixture, bay leaves, Creole seasoning, thyme, and sage into the water. Reduce heat to low and place a cover over the pot.
   
2. About 4 hours into the cooking time, add the smoked sausage. Continue cooking for another hour.
3. Remove the ham hock and bay leaves. Serve over white rice.

Slow Cooker Instructions

1. In a slow cooker, put water, red beans, ham hock, onion mixture, bay leaves, Creole seasoning, thyme, and sage and turn the setting to high.
2. About 4 hours into the cooking time, add the smoked sausage and turn the crockpot down to low. Continue cooking for another hour.
3. Remove the ham hock and bay leaves. Serve over white rice.

Video

Notes

Soak your beans in water overnight the night before you want to make them.

If you don't have a ham hock, that's okay. They'll still turn out pretty dang good without it. You could always cut up some thick ham and cook it with it too.

Make these beans the day before you want to serve them. They always taste better on day 2.

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