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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
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 20 minutes
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.

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.