Red Beans and Rice (New Orleans Style)
This is Monday dinner at every Louisiana table — creamy red beans simmered slow with smoky sausage and ham, ladled over fluffy white rice. It's the kind of stick-to-your-ribs comfort that makes you close your eyes and smile with every spoonful. Folks been making this dish on wash day for generations because it cooks itself while you tend to other things.
Cooking tutorial
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried red kidney beans
- 8 cups water (plus more as needed)
- 1 lb andouille sausage, sliced into rounds
- 1 lb smoked ham hock or ham bone (or 1 cup diced ham)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 to 6 cups cooked white rice, for serving
- Green onions, sliced (for garnish)
- Hot sauce (for serving)
Instructions
- 1
Sort through your beans and pick out any stones or bad beans, then rinse them real good under cold water and set aside.
- 2
Heat the oil in a big heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then brown the sausage slices on both sides, about 5 minutes total, and set them aside on a plate.
- 3
In that same pot with all that good sausage flavor, add your onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook them down until they're soft and sweet, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
- 4
Add the garlic and cook for another minute until it smells real good, then add your beans, ham hock, bay leaves, thyme, smoked paprika, cayenne, black pepper, and salt.
- 5
Pour in 8 cups of water and bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer gentle for about 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so.
- 6
After about an hour and a half, add your browned sausage back to the pot and keep simmering until the beans are creamy and tender — some should be breaking down to thicken up that gravy.
- 7
If the beans get too thick, add more water a cup at a time; if they're too soupy, take the lid off and let them cook down some more.
- 8
Once the beans are creamy and the liquid is thick like gravy, take out the ham hock and pull off any meat, chop it up, and stir it back into the beans.
- 9
Taste and add more salt, pepper, or hot sauce as needed, then fish out those bay leaves.
- 10
Serve a big scoop of beans over a mound of hot white rice, sprinkle with green onions, and pass the hot sauce at the table.
Pro Tips
- ★If you've got time, soak your beans overnight in cold water — they'll cook faster and more evenly, but it's not required if you forgot.
- ★The secret to creamy beans is mashing some of them against the side of the pot with your spoon during the last 30 minutes of cooking — that's what makes that thick, silky gravy.
- ★This tastes even better the next day after all those flavors have married together, so don't be shy about making extra.