Red Beans and Rice is a delicious New Orleans classic and an easy recipe to cook at home. A rich, creamy, smoky, comforting meat and bean stew, served with rice. The ultimate New Orleans comfort food.
Red Beans and Rice
History tells us that Monday is Red Beans and Rice day in New Orleans. The lore is that the pork roast was a common Sunday dinner, and that leftover pork bones were used to flavor Monday's red beans and rice. And since Monday was laundry day (which used to take the whole day) New Orleanians needed a dish that mostly cooked itself, so they could focus on the wash while dinner simmered away on the stove.
Red Beans and Rice is easy to make from scratch. There's very little hands on time required other than some chopping and sautéing, and the ingredient list is pretty simple.
What Goes Into Red Beans and Rice?
- DRIED RED KIDNEY BEANS come in light and dark. Either type can be used. Soak the beans for 8 hours or overnight. Or use the quick soaking method.
- CELERY, ONIONS AND GREEN PEPPERS are what New Orleanians refer to as THE HOLY TRINITY. These three vegetables, finely chopped and sautéd, create the foundation of flavor in Cajun and Creole cooking.
- GARLIC is finely minced or passed through a garlic press
- ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE is a spicy, heavily smoked sausage used often in Creole and Cajun dishes. It imparts wonderful spicy smoky flavors to this dish. If you can't find Andouille sausage, use another smokey spicy sausage such as Chorizo or Kielbasa.
- HAM STEAK is readily available in the smoked meat section of the grocery store. It comes with or without a small bone. Either is fine, as long as you have about a pound of meat.
- SPICES: bay leaves, dried thyme, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper
How to make Red Beans and Rice
- Sauté the holy trinity (celery, onion and green pepper) in vegetable oil for a few minutes, until tender
- Add the diced ham and sliced sausages and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes
- Add the garlic, beans, broth and spices, bring the ingredients to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 2 hours
- Check out the before and after pics below, to see the delicious result of a long slow simmer
- The final step of this recipe is to mash some of the beans and stir them through, to thicken the stew.
New Orleans is testament to how multiculturalism can translate into amazing food.
Red Beans and Rice is an example of Louisiana Creole cooking, which has roots in the cooking customs of the French aristocracy that settled in New Orleans at the turn of the 18th century, merged with the vast and varied ingredients and techniques brought by settlers from other lands, including Spanish, German, Native American, African, and Italian.
Spaniards brought peppers and spices, Germans brought sausages and delicious baked goods, the Native Americans grew corn and beans, Africans brought Okra and so on.
Lucky me that two of my sons attended Tulane University in New Orleans. My kids got a great education and I got to visit them and enjoy the amazing jazz and food scene in NOLA. I'm not sure if Red Beans and Rice would be in my cooking repertoire if my kids had chosen a different college, though I have to admit that the first time I tasted Red Beans and Rice was at Popeye's, and I absolutely loved it.
When we dropped our oldest son off at Tulane freshman year, our whole family flew down to New Orleans five days early to explore the city, starting with a culinary tour of the French Quarter. We ate our way from jambalaya and red beans and rice to beignets and pralines. It was such an enjoyable way to learn about the city and it left me excited to cook creole food at home, with red beans and rice at the top of my list. It's become a regular favorite in our house.
Whether you're celebrating Mardi Gras, cooking for game day festivities or enjoying a quiet dinner with family or friends, there's nothing like red beans and rice to make everyone happy at the table.
Here's the Red Beans and Rice Recipe. If you try this recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
Recipe

Red Beans and Rice New Orleans Style
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 mins
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Red Beans and Rice is an easy, comforting, family friendly recipe that's great for feeding a crowd.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of red kidney beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked for at least 8 hours or overnight. (To soak, put beans in a large bowl and add water until it's 2 inches above the beans. Or use the quick soaking method).
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil such as canola or light olive oil
- 2 cups finely chopped yellow or red onion (2 medium onions)
- 1 cup finely chopped celery (2-3 stalks)
- 1 cup finely chopped green pepper (1 medium pepper)
- 3 Bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 pound, packaged boneless ham steak, diced into ½-inch cubes (see notes)
- 12-16 ounces smoked Andouille sausage, thinly sliced (see notes for subsitutions)
- 6 large garlic cloves, minced or squeezed through a garlic press
- 9-10 cups low salt chicken broth or water (I recommend Swanson's)
- Salt to taste
- 6 cups cooked white rice (from 3 cups raw rice)
- 1 bunch scallions, sliced, to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Drain beans and set them aside.
- Heat oil in a large cooking heavy cooking pot or Dutch oven. Sauté onion, celery and green pepper and sauté, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until starting to soften. Add bay leaves, salt, pepper, thyme and cayenne and stir through. Add ham and sausages and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Add the drained beans and 9 cups of the broth and turn the heat up high. As soon as the liquid comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 2 hours, adding additional broth or water (¼ cup at a time) if the beans start to look dry.
- Remove pot from heat. Using a fork or the back of a wooden spoon, mash about a third of the beans against the side of the pot. Or you can use a potato masher to mash the beans against the bottom of the pot. Return the pot to a low simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes more, until the beans are tender and creamy, adding extra broth or water to thin, if needed.
- Serve the beans with rice and garnish with chopped scallions.
Notes
What kind of red kidney beans? When you're shopping for dried red kidney beans, you might come across two different types. One is light pink, the other dark red. Either works well in this recipe, though I have a slight preference for the dark ones because it results in a richer deeper color in the final dish, which I like.
What is ham steak? Ham steak is a thick slice from a smoked ham. Look for boneless ham steak in the smoked meat or bacon section of the grocery store. They come smoked, with or without a bone, and usually weigh a pound. If you can't find boneless ham steak, look for one with a very small bone and close to a pound of meat.
Sausage Substitutions: If you can't find andouille sausage, use another spicy smoked sausage such as Chorizo or Kielbasa.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- plus soaking time for the beans: 8 hours or overnight
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Category: Main course
- Method: simmer
- Cuisine: Creole
Originally published January 14, 2013. Updated November 9, 2021 with all new photos including process shots; added nutritional information; and clarifying details in the written post.
Jon
I followed your recipe to t and it was perfect. I love the simple technique of mashing the beans in the pot and how the sauce goes from thin to thick and creamy. My family loved the dinner so much - we all went back for seconds and some of us (me) went back for thirds! Thanks for a great recipe - I'll be making this again soon.
Jason R.
When most non natives attempt Red Beans it's a absolute travesty borderline offensive. You did well with this recipe but it still needs a little work. The only advice to be made is to brown your sausage and it needs way more spices added when you cook the trinity. A good Cajun all purpose like Tony's or Slap ya Mama works great. Also ham steak isn't what a traditional Nola Red Beans calls for use a smoked ham hock instead.
Lisa
Hi Jason - Phew, I'm glad I did well and I really appreciate your suggestions. Thank you!
Tom C Kolek
I like to use a smoked pork shank in my red beans and rice recipe instead of the ham steak. It adds extra flavor.
Sandra
I made this recipe for the family the other night and it was a big hit! Really brought us back to a trip we took to NOLA a few years back. The food there is crazy good. Thanks Lisa!
Aaron H.
Great recipe! I am from New Orleans and I love Red Beans and rice! Just happened to be scanning through recipes when I saw this one and its very close to my own. One extra thing that helps me if I don't have time to soak my beans is to cover them with water in a large pot, add 3 or 4 bay leaves and bring to a high boil. Lower fire to a simmer and let cook for an hour. Remove from fire and place a lid on top and then prep my seasoning and meats. Then proceed just as this recipe says except I add chicken bouillon cubes instead of broth. Cuts out 30 min of cooking time and still taste like N'awlins!
Connie
I love to eat Persian food!!" For sure I'll fix them for my girls!!! Thanks for sharing..
dawn of food
I went to Tulane and you really do appreciate the food more when you live there. It's amazing. Our Christmas food transitions were completely transformed, thanks to my studies at Tulane!!
lauren
I am in the midwest but from NOLA and was looking for a good southern red bean recipe and this looks just like my moms...Tasso would def make this better but good luck finding it anywhere but southern Louisiana! Thanks Ill be making this for Monday night football 9/30 per New Orleans tradition!
Lisa Goldfinger
Enjoy Lauren! Two of my kids are at Tulane. I've become a huge fan of New Orleans - such a great city!
Andrea
Great recipe - simple, delicious and comforting! We all love beans in my family, but had never made the New Orleans version - thanks for posting, will make it again!
Julia Talcott
I'm going to give this a try while the kids are still at home: thanks! The taste of new Orleans yum!