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Instant Pot Red Beans & Rice

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It’s hard to believe I’ve been creating recipes for over six years. It’s even harder to believe that within that time I never had a Red Beans & Rice recipe…until now! Yes, a yankee making a Southern staple but not to worry. Just like my Gumbo and Chicken & Dumplings, you’re in good hands. Plus, my partner, Richard, heartily approved this super simple, lightning quick and flavor-packed hearty dish that’s great as a side to my Fried Chicken or a main!

Red Beans & Rice

Sautéing

Adding olive oil to Instant Pot
Begin by adding some olive oil to the Instant Pot and heat it up.
Adding diced pepper, onion and celery (holy trinity) to pot
Add the “holy trinity” to the pot (aka diced pepper, onion and celery)…
Sautéing veggies
…and sauté for a few minutes in the oil.
Adding diced smoked sausage to pot
Add some smoked sausage (I like andouille, but kielbasa or even the famed Conecuh sausage is great here – if you can get that where you live!)
Adding minced garlic to pot
…and minced or crushed garlic…
Sautéing sausage and veggies in pot
…and sauté for a few minutes more.
Pouring broth into pot
Add some broth to the pot (I use Better Than Bouillon Ham Base but you can use any flavor you wish)…
Adding Creole and Italian seasonings to pot
…along with Creole/Cajun/Louisiana seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s) and Italian seasoning.
Stirring pot
Give everything a good stir.

The Rice

Rinsed rice in a fine-mesh strainer
Now for the rice. After rinsing some white or brown…
Adding rice to pot
…add it to the pot.

Pressure Cooking

Smoothing rice out into pot with spatula until submerged in broth
DO NOT STIR the rice! If you do, it can cause a burn notice due to all the veggies and sausage beneath it. Simply smooth it out with a spatula so it’s submerged in the broth and you’ll be perfect. Secure the lid and cook at high pressure.
Pressure cooked rice
When done, everything will have cooked together perfectly and with rich flavor!

The Beans and Finishing Touches

2 cans of beans with their juices
Our final ingredient is to add the beans! We’re using them right from the can with their juices for even more flavor (for greater explanation why we don’t use uncooked beans to pressure cook along with the rice, see Jeff’s Tips in the recipe card below).
Beans with their juices added to pot and stirred
Give everything a good stir.
Hot sauce added to rice & beans
If you want some hot sauce, feel free to add some in now as well!
Plated rice & beans
And just look at that bowl of hearty, meaty, beany, ricey goodness!

The Taste Test

Man holding bowl of rice & beans
No, really. LOOK at it!
Man trying food
Give it a try and experience the joy of rich flavor from the simplicity of basic ingredients.
Man with another man enjoying the food
But don’t take this Jew Yorker’s word for it – take it from my Southern peach who knows his Red Rice & Beans!
Man with another man enjoying the food
Goes perfect alongside my renowned Fried Chicken.
Instant Pot Red Beans & Rice
Yield: 6

Instant Pot Red Beans & Rice

Instant Pot Red Beans & Rice

It's hard to believe I've been creating recipes for over six years. It's even harder to believe that within that time I never had a Red Beans & Rice recipe...until now! Yes, a yankee making a Southern staple but not to worry. Just like my Gumbo and Chicken & Dumplings, you're in good hands. Plus, my partner, Richard, heartily approved this super simple, lightning quick and flavor-packed hearty dish that's great as a side to my Fried Chicken or a main!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Additional Time 20 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot. Hit Sauté and Adjust to the More or High setting. After 3 minutes of heating, add the pepper, onion and celery (aka "The Holy Trinity") and sauté for 3 minutes. 
  2. Add the garlic and sausage and sauté for 3 minutes longer.
  3. Add the broth, Creole and Italian seasonings and stir.
  4. Add the rice but do not stir. Simply smooth the rice out with a spatula so it's mostly submerged in the liquid. Secure the lid, move the valve to the sealing position and hit Manual or Pressure Cook for 3 minutes if using white or jasmine rice and 15 minutes if using brown rice at High Pressure. When done, allow a 10-minute natural release (regardless of which rice used) followed by a quick release.
  5. Add the beans (with their juices) and stir until combined. If you want hot sauce, start with 1 tablespoon, stir and add to taste. Let rest for 5 minutes for the beans to heat up.
  6. Serve and top with more hot sauce (or anything else you love), if desired.

Jeffrey's Tips

Not into smoked sausage and to keep this vegetarian or vegan? Leave out the sausage. You can also use a plant-based one as well if you desire. Just don't exceed 1 pound so it doesn't have issues coming to pressure.

If you can't find ham broth at the ready, you can also totally add a ham hock in Step 3 just before adding the rice. Remove it after quick releasing and just before adding the beans in Step 5. You can then cut/rip off any meat and add it back to the pot along with the beans in Step 5!

The reason I use canned beans instead of dried is because the timing to make rice (about 13 minutes total) and dried beans (about 60 minutes) is a huge difference with varying liquid ratios, making it not ideal to cook in one pot at the same time (either the rice will be cooked fine but the beans undercooked or the rice will be overdone and beans will be cooked fine). The benefit here is not only is this much quicker to make than using dried beans, but the canned beans provide more flavor since we're also using their juices. And while these are Red Beans & Rice, you can use any canned bean you like - be it cannellini, pinto or pink!

© Jeffrey
Cuisine: Southern / Category: Rice

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Jeff Soldano

    heavenly! My kids (10b/13g) devoured this dish! I saw your YouTube video last night and had to make it for dinner tonight. Well done sir, well done.

    Reply

      • Sue Worsham

        Jeffrey, we just love you! Look forward to every cookbook recipe you share. You are amazing. I’m buying this cookbook for my daughter for her birthday. Of course I have to buy one for myself so that I can preview the recipes for her. Lol thank you much love Sue.
        .

        Reply

  5. Nicole M

    Jeffrey! This is so good! My husband is such a picky eater but he’s away on business so I was able to make something a little adventurous for a change. Gonna tell his boss to make him travel more. 😉 Only had chicken BTB on hand so that was the only variation. Delicious! Going to save leftovers for myself. It’s too good not to. Love your recipes & books.

    Reply

  9. Joanne

    Will have to give this a try. Will have to adapt the recipe a little like your chili recipe (which we absolutely love). One of my food allergies is sweet peppers. So far I can use dehydrated with out swelling like a balloon. So I will throw some of them in for flavor. Since Richard is from the South, do you have a good recipe for soup beans? My Tennessee husband loves them. Me not so much. I prefer baked beans.

    Reply

  11. Ken Schreffler

    Made a half batch of this recipe today in my 3 quart Instant Pot. Delicious. I halved all ingredients and it turned out perfect! Skipped the hot sauce since the grandkids are coming over but we can add it in our bowls if we want it.

    Reply

  13. Kirsten

    Silly question but can one freeze the left overs. it is just me and I just made it but it is a lot of food.

    Reply

  14. Andrew

    My husband and I have tried many of your recipes, and we’ve never ate one we didn’t love. After making this one tonight, I have to say, it’s probably my new favorite! I will say though, that even for two big guys, it makes a LOT. We’ll be eating leftovers for sure.

    Reply

  16. Carolyn W

    Answered my own question! I doubled the meat and did 1.5x everything else. it all fit in a 6qt!! Also… DELICIOUS!!!!!

    Reply

  17. Beth

    My husband and I enjoyed this for dinner tonight. (And you’re right, it would be better with Conecuh, if only we could get it here.) Does this freeze well?

    Reply

  18. Justine Cappetta

    Another great recipe!!! This one was a smash. I followed the instructions exactly and there were absolutely no leftovers. There was only 3 of us eating so you know that means it was good haha

    Reply

  19. Mike Dinsmore

    Made today. It’s really good. Was better after it rested for a few hours. Trying to decide if I want to add a 3rd can of beans the next time. A really easy and quick meal to fix.

    Reply

  22. Bethany Rodriguez

    SO GOOD!! I halved the recipe and it turned out perfect. My picky husband took one bite and said “WOAH this is really good” I’ll definitely be making this one again.

    Reply

  24. Meredith

    This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it. Quick question…what can I use as a substitute for the cajun seasoning? I hate to buy a whole container just for this. ☺️ Thanks!

    Reply

    • Jeffrey

      I use Tony Chachere’s in SO many recipes, it’s worth buying! Plus, once you try it, you’ll likely make this dish again and again 😉

      Reply

  26. Cheyenne Heron

    I’m super excited to make this! My husband has been wanting a rice dish for awhile. I am going to use reindeer sausage, would beef both be ok to use with that? I don’t eat pork/ham so I don’t wanna butcher what I know will be an amazing dish by making too many changes.

    Reply

  27. MaryEllen

    For years I’ve been using Zataran’s red beans and rice from a box, so I can’t wait to try your recipe!
    Sidenote: I made it once with chicken and it wasn’t as good as using smoked sausage.

    Reply

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