This same dish in the classic Louisiana cookbook “River Road Recipes” is more simple (only beans, water, garlic, onion, celery, bay leaf, chopped parsley garnish) but to my palate this recipe right on! It’s downright impossible to find Cajun seasoning salt free, so I used Emeril Lagasse’s recipe for the same and went very light on the salt when I made it. I made this on the stovetop as a crockpot will get hot, but the carmelization you get over a flame is not the same. After grad school I moved to New Orleans for my first real job and was exposed to this delicious delicacy. This is THE BEST red beans and rice recipe I have found. I made this recipe yesterday in homage to weekend #1 of the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival (which is the best time of the year to visit, by the way). On the stove you will need to monitor the water level – just add hot water if it gets low. Then simmer until tender – this will take several hours. On the stove, bring the beans to a rapid boil and then boil for 5 minutes. You can test for doneness at the 6 hour mark. In the slow cooker – cook on low for 8 hrs or high for around 6. If you made the whole bag you could simply freeze the cooked beans in their liquid and use them in the future. If you were making the whole 16 oz bag I would do 2 tsp. If you are doing the 3/4 cup I would say about 3/4 tsp of Kosher salt. People have different theories on salting, but I prefer to salt before cooking. When you are ready to cook, place the beans in the slow cooker or pot, fill the pot so the beans are covered by two inches of water. If you want to soak placed the clean beans in a big bowl and cover with cold water and leave overnight. Once sorted and when you are ready to start, rinse the beans in a colander under cold running water. Regardless, if you are starting from dried beans – first sort through them on the counter to look for rocks and other debris. Fresher dried beans (an oxymoron, I know) cook more quickly. Although soaking dried beans isn’t strictly necessary, sometimes it helps speed up cooking if they’ve been sitting on the store shelf for a bit. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can just do it on the stove. About 3/4 cup of dried beans is equivalent to a 15 oz can of beans. If you happen to have a slow cooker that would be the easiest – start the beans in the morning and they would be ready for dinner time and just use them as you would the canned beans.

You can cook the beans before you need them for the recipe. Serve with a scoop of rice, garnished with parsley, and maybe some extra sausage on top. When ready to serve, be sure to mash up about 1 cup of the softened beans off to the side of the pot – this makes the broth incredibly thick and creamy.

Now I really like letting my beans simmer with the andouille sausage (instead of adding it in at the very end) so that it soaks up all the smoky flavors. I’ve done a ton of research and development for this, eating so much red beans and rice every trip to make sure I perfect this for you guys. I mean, we just got back last week and I’m ready for another trip back!īut until then, I’ll be making the creamiest red beans and rice on the daily. I don’t know if it’s all the beignets and the powdered sugar I leave on my pants or if it’s the classic red beans and rice but I keep returning to this state. So thick, so creamy and so flavorful! The beans are cooked just right – perfectly tender, served with rice and smoky andouille sausage.

Red beans and rice