Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

red beans and rice

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Patrick Johnson
Kingwood, TX

Red beans and rice is the quintessential New Orleans dish. Traditionally, it was prepared on Mondays (wash day) as the beans would cook all day while the ladies did laundry. Even Thibidaux can easily scale this recipe up for larger crowds.

(1 rating)
yield 10 -12
prep time 30 Min
cook time 3 Hr
method Stove Top

Ingredients For red beans and rice

  • 32 oz
    water
  • 3
    ham hocks, smoked, halved
  • 3 c
    yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 c
    celery, chopped
  • 1 1/2 c
    green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 tsp
    cayenne pepper, ground
  • 1 tsp
    white pepper, ground
  • 1 tsp
    black pepper, ground
  • 1 tsp
    garlic powder
  • 1 tsp
    onion powder
  • 4 clove
    garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp
    thyme, fresh
  • 1 Tbsp
    oregano, fresh
  • 4
    bay leaves
  • 1 Tbsp
    tabasco sauce
  • 1 lb
    andouille sausage, cut into qurter inch pieces
  • 3 c
    ham, diced
  • 1 lb
    kidney beans, (soaked to package directions
  • 1 stick
    butter, unsalted
  • salt

How To Make red beans and rice

  • 1
    In a large, heavy pot add the halved ham hocks with a small splash of oil and saute on high heat for 3-4 minutes. Your kitchen should be smokey.
  • 2
    Add, onions, celery, green pepper, ground peppers (red, white and black), garlic and onion powders and Tabasco and saute until vegetables are tender crisp, about 3-4 minutes.
  • 3
    Add minced garlic, thyme and oregano and saute for an additional minute.
  • 4
    Cover mixture with water, cover and simmer of approximately 1 hour.
  • 5
    Remove ham hocks from pot and allow to cool. When cool, remove the meat from the hocks and discard fat and bones. Reserve meat with andouille sausage.
  • 6
    Add ham and beans to pot and return to boil. Simmer uncovered for another hour. Stir every 15 minutes or so to ensure beans do not stick to bottom of pan. If mixture becomes too dry, add water to allow beans to soften.
  • 7
    Add sausage and meat from ham hocks and simmer for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour until beans are soft mixture is desired consistency.
  • 8
    Once beans are cooked and mixture has reached the perfect consistency, remove pot from heat and add stick of butter. Stir until butter is completely incorporated.
  • 9
    If needed, season with salt and adjust heat with cayenne.
  • 10
    Serve over hot white rice with cornbread. Typical garnish is green onions.
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