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Louisiana Red Beans and Rice

Louisiana red beans and rice simmers cooked red beans with andouille, aromatics, herbs, and spices until creamy over fluffy rice.

Published and reviewed by Kitchgrow on 14 August 2026Updated

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Louisiana Red Beans and Rice

1 hr 15 mintotal

35 min hands-on40 min hands-off

Prep 15 min · Cook 1 hr

Serves
4
Difficulty
Medium
Spice
Medium
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Ingredients

Quantities are for 4 servings.

You'll need: Stovetop.

Uses cooked red beans for a practical stovetop version; includes a slow simmer to make the beans creamy.

Method

  1. Heat oil in a heavy pot and brown the andouille sausage slices.

  2. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic, then cook until softened.

  3. Stir in red beans, chicken stock, bay leaf, thyme, paprika, salt, and black pepper.

  4. Simmer until the beans are very tender and the sauce becomes creamy.

  5. Mash a small portion of the beans into the pot to thicken the mixture.

  6. Serve the red beans over hot cooked rice.

How to tell it's done

The beans should be creamy and tender, the sausage smoky, and the rice fluffy and separate.

Getting it right

Tip

Mash some beans into the pot near the end; this creates the creamy texture without adding dairy.

What to serve it with

Serve with hot sauce, cornbread, scallions, or a simple green salad.

Common mistakes

The beans stay hard however long they simmer.
Cook them until genuinely tender before the salt and stock go in. Salt and acid both slow softening, and beans that go into a seasoned pot firm will still be firm two hours later.
The dish is soupy rather than creamy.
Mash a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in, as the recipe says. That released starch is the only thickener here, and skipping it leaves beans in broth.

Substitutions

  • Andouille Sausage — Use another smoked sausage if andouille is unavailable, but the dish will lose some Louisiana character.
  • Red Kidney Beans — Use small red beans if available for an even more traditional texture.

Storing and reheating

Keeps five days in the fridge and is famously better on day two — this is Monday food made on Sunday. Freezes for three months. Cook the rice fresh; it goes hard and grainy in the fridge.