Crockpot Red Beans and Rice

Everybody has heard of red beans and rice. It’s a classic dish here in Louisiana. If you haven’t tried it yet, you’re missing out! Here is a simple way to make this dish. It’s almost like cheating cause it’s made in the crockpot.

Louisiana Favorite

Jambalaya, crawfish, etouffee and, my personal favorite, gumbo. Everyone thinks of the food when they think about Louisiana.

I can’t blame them. We have the best food here.

They specifically think of a couple of dishes like the ones I mentioned and of course, red beans and rice.

Back in the day, Cajuns would cook red beans on Monday which was also laundry day. They did this because the beans would just cook in a big pot all day long which allowed everyone to tend to the laundry.

While we don’t do all of our laundry on Mondays anymore, a lot of the restaurants around here will serve red beans and rice as a special every Monday.

While red beans are already more on the hands-off side, it’s nice to have a way to cook them without having to check on them at all.

This crockpot recipe allows me to do just that. Make a delicious meal of red beans and then I don’t have to go back to it until the 8 hours are up.

By then the house smells amazing and everyone is looking forward to sitting down for supper.

Ingredients for Red Beans

1 pound of kidney beans, soaked. The longer you can soak your beans, the better. At least soak them overnight, but if you can try to soak them for 24 – 48 hours.

1 pound of smoked sausage. It can be spicy if you want it to.

1 onion, chopped.

1 green bell pepper, chopped.

1 celery stalk, chopped. This one is more optional. If you don’t have celery, you can skip this.

4 cups of broth. You can use any broth. Bone broth is best, but even veggie broth works well. I use veggie broth whenever I don’t have anything else.

Seasonings. Season to taste.

All of these seasonings are necessary. No skipping.

Salt

Black pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Chili powder

Cumin

Cayenne powder

Directions to Make Red Beans in the Crockpot

Soak the beans the day before you want to eat red beans and rice.

The next morning, drain your beans, slice your sausage and chop up the onion, bell pepper and celery.

Throw them all into your crockpot. Add your broth of choice and about 2 cups of water to cover the beans.

Next step, and arguably the most important, is to season. We add a lot of seasoning to all of our dishes and red beans and rice is certainly no exception.

You really have to season to taste but trust me and go ahead and put more than you think you might need.

Give it all a good stir then put the lid on.

Cook on high for 6 – 8 hours.

Cook some rice when the beans are almost done. It can be white or brown rice. It’s really just a personal preference.

When serving, top the rice with a healthy helping of beans.

Enjoy!

I hope you and your family enjoy this meal and add it to your regular rotation.

It’s a favorite for us of course and is always a crowd pleaser.

This dish is in my husband’s top five favorite meals and we hope y’all enjoy it just as much.