With all the snow storms hitting, red beans and rice is the perfect warm and cozy comfort food. Especially if you’ve been snowed in this past week, nothing beats a dish that coats your insides. Trust me, there are few things that will warm you up on a cold winter day like this southern dish.
We’ve been trying our hand at meal planning, but to tell you the truth, it’s very hard to stick to. Whenever we meal plan I never feel like eating what was planned out. It just doesn’t sound as good as something random or spontaneous. We were trying to plan so we’d stick to a grocery list and not buy a ton of random groceries. This helps us save money on our grocery bill and reduces the stress when dinner rolls around. Generally, the “What’s for dinner?” question has already been answered.
For a budget friendly meal that goes over well anytime this recipe is a sure thing. Not only is it a comfort food but it’s also a little kick that will be sure to warm you up. Mountain Man likes to make a big vat of this and take it to parties, truth be told we’ve never brought left overs home from any of those shin digs. Once made you can add a bit of chicken stock to it and pack it in a thermos. Mountain man loves taking it ice fishing since no utensil is needed and you can basically “drink” it.
You can always keep this meal vegetarian if you prefer by omitting the meat and adding tofu or any of the veggie meat substitutes, justt make sure you add them at the very end or they will be way too mushy.
There are so many spices in this meal, don’t be afraid to add your own take. Red beans and rice are never a set or permanent recipe…You can always tune it to your taste preference.
Did you get snowed in, let me know and show me pics!?!
Ingredients
- 1 pound red beans (soaked overnight)
- ~6 cups water (You can also use stock! You may need to add water around hour 2 or so depending on how much water the beans soaked up.)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pound bacon, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon sea or kosher salt
Instructions
- In a pot, cook bacon on medium-low heat for ~10 minutes, a short rendering, if you will. If the bacon starts to pop and crackle, it is too hot. Add the diced onions+celery and cook until just starting to clear. Now add everything else. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to a simmer, cover and cook until beans are tender. ~4-5 hrs. When beans are tender, mix in cooked rice and server.
- Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and red onions.
Notes
*(Anything but sweet/sticky rice will work.) You can adjust how much rice is used. We generally add 3 uncooked “cups” to our rice cooker for this. Cups is in quotes because our rice cooker came with a little plastic cup that is specific to it. Use whatever measurement is applicable to yours. Garnish is sour cream and sliced green onions
