Red beans and rice is a staple dish in Lousiana cuisine. Typically served on Monday’s, this dish would slowly cook away on the stove. Ham was traditionally served on Sunday and the ham bone was used to provide a wonderful flavor in the dish. Monday was laundry day and a pot of red beans and rice was perfect, as it was left unattended while the the clothes were washed and hung to dry. This laundry day tradition is part of the culture in Louisiana and today many homes still prepare this classic dish, although people make it any day of the week. It is also available at many restaurants in New Orleans, throughout the state of Louisiana and beyond.
Red beans and rice is slow cooked so that the flavor of the meat penetrates the kidney beans. Also, the bean get nice and soft through this prolonged cooking time. Some of the beans are broken and mashed to help thicken the broth into a nice creamy gravy. There are different options for meat in the dish, although it is typically pork, ranging from ham or tasso, to smoked sausage like andouille.Served on rice, this dish is economical but tastes incredible!
I received a pressure cooker a month ago and I was interested to see how this dish would fare in a machine that speeds up the cooking time. Since red beans and rice takes so long to cook, many people do not have the time to make it. If the pressure cooker can make this dish well, in a fraction of the time, it can become a far more manageable dish to prepare.
The pressure cooker that I use can brown food, so I fried up the onion, pepper and celery (aka the trinity in Louisiana). Then I added some cubed ham and garlic.
Add the rest of the ingredients (dry red kidney beans, water, and spices) to the pressure cooker. Close the lid and make sure the vent is also closed. Set the pressure cooker to high pressure and select 60 minutes. Then, walk away and let the pressure cooker take care of the rest. The 60 minutes should be enough to cook the beans until they are tender, but it is possible they may need a bit more time. Try using a wooden spoon spoon to press a kidney bean against the side of the pot. It should mush up easily and if it seems a little hard, then set the pressure cooker to cook for another 30 minutes. That should be plenty of time to soften those beans up.
Mash up about 1/3 of the beans and stir to thicken the sauce. My pressure cooker has a simmer function, so I let the red beans and rice simmer for a bit until the rice was cooked and we were ready to eat.
Even though these red beans and rice were cooked in under 2 hours total time, they had a full and rich flavor. If you did not know, you would assume that a pot had been simmering on the stove all afternoon! Serve with white rice and a side ofcollard greens for the full Louisiana experience!
Get the recipe for collard greens here! –Collard Greens with Ham Hock
Red Beans and Rice Pressure Cooker Recipe
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Make this classic Lousiana dish in a fraction of the time by using a pressure cooker like an Instant Pot. Kidney beans, ham, sausage, onions, pepper and celery make this great dish served on rice.
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours hours
Total Time: 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 onion , diced
- 1 pepper , diced
- 2-3 celery stalks , chopped
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 1/2 pounds ham , smoked sausage, tasso, cut into cubes
- 1 pound dry red kidney beans
- 5 1/2 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you want it spicier)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
Heat oil on medium high and add onion, pepper and celery. Cook until they start to get tender, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic and chopped meat and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
Rinse the kidney beans and drain.
Add all the ingredients (except the rice) to the pressure cooker. Close the lid and the vent.
Set the pressure cooker to high and select 60 minutes cooking time.
After the 50 minutes, let the pressure cooker release the pressure naturally. It should take 10-15 minutes.
Remove the lid and use a wooden spoon or potato masher to mash about 1/3-1/2 of the beans.
Stir thoroughly and the mashed beans should thicken the broth into a nice creamy gravy.
Serve with rice.
Notes
If after the 60 minutes the kidney beans are still not soft, you may need to cook them a bit longer. If needed, set the pressure cooker to high and select 30 minutes cooking time. After this, the bean should definitely be tender.
Course: Main
Cuisine: southern
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FAQs
All you need to do to cook beans in the instant pot is add them into your pot, followed by 2 – 3x that amount of water. So if you're using 1 cup of dried beans (unsoaked), you'd follow that with about 2 – 3 cups of water. Basically, you want the beans to be fully submerged or else they won't cook evenly.
Should rice be cooked on high or low in pressure cooker? ›
Wild rice and brown rice will require more time than white rice, for instance. Any variety can be cooked at either high or low pressure; it comes out a little fluffier at low pressure, and a little chewier at high pressure.
Can you overcook beans in a pressure cooker? ›
Some beans will be overcooked and completely decimated, while others are still gritty or firm in the center. Soaking the beans not only helps them to cook more evenly, but it also helps make them more digestible.
Is it better to soak beans before cooking in pressure cooker? ›
Yes: When you soak beans, you dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to pressure cook them. For instance, unsoaked chickpeas take 35-40 minutes to cook, but soaked chickpeas take just 10 minutes to cook.
How much water for 2 cups of beans in pressure cooker? ›
When cooking beans in the Instant Pot, you'll use 2 1/2 cups of water for every 1 cup of dry beans. I've tried using less than that, but since beans expand as they cook, the ones that aren't fully submerged in liquid will cook unevenly.
How long do you cook beans in a pressure cooker? ›
Add 8 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, onion, garlic, bay leaf and oil to the pot. Cook the beans: Secure the pressure cooker's lid and set the pressure to high for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the beans you are using.
Why should rice not be cooked in pressure cooker? ›
Often people cook rice in a pressure cooker due to paucity of time. If you are also one of those people who use cooker to cook rice, then do not make this mistake again. This causes the starch present in rice to release a chemical called acrylamide, which is harmful for health.
What happens if you put too much rice in pressure cooker? ›
Overfilling your Instant Pot can affect the pressure that builds up inside, so you might end up with a mushy meal, or one that doesn't cook properly. Also, an overly-full Instant Pot can lead to a clogged pressure release knob, because food and liquid can get sucked up inside.
How do you reduce gas in pressure cooking beans? ›
But most people can enjoy more beans with less gas with the help of these tips: Soak beans overnight in water, then drain, rinse and cook in fresh water. This decreases the oligosaccharide content. Cooking the beans in a pressure cooker may reduce the oligosaccharides even further.
Why are my beans still hard after slow cooking? ›
Chances are your beans are old. Old beans can seem to take forever to get soft. Cook them longer, making sure you are using plenty of water. Next time, if you have beans from the same source, soak for 48 hours.
In fact, researchers found six times the antioxidant levels in the pressure-cooked beans. I've been pressure-cooking beans just because I like their texture better (the canned ones can be a bit mushy for me) and dried beans are so cheap compared to canned ones. But now we know they're tastier, cheaper, and healthier.
Do Mexicans soak beans before cooking? ›
Mexican cooks don't pre-soak beans. They just add beans to water and get on with the cooking. No soaking or draining for them.
Can you pressure cook beans instead of soaking overnight? ›
Forget pre-soaking. Forget hours of gentle simmering. Beans on the stovetop are fantastic for a lazy weekend afternoon, but with a pressure cooker, you can go from opening a bag of dried legumes to plump, tender beans in under an hour.
How long does it take to cook 1 lb of beans in a pressure cooker? ›
Common cooking times for soaked beans in a pressure cooker range from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the type of bean. For example, black beans might take around 5-7 minutes, while larger beans like chickpeas may take 12-15 minutes.
How to cook beans in an old fashioned pressure cooker? ›
Cover beans until just covered with water. Place top on pressure cooker and bring to full pressure, then reduce heat to medium. Cook beans under pressure for 4 – 6 minutes. (I usually go for 5, right in the middle) Turn off heat and let pressure drop naturally.
How much water do I need for 2.5 cups of beans? ›
If you forget to soak overnight, you can also cook them from dry in the Crock-Pot on low for ~ 6-8 hours, in a Instant Pot ~ 40 minutes, or on the stovetop for ~ 1-3 hours. Add enough water to the beans to cover by ~ 3" (~4-5 cups of water per cup of dry beans).
How to cook 4 cups of beans? ›
How To Cook Beans on the Stovetop
- Sort the beans. ...
- Rinse the beans. ...
- Transfer the beans to a large pot or Dutch oven. ...
- Add water and bring the beans to a boil. ...
- Reduce to a low simmer and cook. ...
- Check the beans after an hour. ...
- Add the salt when beans are just barely tender.
