Red Beans and Rice Recipe

Southern Red Beans and Rice

Follow our easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to learn how to make Southern Red Beans and Rice. Printable recipe included.

…

Southern Red Beans and Rice recipe, made with cooked ham and seasoned with a ham bone. You can use a ham hock if you prefer. Just slightly spicy.

…

…

We’re cooking up some delicious Red Beans and Rice – Southern style. Smile. What makes it Southern you ask?

I like to think it’s the addition of the ham as opposed to that Andouille Sausage you hear about in most recipes. While I do like the sausage, I wanted to use something I already had on hand, pork meat.

Recently, I purchased a Smoked Pork Shoulder. It was smoked, but not cooked. I decided to throw it in a big pot and boil it and you’ll find the recipe for that here on Taste of Southern.

After the Pork Shoulder was cooked, I had plenty of nicely flavored meat and a bone or two that I wanted to use. Thus, this recipe for Red Beans and Rice.

This wasn’t something Mama ever prepared that I can remember. But, it’s an easy enough meal to prepare and it will feed a crowd if need be. You’ll just need to sort through the dry red beans and soak them overnight so keep that in mind when you get ready to try the recipe.

It took just about two hours for me to cook the beans until they were tender. Yours could take longer or even less time, but you’re going to love the results once you’re finished.

Serve them over some cooked rice and you’ve got a complete meal right there.

If you don’t have a leftover bone, use a ham hock or even some bacon. I like the smokey flavor from both.

So, ready to give our recipe a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

…

Red Beans and Rice – You’ll need these ingredients.

It’s mostly spices. I’m using a leftover ham bone and some of the cooked ham meat for seasoning and to turn this into a meal within itself.

…

Sort through the dry beans to remove any debris or stones that might have been in the bag. Place the beans in a large bowl and cover them with cold water. Let the beans soak overnight for best results.

…

Since we’re using several spices, I find it easier to measure them out before I start cooking everything. They all go in at once, so doing a little prep work ahead of time will make it easier.

…

Dice and chop the celery, onion, and the bell pepper.

This combination of vegetables is often referred to as the “Holy Trinity.”

…

And, go ahead and cut the meat into bite size pieces. On the left is the leftover bone I’m going to be using to add some additional smoked flavor to the beans. I recently boiled a Smoked Pork Shoulder Picnic, and this is the bone that came from that.

…

Place a large dutch oven or stock pot on your stove top. Turn the heat on to Medium and when it gets hot, add the bacon grease. You could also use some oil or butter if you don’t have the bacon grease.

Stir often and let the vegetables cook until the onions are fairly translucent and peppers are tender.

…

Add the chopped garlic. Stir again and let this cook for about two minutes.

…

Place the beans in a colander to drain off the soak water, then rinse them gently under cold running water. Let drain again.

…

Add the drained beans to the pot.

…

Add the can of tomato sauce.

…

Add enough water to completely cover the beans by about one inch. I used 7 cups of water.

…

Add all of the spices. That’s the sugar, sage, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, and the bay leaves. Don’t add the salt yet, we’ll save that for later.

…

Add the ham bone or your ham hock, whichever you’re using. Then, drop in the cut up ham.

…

Stir everything together and let the liquid come up to a slight boil. When you start to see it bubbling, COVER the pot and reduce the heat down to Medium-Low.

Simmer the beans for 1 to 2 hours, or until tender. You’ll need to check them about every 30 minutes or so to give them a quick stir and to be sure your liquid is not getting too low. If it does, just add another cup or so of hot water and let it resume cooking.

…

When the beans start to get tender, taste them to see if you need to add some salt or if you need to adjust any of the other seasonings that you’ve added.

If you prefer a much creamier type of beans, scoop out a cup or two of the beans then mash them up really fine. Add them back to the pot and stir them in.

I’m going to leave these a bit on the juicy side. Tell you why in a moment. Smile.

…

Prepare your rice according to the package directions. When ready to serve, ladle the hot beans over the cooked rice.

…

Enjoy!

I knew I’d have plenty of leftovers, so I added the remaining rice into the pot with the juicy beans. That’s why I didn’t want them to be real creamy. Choice is yours.

I packaged up the leftovers into storage containers and put three quarts in my freezer for later. Each container should yield about two meals. Smile.

…

Red Beans and Rice Recipe

• Author: Steve Gordon
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: Varies
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Stove top
• Cuisine: American, Southern

Print

Pin

---

Description

Southern style Red Beans and Rice, made with ham instead of sausage. But, you could easily use sausage if you prefer. Easy to prepare and serves a large crowd. Leftovers freeze well, so don’t be afraid to make the full recipe.

---

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

1 lb Red Kidney Beans, soaked overnight
1 Tablespoon Bacon Grease
1 Onion, medium, chopped
2 stalks Celery, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon Garlic, chopped
1 small can Tomato Sauce (8oz)
About 7 cups water.
1 ham bone, or ham hock for seasoning
2 cups cooked Smoked Ham, chopped
1 teaspoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Sage
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Thyme
3 Bay Leaves
1 teaspoon Salt, if needed.
Cooked White Rice, prepared according to package directions.

---

Instructions

Sort through beans to remove any debris or bad beans.
Place beans in bowl and cover with water. Let soak overnight.
Chop the onion.
Chop the celery.
Chop the bell pepper.
Place bacon grease in large sauce pot over Medium heat on stove top.
Add onion, celery, and bell pepper.
Stir and cook until onions are translucent.
Add chopped garlic.
Drain beans and add to pot.
Add tomato sauce.
Add enough water to cover beans by about 2 inches.
Add sugar, sage, black pepper, Cayenne pepper, Oregano, Thyme and Bay Leaves.
Add smoked ham.
Stir well until fully combined.
Bring liquid to a low boil. REDUCE heat to low simmer.
Cover pot and let cook 1-2 hours until beans are tender.
Add salt to taste.
For creamier beans, remove one half cup beans and mash fine.
Return mashed beans to pot and stir.
Remove bay leaves and ham bones prior to serving.
Serve beans over prepared rice.
Enjoy!

---

Keywords: red beans and rice, ham, ham hock, ham bone, rice, bacon grease, easy, large meal

Your Comments:

Have you tried our recipe for Red Beans and Rice? How did you like it?

Share your memories of this dish with us. It will only take a minute or two for you to leave your comments in the section below.

Just remember, all comments are moderated.  That just means that I personally read each and everyone before they are approved for viewing on our family friendly website. Thank you in advance for sharing.

Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter:

While you’re here, be sure to sign up for our totally FREE NEWSLETTER.  I’ll send you an Email every once in awhile to remind you when I post a new recipe, or when anything else of importance is going on around Taste of Southern.  It’s totally free, and super easy to sign up.  And, should you ever decide that you are no longer interested, it’s even quicker to unsubscribe.  How cool is that?  I’ll be looking forward to seeing you add your name to our list.  The signup box is below and you’ll also find one in the top right hand corner of each page. I hope you’ll do it today.

Be Blessed!!!
Steve

..

You might also like: Skillet Cornbread Recipe

Or, maybe this one?  Hot Water Cornbread

How about this?  Ham Bone Soup Recipe

.

Tags: ham bone, ham hocks, made from scratch, main dishes, pork, red beans, red beans and rice, rice, southern, Steve Gordon, Taste of Southern

Category: Main Dishes, Pork