Best Instant Pot red beans and rice recipe! This easy, one-pot red beans recipe makes the most flavorful red beans and rice.
My family loves beans! One of our favorite bean dishes is red beans and rice.
The combination of the sausage, beans, and spices is pretty amazing, and the Instant Pot makes this recipe that much faster and easier to make. The pressure cooker really helps to get tons of flavor into all of the ingredients, and it cuts down on the simmering time.
This recipe is a great way to make red beans and rice in about an hour!
How to make Instant Pot red beans and rice
Step 1: Rinse the red beans. Add to a bowl, and cover the beans with about 1 inch of water. Let sit for at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain the beans and set aside.
Step 2: Press SAUTE on the Instant Pot. When hot, add the oil to the inner pot and swirl to coat. Stir in the sliced sausage, and cook, stirring regularly, until browned, about 5-6 minutes. Remove to a plate.
Step 3: Stir in the onion, bell peppers, celery, garlic, salt, and Cajun seasoning. Cook, stirring the entire time, until vegetables are soft, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the bay leaves, beans, and water.
Step 4: Close and lock the lid. Turn the pressure release valve to sealing. Press amnual high pressure and adjust the time to 18 minutes. Once the cooking time ends, let the pressure release naturally for 20 min. Carefully turn the pressure release valve to venting to release any remaining pressure. Remove the bay leaves.
Step 5: Remove 2/3 of the beans, and set them aside. Mash the remaining 1/3 of the beans. Return the 2/3 of the beans to the pot, and stir in.
Step 6: Stir in the sausage. Press SAUTE, and simmer, stirring regularly, until slightly thickened. Season with additional salt if necessary.
Step 7: Serve with white rice topped with sliced green onions and a bit of Tabasco sauce, if desired.
Tips
- Andouille sausage: You can substitute an equal amount of kielbasa.
- Cajun seasoning: If you don’t have/can’t find Cajun seasoning, Creole seasoning makes a good substitute.
- Liquid smoke: I like the hint of smokiness liquid smoke adds. It reminds me of the slight smoky flavor you get when using a smoked ham hock. If you prefer, you can omit it.
- Tabasco: I like using Chipotle Tabasco sauce with this recipe because the smokiness really compliments this dish. Feel free to use any type of hot sauce that you like or omit if you prefer.
Storage
Store any leftover red beans and rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The red beans and rice will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored.
Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried red beans
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound andouille sausage sliced
- 1 large yellow or white onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 ½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- Cooked white rice for serving
- Thinly sliced green onions for serving
- Chipotle Tabasco
Instructions
- Rinse the red beans. Add to a bowl, and cover the beans with about 1 inch of water.
- Let sit for at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain the beans and set aside.
- Press SAUTE on the Instant Pot. When hot, add the oil to the inner pot and swirl to coat.
- Stir in the sliced sausage, and cook, stirring regularly, until browned, about 5-6 minutes.
- Remove to a plate.
- Stir in the onion, bell peppers, celery, garlic, salt, and Cajun seasoning.
- Cook, stirring the entire time, until vegetables are soft, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in the bay leaves, beans, water, and liquid smoke.
- Close and lock the lid.
- Turn the pressure release valve to SEALING.
- Press MANUAL high pressure and adjust the time to 18 minutes.
- Once the cooking time ends, let the pressure release naturally for 20 min.
- Carefully turn the pressure release valve to VENTING to release any remaining pressure.
- Remove the bay leaves.
- Remove ⅔ of the beans, and set them aside.
- Mash the remaining ⅓ of the beans.
- Return the ⅔ of the beans to the pot, and stir in.
- Stir in the sausage.
- Press SAUTE, and simmer, stirring regularly, until slightly thickened.
- Season with additional salt if necessary.
- Serve with white rice topped with sliced green onions and a bit of Tabasco sauce, if desired.
Notes
- Andouille sausage: You can substitute an equal amount of kielbasa.
- Cajun seasoning: If you don’t have/can’t find Cajun seasoning, Creole seasoning makes a good substitute. Also, feel free to adjust the mount of seasoning to your liking.
- Liquid smoke: I like the hint of smokiness liquid smoke adds. It reminds me of the slight smoky flavor you get when using a smoked ham hock. If you prefer, you can omit it.
- Tabasco: I like using Chipotle Tabasco sauce with this recipe because the smokiness really compliments this dish. Feel free to use any type of hot sauce that you like or omit if you prefer.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional values were calculated using a third-party tool and are provided as an estimation only.
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Did You Make This?
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Perfect. Just like Popeyes. I finally found the one I love!!
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked it!
Is there anything I can do if I forgot to soak the beans and bought everything to make it tonight? :/
I haven’t tried making this with unsoaked beans. However, you could try adding about 8-10 minutes onto the cooking time. You may also need to add additional water, but, unfortunately, I haven’t tried it so I can’t give you exact measurements.
I know red beans and rice, and this is some of the best that I’ve made. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!!!
Thank you!