Pressure Cooker Red Beans And Rice Recipe

Yield: 8 servings
Cook Time: 1 & 10 minutes (with soaked beans) to 1-1/2 hours (without soaking beans)

Red beans and rice is a dish that was perfected in Louisiana creole cuisine and has since spread all over the United States. While my red beans and rice pressure cooker recipe borrows heavily from this tradition, I have to say that I made a few changes of my own to fit the personal taste of my household.

This pressure cooker red beans and rice recipe is not only simple to make but also very nutritious. This dish is not only rich in starches but also has plenty of protein, iron, and B-vitamins. All of these nutrients, when paired together, makes a complete protein. Which simply means a protein that your body can’t make for itself. Not bad for such a simple dish.

Another thing that this dish has going for it is the fact that it’s one of the ultimate comfort foods. It’s an especially good meal to eat on cold winter days or while watching your favorite sporting event. It’s also a good family meal for a lazy Sunday afternoon meal. Make this dish and see if it doesn’t immediately become a smash sensation with your family.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups white rice
• 1 pound red beans
• 1 pound smoked sausage
• 1 ham hock
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 3 stalks celery (sliced)
• 1 large white onion (diced)
• 1 green bell pepper (diced)
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat (or olive oil)
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 dose creole seasoning (see below)
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• hot sauce (optional)
• green onion (garnish)

Creole Seasoning

• 2    teaspoons paprika
• 1   teaspoon onion powder
• 1   teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1   teaspoon oregano (dried)

Instructions:

Prepare The Beans

Make sure that you thoroughly pick through the beans and remove any stones or other forms of debris they may contain. After you’ve done that, you can then add them to a colander and rinse them thoroughly. If you decide to soak the beans overnight, then you can skip the extra 20 minutes of cook time for the beans and just cook the whole mixture for an hour. However, if you don’t soak them overnight, then you will definitely have to cook the beans a little longer than the rest of the dish.

Cook And Season The Veggies

Chop up all of your vegetables and set your pressure cooker to medium or use the saute/browning feature of your pressure. Once it’s warm, add in the bacon fat (or olive oil, your choice) and then add in the onion, the bell pepper, and the celery. Cook these ingredients for approximately 8 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and thoroughly cooked.

Mix up your creole seasoning in a separate bowl and set aside. Once the vegetables are soft, add in your salt, the creole seasoning, and the pepper. Thoroughly mix all of these ingredients together. Once these have been mixed, it’s time to stir in the garlic, the sausage, and the thyme. Raise the temperature on your pressure cooker to high until the sausage has been browned sufficiently. This will take approximately 5 minutes or so. Remove this vegetable mixture from your pressure cooker and set it aside.

Cook The Beans And Ham Hock

If the beans haven’t been soaked overnight, then it’s time to add your red beans into the pressure cooker. At this time, you should also place in the chicken stock, being sure that you don’t overfill your cooker. However, you do want to be sure that your red beans are completely covered by the chicken stock. Put on the lid and lock it down. Crank it up to High Heat and when it reaches this temperature make sure that it stays at this temperature. Now cook it for about 20 minutes.  When it’s done cooking, use the fast release method to depressurize it and carefully remove the lid.

If the beans have been soaked, then skip this step and just place the beans, the chicken stock in the pressure cooker and then proceed to follow the steps below.

Put It All Together

Add in your vegetable mixture and then put the lid back on and raise the pressure cooker back up to High Heat. Now you can time it for about one hour. After the hour has elapsed, use the natural release method to allow the pressure to dissipate. This should take approximately 10 minutes. When that’s done, carefully remove the lid and season to taste.

It’s Time To Serve!

Serve it with about 6 cups of white steamed rice and garnish it with green onion. If you want, this is also a good time to add in the hot sauce to give the whole dish an added kick. Now you have finished making a great pressure cooker red beans and rice that I’m sure your whole family will love.