Red Beans & Rice – Instant Pot Style
Yesterday afternoon was an overcast Sunday, and I had a hankering for cozy food. Mind you, my family was having an honest to goodness lazy Sunday afternoon. I was having trouble mustering up the required amount of energy to decide what cozy food I should make, let alone cook the actual food. I knew my hours were running short, but the hankering did not go away…I started mentally going through my pantry, and as soon as I thought “all those Camilla red beans I still have after an early quarantine trip to Costco”, the decision was made. Red Beans and Rice for the win!
You may be questioning how I thought decent Red Beans and Rice could be made when hours were running short. Well…that’s where my beloved Instant Pot came to the rescue. I have successfully cooked dried beans (dry beans to cooked without soaking in less than 45 minutes) in my Instant Pot many times before, but I had not previously made Red Beans and Rice in it. Yesterday was the perfect opportunity to try.
I am so glad that I had a hankering yesterday, because I think I made the best Red Beans I’ve ever made. The beans cooked up beautifully, and the Instant Pot intensified the flavors inside the beans and in the gravy. Start to finish, I think was 1.5 hours (including chopping and the Instant Pot coming to pressure and releasing). You can always use a slow cooker for this recipe, but if you have an Instant Pot, use it!
Red Beans and Rice – Instant Pot Style
- 1 pound dried red beans
- 1/2 pound smoked sausage, thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 cup chopped bell pepper
- 2 tsp. Tony Chachere’s Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- dash of smoked paprika
- 4 cups chicken stock
- cooked rice for serving
- hot sauce for serving
Saute sausage in the pressure cooker pot until browned. Remove sausage and set aside briefly. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper to the pot and saute until soft and tender (add a little bit of oil to the pot if not enough rendered from the sausage). Add sausage back to mixture.
Add beans, stock, and seasonings to the pot. Set pressure cooker to cook for 45 minutes. When cooking time has completed, allow to natural release if time allows.
Serve with cooked rice and hot sauce (and maybe some extra crispy bits of cooked smoke sausage because, why not?).
