Easy Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

Seeing as tomorrow is Mardi Gras, I decided to make a slow cooker red beans and rice recipe to celebrate. As I started taking pictures of this recipe my kids were home from school with some friends. They were all hungry so I scooped them a bowl of beans and rice. They loved this recipe! “Can you give my mom that recipe? It’s so good!” I didn’t know if the kids would like it because it’s a bit spicy (not bad) but they did. Yay!

This recipe is really easy. I debated on whether to make dried red beans or just use canned beans. I decided to just use canned beans for the sake of time but if you’re interested I’ll come up with a dried bean recipe in the future. It would be super easy (but just take more time to cook).

This recipe uses easy to find ingredients. The only thing I had to search for was the Andouille sausage (a cajun-seasoned sausage). There was only one brand available at the grocery store that I went to, but I did find it.

I like to soften up my onions and bloom the spices at the same time using the microwave. Don’t laugh–I actually learned this method from America’s Test Kitchen. No need to dirty a pan, just use a medium microwave safe bowl.

You’ll pile the softened onions, the sausage, drained beans, diced green peppers and all the other ingredients into the slow cooker and turn it on for a few hours and walk away. I decided to cook the rice separately on the stove because I have gotten mixed results with rice in the slow cooker and I just didn’t want to take the chance that this wouldn’t work out. It was a good choice. I liked the dry rice paired with a wetter almost stew-like beans and sausage.

Get your Cajun on and make some red beans and rice!

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Easy Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

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• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings

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Description

Easy slow cooker recipe for Louisiana red beans and rice–not too spicy but plenty of flavor!

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Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cajun seasoning
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 rib of celery, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans of kidney beans, rinsed and drained (I used dark red but you can use light red beans too)
• 12-16 oz of Andouille sausage, sliced into half inch pieces
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• Red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Blackened Seasoning (optional)
• Hot cooked rice

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Instructions

1. Combine diced onion, minced garlic, oil, paprika, cajun seasoning and thyme in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 5 minutes, stirring every 90 seconds. Add mixture to the slow cooker.
   Add diced celery, diced green pepper, drained beans, sausage, bay leaf and chicken broth to the slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours or on LOW for 4 hours. Remove the lid and stir. Add a splash of red wine and then salt and pepper and blackened seasoning to taste.
3. Serve in a bowl with a scoop of rice.

Notes

Ideal slow cooker size: 4 quart (I used my 3 quart and it was filled to the brim)

Other fun food for Mardi Gras:

• Mardi Gras Meringues from Zag Left
• Mardi Gras King Cake from The Culinary Life
• Beignets from Our Best Bites
• Mardi Gras Cupcakes from Tidy Mom

Other slow cooker ideas for dinner:

• Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Lentils
• Slow Cooker Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers
• Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa

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