This quick and easy red beans and rice recipe is thick and creamy with all the flavors of New Orleans everyone loves. Ready to eat in under 30 minutes! Creamy creole red beans, smoked sausage, cajun seasoning, and trinity simmered together & served over hot cooked rice.
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Easy Homemade Red Beans and Rice
A homemade meal doesn’t necessarily have to take a long time to put together! Whether you have a full-time job outside the home, or you’re a stay at home parent, everybody can appreciate the time you’ve taken to prepare a hot meal; no matter how much time the meal took to prepare.
Ingredients for Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
- Sausage (andouille or Conecuh hickory smoked sausage)
- Frozen chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery blend (see recipe card if using fresh veggies)
- Canned red beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans
- Canned Blue Runner Creole Cream Style Red Beans
- Olive oil
- Parsley
- Minced Garlic
- Dried basil
- Cajun seasoning (Tony Chachere’s or Slap ya Mama)
- Cooked rice
How to Make Quick and Easy Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
What makes this recipe easy and quick is simply using canned red beans. Yes, I said “canned beans” and I love them! The canned Blue Runner Creole Red Beans are amazing because they’re smooth, creamy, and flavorful. Using these canned red beans is a huge time saver vs. soaking dry beans. Then, I add a can of regular red beans, kidney beans, or pinto beans (I like the pinto beans with bacon for this recipe). If you can’t find the pinto beans with bacon, then the regular pinto beans are perfectly fine.
Another time-saving tip is to use the frozen, pre-chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery mix that’s in your grocery store’s frozen vegetable section. (If you don’t like the idea of using the conveniently frozen blend, or if you already have fresh veggies on hand, then by all means, use the fresh ingredients instead. Use about 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup chopped bell pepper, and 1/2 cup chopped celery). The mixture of onion, bell pepper, and celery is commonly referred to as the “trinity” in cajun and creole cooking.
Toss in the smoked sausage and seasonings and simmer for a short amount of time. I recommend using either andouille sausage or Conecuh sausage. In addition, be sure to use a heavy duty pot, which cooks more evenly. I absolutely love my Calphalon pot that I exclusively use for this recipe and my jambalaya recipe. This pot is worth every penny and lasts for years and years.
While the sausage and veggies are simmering, start the rice cooking. And if you want to save even more time, use the pre-cooked rice that comes in a pouch (man oh man, now we’re taking it to the next level with the time-saving tricks). Here’s a picture of the onions, bell pepper, and celery that have simmered 5 minutes with the sliced sausage.
Creamy Creole Red Beans
The Blue Runner red beans are the secret to a thick, creamy texture. You should be able to easily find them near the canned red beans. If not available in your area, you can find them here Blue Runner Creole Cream Style Red Beans.
This recipe makes a medium-thick “sauce.” If you prefer a more “liquidy” consistency, add 1/2 cup of chicken broth but I don’t recommend adding any more than that, or you may end up with a soupy texture! Here’s a picture of the beans (I used pinto beans with bacon), creole creamy red beans, and all the seasonings added to the browned sausage and veggie mix (prior to mixing it all together).
After you’ve mixed everything up and simmered on the stove for about 5 minutes, it’s ready to eat! Serve your delicious red beans and sausage over a bed of cooked rice. This is comfort food at its best. You’ll be surprised by how delicious “quick and easy” can be. I hope you give this a try!
Red Beans and Rice is a great meal any time of the year! Most people think of it as a football watching meal. Maybe because of the cooler weather. My Cajun family and friends always have Red Beans and Rice during Mardi Gras. And jambalaya too! But we eat this kind of food at any time of the year!
The Finished Masterpiece
Here’s a picture after simmering for 5 minutes. It was piping hot as you can tell.
Quick and Easy Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 lb Sausage, spicy smoked, sliced (andouille sausage or Conecuh sausage)
- 1 10-oz bag frozen seasoning blend (pre-chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery)*
- 15.5 oz Can red beans (or pinto beans with bacon), undrained
- 16 oz Can creole cream style red beans
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Dried parsley
- 1 tsp Minced garlic
- 1 tsp Dried basil
- 1/4 tsp Cajun seasoning (such as Tony's)
Instructions
- Saute the sliced sausage in the oil until the sausage is slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the undrained red beans (I prefer the pinto beans with bacon), creole cream style red beans, and seasonings. Mix well and gently simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.
- Serve with hot cooked rice.
- *if using fresh veggies, use 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup diced bell pepper, and 1/2 cup diced celery
Notes
Some of the items used for this recipe include:
Here are a few of my all-time favorite southern cookbooks that I have in my kitchen:
If you liked this quick red beans and recipe, let me know. I’d love to know what you think. Send me a picture of your plate full of red beans, sausage, and rice. Then put your feet up and relax. After all, you just made a delicious meal in under 30 minutes!
I made this last weekend for the wife. Incredibly easy and delicious. And she wanted seconds! Will make this again!
Thank you, Asher. I’m glad she loved it. Yay!
I simply cannot believe how delicious this turned out using canned beans! And the fact this was ready in 20 minutes just blew me away. This recipe is a keeper and I’m sharing it with my neighbor!