Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

There are several things that are not only quintessentially southern but are quintessentially New Orleans. These Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice on Mondays is one of those things.

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

It has always been interesting to me that regardless of where you grow up in the state of Louisiana the traditions that exist in New Orleans are somewhat embedded into your brain. It is its own little world with culture, tradition, and nuances that are uniquely unrivaled.If you’re never heard of Red Beans on Mondays, here’s some history for you from Camelia Beans: Red Beans on Monday history

But should you marry into that culture, you might as well start jotting notes in your “I Married a Nola Boy” handbook.

Before you know it, you’ll be taking notes on how to master things like classic Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice and your mother in law’s Oyster Dressing recipes. You’ll learn that you can never go wrong with Doberge Cake for a birthday celebration….or any celebration for that matter. You’ll know the difference between a muffuletta and a poboy and not only will you know which brand of bread suits both best, but you’ll also tackle both with ease. You’ll learn that you will never ever win the great snoball versus snow cone debate and you will adjust your vocabulary to accommodate both. You’ll crave beignets like you never thought possible and your weekends will include cafe au lait, always. And like it or not, your closet will need to have a section of purple, green and gold for the Mardi Gras season and you’ll simply switch out the green for black and gold for Saints football in the Fall.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a Southern cookbook that doesn’t have some variation of Red Beans & Rice included inside. Personally, I love the idea of utilizing the slow cooker and implementing the ole fix and forget it method.

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

This recipe is sort of a little bit of this recipe and a little bit of that recipe. It’s a combination of how my grandma would make the beans with a few additional spices that maybe she added but just never mentioned for fear I wouldn’t eat it.

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

Yield: 8-10
Prep Time: 8 hours
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 14 hours

Fix it and forget it, these Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice are a fuss-free way to feed a crowd while serving up some comfort food on a cool night.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups dried red beans
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 links Andouille sausage, chopped
  • 1 package pickled pork, chopped
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3 cups white rice
  • Green onion, chopped for garnish

Instructions

    Soak beans overnight in enough water to cover by an inch. Drain, and rinse; set aside.

    Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet; sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic, Creole seasoning, and oregano.

    Add sausage, and cook until edges begin to brown, and are slightly crisping.

    Put sausage mixture into slow cooker. Add drained beans, pork, chicken broth, Tabasco, vinegar, salt and black pepper; stir to combine.

    Cook on HIGH 6-8 hours, until beans are soft. After about 6 hours, stir, and using the back of a wooden spoon, gently mash some beans against the side of the cooker, allowing them to dissolve into the liquid.

    Serve with a scoop of white rice on top. Garnish with chopped green onions.



Notes

*For freezer meal, follow the same instructions but place into a freezer friendly aluminum foil pan once cooled. Do not add rice or green onions. Double wrap with heavy duty foil and label. When ready to enjoy, remove foil, allow to thaw completely and heat.

 

 Isn’t it funny how as you age you learn that onions and hot sauce aren’t quite so bad and you feel guilty for making your grandmother strain your gumbo for fear of eating an onion? Not that I ever did that or anything.

Even if you’re not from the South, there’s nothing more welcoming than a big bowl of Red Beans & Rice as the temperatures start falling and we kick Summer to the curb and say hello again to Fall.

And with football season right around the corner, there’s no easier way to feed a crowd than having something simmering in the slow cooker

And if that isn’t enough reasoning, it also works wonders for when you’re traveling out of town and leaving your husband to fend for himself.

Beans. For. Days.

They’ll be no accusing you of leaving him home alone with nothing in the fridge.

You’re welcome.

3 Comments

  1. Thank you!!! I’m going to make these next week! My red beans are always bland and boring! 🙂

  2. Hey Aimee, have you ever heard of red kidney bean toxins? I used to cook my beans in the crock pot until I saw this and then I just starting doing them stove top because I was paranoid. LOL

    There is something out there about the toxins needing to be cooked out by boiling the beans for 10 minutes.. I don’t know…

    But yes, Red Beans & Rice are a Monday staple down here in NOLA! 🙂

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