Easy Louisiana Style Red Beans & Rice

We just moved to South Carolina from Louisiana for my husbands job. In conversation with people, I always get asked if I know how to make red beans & rice. Red beans & rice is a staple in Louisiana and its super cheap to make! There are from scratch ways to make it and easy ways to make it. I’m going to show you how to make it cheap and easy. I included links for those of us not in Louisiana and can’t get the ingredients at the grocery store. So now you can have Louisiana red beans and rice anywhere that amazon can ship (lol).  Lets face it, not all of us have the time to spend hours making homemade meals. There is nothing better than a crockpot! If you don’t have one… you are seriously missing out on one of the best inventions know to man or woman (lol). I love my crockpot and I have had it for a long time. If you have a large family like I do, I recommend  this one (click on picture for link):Ingredients:

~ Camellia Famous New Orleans Red Beans – 16 Ounce Bags (Four Pack)
~ Zatarain’s Red Bean Seasoning, 2.4 oz (Pack of 12)
~Cajun Country Louisiana Long Grain Rice, 5 Pounds
~1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
~green onions (chopped)( to taste)
~1 pound of smoked sausage
~Hamilton Beach 37548 Rice & Hot Cereal Cooker, Stainless Steel

For the red beans, you will only need 16 oz but its cheaper to buy in bulk cause I promise you will want to make this again. Same thing with the Zatarains seasoning.. you will only need 1 pack. You can use any long grain white rice or brown rice if you want healthier.

You will need to cook the beans on low for 8 hrs or high for 4 hrs in the crock pot.

Lets gets started:

The night before, you want to soak the beans. This will make the cook time cut in half. Add the 1 pound of beans to a large bowl. Fill up with water. Leave on the counter over night. The beans will swell overnight.

In the morning, drain the beans and rinse. Add the beans to the crock pot. Add the whole packet of the Zatarain’s Red Bean Seasoning, 2.4 oz (Pack of 12) ( just use 1 box). Fill crockpot with water until its about 1 inch over the beans. Mix the water and seasoning well. Now add the chopped onions, green onions and sausage.

Once you combine everything. It should look like this:

Cover the crockpot and let cook: 4 hrs on high or 8 hrs on low. Do not open lid until closer til done.  You want to check the beans. You want them soft but not too soft or mushy. Once beans are done, cook your rice.

For rice: I cook 4 cups of rice with 4 1/2 cups on water (for white rice) and for brown rice I do 4 cups of rice 5 cups of water. We have a family of 9 with 2 being small kids that don’t eat much so this is plenty. Add rice and water to the rice pot and cook it.

This feeds 9 people and depending how hungry we are.. sometimes we have left overs.

Add beans over rice and ENJOY!!