If you don’t live in Louisiana, you might not know that we’ve got a big carnival going on right now. Parades, marching bands, crazy costumes, and (of course) beads are daily sightings for the two weeks preceding Mardi Gras. It’s all gotten me in the mood for some classic New Orleans food—Red Beans and Rice!
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I made a classic version of Red Beans and Rice way back when this was just a baby blog, so I thought it was time to revisit this deliciously filling and inexpensive dish. While I absolutely looove pork products, I thought it would be fun to try a vegan version. To make up for the loss of andouille sausage’s smoky flavor, I added a heaping dose of smoked paprika (that stuff is magic!). Making sure there was a healthy amount of herbs and spices also helped keep the batch flavorful. A sprinkle of fresh green onions on top adds a final oomph of flavor and then I’m in red bean heaven. It’s so filling, so flavorful, and so real. The recipe is simple and requires only good, simple ingredients. That’s the way I like to eat.
Keep in mind that this is not a fast dish. The longer you cook it the better it gets. I cooked mine for 3 hours, but you don’t want to go any less than 2 hours, or else your beans won’t be soft. Also, I soaked my beans over night, so you’ll want to plan this at least a day ahead. It’s worth it. Promise.
As an afterthought, I stirred a spoonful of coconut oil into one of my bowls and it added that lovely, velvety, rich flavor that you can only get from saturated fat (usually provided by the pork). So, if you still feel like you’re missing that pork derived richness, try adding a lil’ coconut oil.
Vegan Red Beans and Rice
Servings 6 to 8 servings (about 10 cups total)Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 medium yellow onion ($0.52)
- 1 medium bell pepper ($0.97)
- 4 stalks celery ($0.50)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1 lb dry red beans ($1.59)
- 6 cups vegetable broth* ($0.78)
- 1 tsp thyme ($0.10)
- 1 tsp oregano ($0.10)
- 1 whole bay leaf ($0.15)
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
- Freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill) ($0.05)
- pinch cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 6 cups cooked rice ($1.04)
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced ($0.79)
Instructions
- The night before, Place your beans in a large pot and fill with enough cool water to cover the beans by a few inches. Place the beans in the refrigerator to soak over night.
- When you’re ready to cook, finely dice the celery, bell pepper, and onion, and mince the garlic. Cook the celery, bell pepper, onion, and garlic in a large pot with the olive oil over medium heat until softened (5-7 minutes).
- Drain the soaked beans in a colander and rinse with fresh, cool water. Add the rinsed beans to the pot with the vegetables. Also add the vegetable broth, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, smoked paprika, some freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a full boil over high heat. After it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and allow the pot to simmer for at least two hours. Make sure the pot is simmering the entire time, increasing the heat if needed. Stir the pot occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. Keep the lid in place the entire time to keep the beans from drying out.
- After two hours (or longer if desired) the beans should be soft and tender. Mash some of the beans against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon. This will thicken the pot and make the classic, creamy texture of the dish. Remove the bay leaf and allow the pot to simmer for about 30 minutes more (after smashing) to help it thicken.
- To serve, add a scoop of red beans to a bowl and top with a scoop warm, cooked rice. Sprinkle sliced green onions over top and add a dash of hot sauce if desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Vegan Red Beans and Rice – Step by Step Photos
The night before, soak one pound of red beans in the refrigerator. Add the beans to a large pot and then add enough cool water to cover the beans by about a few inches (they’ll absorb water as they soak, so make sure to enough water to keep them covered as they expand). If you didn’t presoak your beans, you can use the “quick soak” method, but that still takes at least an hour.
When you’re ready to begin, finely dice four stalks of celery, one bell pepper, one onion, and mince four cloves of garlic.
Sauté the vegetables in a large pot with olive oil over medium heat until they are soft (about 5-7 minutes).
Drain the soaked beans in a colander and rinse with fresh water. Add the rinsed beans to the pot with the vegetables.
Also add 6 cups of vegetable broth, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 whole bay leaf, some freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a mill), and a pinch of cayenne (I like it a little more spicy, so I added 1/4 tsp). Give the pot a good stir, then place a lid on top and bring it up to a full boil over high heat. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for at least two hours (with lid), stirring occasionally. Make sure it’s simmering the whole time, turning the heat up slightly if necessary.
After a minimum of two hours, the beans should be soft enough to smash with the back of a large spoon. Smash a good portion of the beans until they begin to take on a thick, creamy consistency. You could use an immersion blender instead, but just make sure not to purée the entire pot. You want some whole beans in there. Let the pot simmer for another 30 minutes or so after smashing the beans to let it thicken a little more.
Serve the beans with a scoop of warm, cooked rice over top and a sprinkle of fresh, sliced green onion. A splash of hot sauce is also a nice touch – the vinegar in the hot sauce helps bright everything up and gives a kick of flavor.
Mine ended up SUPER runny so I improvised and just mixed the rice in. Turned it into a soup type thing. Still very yummy! but I’d love to figure out how to make it thicker. It was probably because I used canned beans and didn’t adjust the liquid content…will do it for next time!
AMAZING! I am making this for the 2nd night in a row. Its sooooooo yummy. I could eat this all month
if my family won’t eat green peppers, any suggestions on what to substitute? Can’t wait to make this!
I think I’d just leave them out. :)
Made the recipe today following another commenter’s suggestion. We decided to have this dish too late for the 12 hour soak, so I soaked the beans for about 4 hours, then used a pressure cooker for 40 minutes, then 10 minutes on simmer. As advised, I left out the green peppers. I used “Better than Bouillon” vegetarian base, to make the broth. We added andouille sausage for the meat-eaters in our midst. I do think the smoked paprika was the secret ingredient! THIS DISH WAS A HIT with everyone — which rarely happens. thank you!
sorry forgot to rate this 5 stars!
This has so much going on, they probably won’t notice. just don’t tell them, hehehe.
I made this recipe exactly as is, and it is so, so good. Thank you for sharing this recipe, even the non-vegans in my life love it. I am also applying your coconut oil trick to other dishes and want to thank you for that one too!
I made this last night with a lot of alterations, and it was delicious! Thank you so much for sharing! It’s always nice to have a “base recipe” when I’m not familiar with how to make a certain dish. I always let my creativity run wild, but without this as the basis for it, I would’ve been lost — so thank you! :)
Thanks for the great recipe. My family loves this! Your site has been wonderful:-)
When recipes talk about beans, I’m often confused about which variety is used. Now we should use “red beans”. Are these kidney beans or azuki beans? In the picture of the beans soaking, they have the shape of kidney beans, but not the red colour, so are they some rare variety of bean?
Kidney beans are what you’d want to use. There are light and dark kidney beans, also large and small kidney beans, so that might be why they look different to you. We have a type of red beans here in Louisiana that are simply labeled as “red beans” and not kidney beans, although I suspect they are a variety of kidney. They are not adzuki beans, though.
Yum! Sounds so good!
In the area of substitutions for pork, Linda Watson of “Cook for Good” suggests tahini. I tried it in some pintos I made for a veg friend of mine this weekend and it gave the beans a slightly nutty flavor and a great mouth feel.
Oh how I love this recipe. It’s now a staple in our house. It’s one of the nicest things I’ve ever eaten! I use canned black beans or whatever I have on hand. It does take time to cook down, but by the end of the cooking time it’s a nice stew-like consistency. Also, the first time I made it I had no celery, so I added 1/2 tsp celery seed, not knowing if that would help…it’s amazing with it! I increase the spices to heaping and use a vegetarian stock that’s beef-flavoured.
Thank you so much for all the great meals — I live off this website (and I’m vegan, so that’s a compliment to how adaptable your other recipes are)!
Made this tonight and it was AMAZING!! The smoked paprika really made it taste like the traditional non-vegan version, which my husband meat-eating husband liked. I wouldn’t change a thing about this recipe, it was absolutely perfect! Not to mention it makes enough to feed a small army! Thanks!!! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes, so glad I found your blog via Pinterest :)
First, I tried this with 2-3 carrots last week in place of celery and it was fine in a pinch. :)
Second, the hubs is from NOLA and this is our new fav recipe! Any suggestions to make a vegetarian jambalaya? We are joining a CSA for summer and things like jambalaya and stir fries seem like great options to use up the veggies!
This looks fantastic! Quick question – as an educated guess, how many cans would I use if I only wanted to use canned beans?
Probably about 3, but then you’ll need to adjust the liquid content too, since the beans won’t be absorbing any.
How do you think this would work with red lentils?
I don’t think they would work because of the way they break down as they cook. You’ll probably end up with mush. :)
I made this recipe yesterday as a side dish with some tortilla chips. I used black beans instead of red beans since that is what I had on hand but it was DELICIOUS!
Awesome. I didn’t think to have them with tortilla chips, I bet that is AWESOME.
This was great over some basmati rice. Very filling.
This is a new staple of mine now…so yummy!