Instant Pot Red Beans & Rice

It’s been cold. Like so freaking cold. Like “my dog doesn’t even want to go outside and do her business” cold. And when it’s this cold the only thing I want to eat is soup, chili or beans. Basically warm and cozy comfort food. And since I’m in Louisiana that usually means gumbo or red beans and rice! We like it spicy and warm here y’all! AND it’s almost Mardi Gras! “Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet” I’ve been practicing on my Instant Pot for a couple of months now, and still consider myself a newbie, but I am getting more and more comfortable with it. It’s fun to use, and the results are just incredibly delicious.

The joy of the Instant Pot, or most newer model electric pressure cookers, is that you can saute and brown in the same pot you’ll do your pressure cooking in. So there is one less dirty pot to clean up afterwards! Woot! They come in several sizes, and offer lots of different features. But for us, the basic 6 quart version works best. I recommend the 8 quart size if you’ve got a growing family, or cook for large groups and get togethers. I ordered mine from Amazon. This is the Instant Pot I have:

Since I’m more familiar now with the Instant Pot, I thought I’d give Red Beans and Rice a try. I did a little research on Pinterest, and ended up combining recipes and tweaking them a bit.  I am notorious for changing up recipes to suit myself. I usually morph the recipe into my own version, and am usually pleased with the results. I used Ragin Cajun brand red beans.  I soaked the red beans all day while I was at work, then drained them in a colander where they hung out for a few minutes. I sauteed the chopped onion, celery, green bell pepper, and garlic in the Instant Pot, then threw in the sliced andouille sausage and browned it all together. 

I pulled out the sausage, and used a little chicken stock to deglaze the pot. I turned off the Instant Pot, then added the drained red beans to the pot, adding enough chicken stock to cover the beans.  I also stirred in the spice packet that came with the beans, and added some extra Tony Chacehre’s Creole Seasoning. (I did NOT add the sausage back at this point, because I’ve read that pressure cooking sausage can give it a weird texture) I then sealed the Instant Pot, making sure the pressure nozzle on top was turned to “sealing”, pressed the “soup/stew” button and changed the time to 25 minutes. FYI – when cooking with a pressure cooker, it takes a few extra minutes to bring the pot up to pressure, so you do have to take that into consideration when planning your meals.

I whipped up some rice and cornbread and opened up a bottle of wine while the pressure cooker did it’s hard labor on my beans, making my house smells like cajun heaven.

When the time was up, I kept it in the “keep warm” state for about 15 minutes for a natural release of pressure. I then turned the nozzle to venting for a quick release of pressure. I turned the pot back on to “saute” and added the sausage into the beans. I pulled out about a cup of the red beans, smashed them with a fork and poured that back into the pot to thicken up the sauce.

The red beans were then dished up and ladled over a bowl of rice, served with cornbread and a splash of Crystal hot sauce.

Instructions:

1. Soak Red Beans all day, or overnight, drain
2. Using the Saute feature, brown onion, bell pepper and celery; add garlic
3. Add sliced Andouille sausage to the sauteed veggies and cook til brown
4. Turn off the instant Pot. Remove the sausage and put it on a plate until after the beans are cooked
5. Deglaze pan with a splash of chicken stock
6. Add the soaked and drained red beans to the pot, and add enough chicken stock to cover, stirring in Tony Chachere’s seasoning and the seasoning packet from the beans
7. Seal the Instant Pot, and make sure the pressure nozzle is set to Sealing
8. Select the Soup/Stew Button or Pressure Cook (depending on your model) and change time to 25 minutes. The pot will begin it’s process immediately
9. Prepare your rice
10. After cooking is complete, allow the Pot to go to the keep warm setting and let it hang out for 10-15 minutes, before releasing the pressure and opening the pot
11. Turn the Pot back on to Saute, and stir in the cooked andouille sausage and bring to a boil
12. Remove about a cup of red beans and smash with a fork and return to the pot
13. Serve over cooked rice

Do you have an Instant Pot, or electric Pressure Cooker? What are your go-to recipes for it?  If not are you considering it? Let me know what you think of my recipe in the comments, I’d love to hear from you! Stay warm my friends!