Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice Recipe

Overhead view of right half of white bowl of Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice with Green Napkin on top right.

Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice Recipe

Enjoy a taste of New Orleans in under an hour with Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice with zesty andouille sausage, red beans, Creole Trinity and Cajun spices!

Course Main Dishes, Side Dishes

Cuisine American, Cajun, Southern

Keyword Instant Pot Recipe, Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice, Mardi Gras Recipe, Red Beans And Rice

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Pressurization 20

Total Time 1 10

Servings

Calories 359kcal

Author Michele @ Flavor Mosaic

Equipment

6-Quart Instant Pot Duo60 from Amazon.com (affiliate link)

Ingredients

Meat (Broth And Oil)

2 Tablespoons oil
12 ounces andouille sausage (or smoked sausage)
4 cups chicken broth (recommend low sodium broth)

Vegetables

1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
16 ounces red kidney beans

Seasonings

2 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon Cajun seasoning (See note below)
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
3-4 dashes hot sauce

Instructions

Brown Sausage. Press the Saute button on the Instant Pot. Wait until the front display of the Instant Pot says "Hot," then add oil to the inner liner pot inside the Instant Pot. When the oil is hot, add the sliced andouille sausage and brown for about 3 minutes on each side, stirring occasionally. Remove the sausage from the Instant Pot and place it on a plate and cover it with foil. Set aside temporarily.
Saute Vegetables. Add the chopped onions, chopped bell peppers, and chopped celery and saute for about 3 minutes until they are softened and onions are translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Deglaze The Pot. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the Inner Liner Pot to prevent ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pot. This will help prevent receiving a Burn Message from the Instant Pot.
Add The Rest of Ingredients. Return the sausage to the Instant Pot and pour in the remainder of the chicken broth (3-1/2 cups). Add the red beans, bay leaves, Cajun Seasoning, salt and pepper, thyme, cayenne, Worcestershire, and hot sauce.
Pressure Cook. Press CANCEL to stop the Saute function, and place the lid on top and turn to lock. Then press PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL (depending on Instant Pot model) and press the + or - sign to adjust the time to 20 minutes for SOAKED beans or 40 minutes for UNSOAKED beans.
Natural Release. Allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally (this means you do nothing during this time). It may take 30 minutes or more. After the Instant Pot has released the pressure fully and the pin has dropped, then open the lid. The beans should be soft.
To Thicken. There may be extra liquid. To thicken the beans, remove about 1 cup of beans and mash with a potato masher and then return to the Instant Pot and stir. It should thicken up in a few minutes.

Video

Notes

I use a 6-quart Instant Pot Duo60. See link in the Equipment section above.

Instant Pot Quick Soaking Beans

If you want to soak the beans but forgot to soak them overnight, no worries. You can do a quick soak of the beans by using the Instant Pot. It is super easy. This will need to be done BEFORE you start to make the Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice recipe.

Place 2 cups of red beans in the Instant Pot.
Add 6 cups of water with a teaspoon of salt and pressure cook on high for 1 minute. Yes, that is correct. I said one minute.
Let the Instant Pot do natural pressure release. (This may take up to 45 minutes. It is during this time that the soaking magic happens. So just leave it alone until all the pressure is released and the pin has dropped.)
Drain and rinse the red beans, and follow the recipe below for Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice.

Substitutions

Sausage - If you can find Andouille sausage, use your favorite smoked sausage.
Broth - Use chicken broth, chicken stock, vegetable broth, or water. It just needs to be a thin liquid to allow for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
Beans - If you can't find small red beans, use red kidney beans.
Cajun Seasoning - I recommend making my Homemade Cajun Seasoning or leave it out and increase salt and pepper to 1 tsp each, add 1/2 tsp paprika, and increase cayenne to 1/2 tsp or whatever amount you can tolerate.

Tips For Perfect Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice

If the sausage is firm, cook it with the beans in the Instant Pot. However, if the sausage is soft, after browning, remove the sausage from the Instant Pot and set aside. After the red beans have finished pressure cooking, add the sausage back in with the beans and let the heat from the beans heat the sausage.
Always use a Natural Pressure Release for the beans. The beans continue to cook while the pressure is releasing. This may take up to 30 minutes, or more.
The beans should be soft after cooking. However, if after 40 minutes of pressure cooking, and 30 minutes of natural release, they are not, put the lid back on, move the pressure release valve to the SEALING position, and pressure cook for 15 minutes more.
If after pressure cooking, you would like the red beans to be thicker, then follow the instructions above to thicken the red beans by mashing some of the beans and returning the mashed beans into the Instant Pot.

Variations of Red Beans And Rice

Ham It Up. Add a ham hock and cook with the red beans and rice for an authentic flavor. When it is finished pressure cooking and the pressure has been fully released, remove the ham hock, chop up the ham into pieces and put back in the red beans and rice.
Bacon. Instead of sausage, you could use bacon instead and cook pieces of bacon using the saute function, and then cook the vegetables in the bacon fat.
Vegetarian. To make this recipe vegetarian, leave out the sausage and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Nutrition