Caribbean Rice and Beans
Caribbean Rice and Beans delivers a flavor explosion with garlic, onions, and intensely delicious spices. Infusing it with bay leaves, thyme, scotch bonnet, and coconut milk creates an incredible rice meal!
I would like to say that with what the world is experiencing right now, every day should be a gratitude day. So, I’m beyond thankful for this gift of life and my beloved family by my side.
And while I’ve been daydreaming about my next Caribbean trip, a tropical food trip in my kitchen, starting with this rice and beans recipe, will have to do. Or if you’re into Jamaican food, it’s rice and peas. 😍
What Type of Beans
When making this scrumptious meal, I don’t have any favorites, so whatever is in the pantry works. Traditionally, Caribbean beans and rice use red kidney beans. However, it’s just as delicious with black or pinto beans or pigeon peas. The look may change slightly, but that’s about it.
Recipe Ingredients
- Rice – Long-grain separates more easily. However, medium-grain, jasmine, and basmati rice work just as well.
- Seasoning – Garlic, onion, hot pepper (scotch bonnet peppers are my fave), Creole seasoning, thyme, bouillon powder, bay leaves, optional smoked paprika, and good ol’ S&P pack a flavor punch.
- Kidney Beans – Dried beans are cheaper, but for convenience’s sake, I’ve gone with canned. Choose which is best for you and your Caribbean red beans and rice.😉
- Coconut Milk – Full-fat coconut milk provides liquid to cook the rice and a tropical taste.
- Chicken Broth delivers the rest of the needed liquid and adds extra flavor.
How to Make Caribbean Rice and Beans
Follow along with my numbered instructions below to see how to make Caribbean rice and beans in your own kitchen.
- Wash rice until water runs clear. Drain water.
- Sautee Aromatics – Heat a saucepan with oil. Then add onions, garlic, thyme, and hot pepper, and sauté for about a minute. (Photos 1-2)
- Simmer – Stir the rice into the pan, then the beans, and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add coconut milk, bay leaf, bouillon powder, Creole spice, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). (Photos 3-4)
Note: Stir occasionally to prevent burning, adding water as needed. - Serve – Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves. Serve warm and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Jerk Rice and Beans – For even more spice, add a teaspoon of jerk seasoning to the traditional recipe.
- Bean Swap – Pigeon peas, kidney beans, and black beans are all conventional choices. You can also use other beans, such as pinto beans, red beans, or lentils.
- Vegan Version – Replace the meat-based broth with vegetable broth; done.
Tips and Tricks
- Test the rice to avoid overcooking. It should be tender but still have a slight bite, and the beans should be tender but not mushy.
- Almost any chili pepper, such as habanero and jalapeño, will work if you don’t have a scotch bonnet.
- Don’t skip rinsing the rice because it removes excess starch and keeps the rice from getting sticky.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
Cool the rice and beans after cooking and freeze them in meal-size portions in airtight containers for 2-3 months. It will last in the fridge for 3-4 days—the same works for leftovers.
Thaw frozen rice and beans in the refrigerator overnight. Then simmer (stirring occasionally) in a pot until it bubbles. Add water or broth as needed to keep it from burning—a microwave works, too.
FAQs
Caribbean rice and beans definitely have a West African influence. Enslaved Africans brought the recipe to the Caribbean, and it quickly became a staple in many Caribbean cuisines.
It depends on who you ask and where you are in the world. In Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, it’s known as rice and peas. That’s because, in the West African Akan language, the word for pea refers to most legumes, including beans.
Rice and beans are a nutritious meal. So you can serve it as a complete meal or add meat and sides, such as ripe fried plantains.
What to Serve With The Recipe
It’s traditionally served with chicken, beef, or pork. It goes excellent with brown stew chicken, Jamaican curry goat, or jerk chicken. Fried sweet plantain and Caribbean coleslaw are wonderful sides.
More Popular Jamaican Dishes to Try
Conclusion
This Caribbean rice and beans recipe takes rice to a whole new level. Would you like more African-based recipes? Then follow me on Facebook for more! ❤️
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in February 2014 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Caribbean Rice and Beans
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (or canola)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
- 2 cups uncooked long grain rice
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk (about 1¾ cups)
- 1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 small bay leaves
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2¼ cups chicken broth or water (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (optional)
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
Instructions
- Wash rice until water runs clear. Drain water.
- Heat a saucepan with oil. Then add onions, garlic, thyme, and hot pepper, and sauté for about a minute.
- Stir in rice to the pan, followed by beans, and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add coconut milk, bay leaf, bouillon powder, and Creole spice with 2¼ cups of broth or water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover with a lid, and simmer until rice is cooked, about 20 minutes (more or less). Stir occasionally from the sides to prevent burning add more water as needed.
- Adjust for salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves You have to stir occasionally to be preventing any burns.
- Serve warm.
Tips & Notes:
- Use 3 cups of water or broth for really moist rice and beans. If you want your rice to look just like in the picture, use 2 cups of water or broth.
- I used paprika and Creole salt to enhance the rice’s flavor. It’s not traditional, so if you want traditional rice, omit the paprika and use regular salt instead of Creole salt.
- Feel free to switch the coconut milk with 2 cups of water.
- If you want to make it vegan, vegetable broth is fine.
- If using dry pigeon peas, boil them until tender, then replace beans with pigeon peas in the recipe instructions. You may also use pinto or black beans instead.
- I use uncooked long-grain rice. No need to parboil; just rinse it until the water runs clear. One of our readers here has used Japanese short-grained rice, and it works. Brown long-grain rice works, too.
- Too much liquid and stirring would make your rice mushy.
- You may cook it ahead and refrigerate it. It heats up very well the next day.
- If you don’t have chicken bouillon, you may leave it out or use half of a Maggie cube and add it to the pot.
- For those who want to cook it using an Instant Pot, one of the readers shared this: saute everything like you usually would and cook for 3 minutes at high pressure with a natural pressure release.
- No Creole spice? You can use my jerk spice.
- You can add your favorite cooked protein to the mix, like shredded smoked turkey, diced chicken, ground meat, sausages, and so on.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Thanks for the recipe being a foodie and love cooking I keep searching for recipes today I found you I will be checking hereby on regular and will try this.
Thank you
Never mind about the instant pot instructions, I saw them in your note section
Can you make this in the instant pot? If so, what are the instructions?
Thank you
Don’t have any precise instructions for you. But am sure it works just fine in an instapot.
I have tried almost all your recipes and i loved them. I am from Jamaica and was taught to make Rice and Peas a certain way but I love your version because the flavor explodes when you taste it. Your Creole seasoning is now a regular staple in my house. Thank you also for all the “stay at home recipes” , the deviled eggs was great.
Yay! So happy to hear you are loving them. Thanks for letting me know.
Made this 2 days ago and having the leftovers today. Phenomenally tasty. A keeper.
Yaay! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. I appreciate it.
I am always on the lookout for new recipes. We made the Jamaican brown chicken stew in the instapot and the Caribbean rice tonight and it was incredible. Thank you so much.
Hi Imma: I came across your recipe this morning and we had it for dinner tonight! Everything came out perfect! I also prepped my own creole seasoning. The rice and beans were moist, not dry at all. We had it with collards and mustard greens on the side. Ultimate comfort food! I am your fan for life! Thank you so much! I look forward to trying many more of your recipes!
Yup, this is this ultimate comfort food! I couldn’t agree more! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave feedback. Happy cooking!
Thanks I’m making this now with some jerk chicken so far so good tasted good before i put the lid on 🙂 i just hope the rice turns out i suck at makin rice
thanks turned out great but when doing the rice i was sure if turn the heat to simmer or medium heat besides that it was great easy to follow recipe and turned out even for me thanks again my wife and daughter liked it too i will have to try some of your other recipes also thanks have a great day keep on shining
Hi Imma: I came across your recipe this morning and we had it for dinner tonight! Everything came out perfect! The rice and beans were moist, not dry at all. We had it with collards and mustard greens on the side. Ultimate comfort food! I am your fan for life!
I want to make this recipe however I am having a hard time finding the scotch pepper in my area. Can I substitute the scotch bonnet pepper with any other type of pepper?
Yes you sure can. Any pepper would do just fine.
I make this with green chilies and bell peppers. We love this recipe!
My favourite rice and peas recipe and simple steps to understand. Thank you!
Hello,
I am from Jamaica and the first time I saw you make this rice and beans I said to myself “that’s not how we make rice and peas! Anyway, I decided to try it and was floored at how delicious it is. I also made the Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken in the slow cooker. These two dishes together were AMAZING!!!!! I was jumping up in my kitchen with happiness. I took some of it to work and shared with a friend and she couldn’t stop saying how delicious it was.
You have hit this out the park and I’m in love!!
Awww. Thank you. This means a lot to me. Yeah, I always get that “no we don’t make it that way” without trying out the recipe. LOL. But I’m beyond happy that you guys like this. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
I made this along with the brown stew chicken and omg my neighbors were knocking on my door asking what was I cooking! The best part of it all is that I had you there in my kitchen guiding me so that I didn’t mess up lol! This was the 1st time in years that my Thanksgiving meal was different! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
Hello
Some of my family is vegan would using veg broth mess up the recipe ?
Not all all. Veg broth works just fine here
Lawdd have mercy Imma, I am in love with ALL of your recipes. I’m on a mission to make all of the recipes on this site. Kind of like Julie and Julia kind of situation. I’m making the Jerk marinade and creole seasonings as christmas gifts. I can’t wait to try everything else! <3
Oh my, I love Julie and Julia — thats such a compliment! You know creole seasoning is my favorite and that’s such a great idea! 🙂
I just came here to say I’ve made several of your Caribbean recipes and they’re unbelievably authentic!
Needless to say I’m never going to a Caribbean takeaway again!
My festival dumplings, beef stew, chicken curry and rice and peas are spectacular now! Thank you so much for invigorating my passion in Caribbean food again! Your recipes are absolutely spot
-on perfect! Made me very happy!
Hi Oli, you just made my day! Thank you for stopping by and for trying my recipes. I work very hard on them and comments like yours make it so worth it 🙂
After reading all the positive comments, I had to try this recipe. It was superb!!
I’ve been struggling to make peas and rice. Finally found a winner. Thank you Imma!!
Best rice!!!!
Thank you!
Thanks so much for your recipes the ones I have prepared have came out a winner they’re so delicious and I can’t wait to try this one very soon. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
I’m very glad you enjoyed Rosaleen! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I made this tonight for my husband and I. Absolutely LOVED IT. Both of us didn’t want to stop eating it lol. I’ve never seen him scarf rice down like that. 10/10 would absolutely make again.
Awesome ! Thanks for the feedback.
How would you do this recipe with dry pigeon peas? I have some but I’m afraid of messing them up so I haven’t tried it lol ty!
I would boil it first , until tender . Then replace beans with pigeon peas.