Caribbean Rice and Beans
Enjoy a flavor explosion with my Caribbean rice and beans recipe. Garlic, onions, and delicious spiciness from bay leaves, thyme, scotch bonnet pepper, and coconut milk create an incredible one-pot meal!
I want 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 Works Best
Traditionally, Caribbean rice and beans 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.
How to Make Caribbean Rice and Beans
- Wash rice until the water runs clear, then drain. (Photo 1)
- Sauté the onions, garlic, thyme, and hot pepper for about a minute. (Photo 2)
- Stir the rice into the pan, then add the beans and cook for about 2 minutes. (Photos 3-4)
- Pour in the coconut milk, bay leaf, bouillon powder, Creole seasoning, and broth, and simmer until rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent burning. (Photos 5-7)
- Serve – Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves. Enjoy! (Photo 8)
Recipe Notes
- Swap the Creole seasoning with jerk seasoning for a different flavor profile.
- Please don’t skip rinsing the rice because it removes excess starch and keeps it from getting sticky.
- 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.
- Replace the meat-based broth with vegetable broth for a delicious vegan version.
- Taste 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.
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. They’ll last in the fridge for 3-4 days—the same 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.
What to Serve With Caribbean Rice and Beans
It’s traditionally served with chicken, beef, or pork. It goes wonderfully with brown stew chicken, Jamaican curry goat, and jerk chicken. Fried sweet plantain and Caribbean coleslaw are wonderful sides.
More Popular Jamaican Dishes to Try
By Imma
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
- 2 cups (320g) uncooked long-grain rice
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil (any neutral-flavored oil works)
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk (about 1¾ cups)
- 2 small bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons (9-10g) Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon (3g) paprika (optional)
- 1 teaspoon (4g) chicken bouillon or vegetable bouillon for a vegetarian version (optional)
- 2¼ cups (530ml) chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water (see notes)
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash rice until the water runs clear, then drain and set aside.
- Heat a saucepan with the oil. Then add the onions, garlic, thyme, and hot pepper, and sauté for about a minute.
- Add the rice to the pan, followed by the beans, and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add coconut milk, bay leaves, bouillon powder, Creole spice, and paprika with 2¼ cups of broth or water.
- Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer until rice is cooked (20 minutes, more or less). Stir occasionally (but not too often) from the sides to prevent burning, and add more water as needed.
- Discard the bay leaves. Adjust seasonings for salt and pepper. Serve hot.
Tips & Notes:
- Use 3 cups of liquid for really moist rice and beans. If you want your rice to look just like in the picture, use 2 cups of liquid. Too much liquid and stirring will make your rice mushy.
- Vegetable bouillon and broth are a quick hack for a vegan version.
- I used paprika and Creole salt to enhance the rice’s flavor. It’s not traditional, so feel free to omit them.
- If you don’t like coconut milk, replace it with 2 cups of water.
- I use uncooked long-grain rice. No need to parboil; just rinse until the water runs clear. One of our readers used Japanese short-grained rice and loved it. Brown long-grain rice works, too.
- For an Instant Pot, a reader shared this: sauté everything like you usually would and cook for 3 minutes at high pressure with a natural pressure release.
- 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.