Caribbean Rice and Beans

Seasoned with garlic, onions, and Creole spice, then infused with bay leaves, thyme, Scotch bonnet, and coconut milk. True Caribbean comfort food for the soul.

Course Main

Cuisine Caribbean

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories 428kcal

Author Imma

Equipment

7 inch Dutch Oven (cast iron).

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.

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.

Nutrition