Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
Photo: Howard Lee Puckett; Styling: Sissy Lamerton
Smoked turkey sausage, bell peppers, and red beans come together in this classic, easy slow-cooker recipe. Serve over long-grain rice for an amazing meal.
How to Make It
Step 1
Combine first 8 ingredients and 7 cups water in a 4-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 7 hours or until beans are tender.
Step 2
Serve red bean mixture with hot cooked rice, and, if desired, hot sauce. Garnish, if desired.
Step 3
Try These Twists!
Step 4
Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice: Substitute frozen meatless smoked sausage, thawed and thinly sliced, for turkey sausage.
Step 5
Per cup (with 1 cup rice): Calories 422; Fat 5g (sat 4g, mono 2g, poly 2g); Protein 5g; Carb 4g; Fiber 2g; Chol 0mg; Iron 1mg; Sodium 530mg; Calc 113mg
Step 6
Quick Skillet Red Beans and Rice: Substitute 2 (16-oz.) cans light kidney beans, drained and rinsed, for dried beans. Reduce Creole Seasoning to 2 tsp. Cook sausage and next 4 ingredients in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring often, 5 minutes or until sausage browns. Add garlic; saute 1 minute. Stir in 2 tsp. seasoning, beans, and 2 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve with hot cooked rice and, if desired, hot sauce. Garnish, if desired. Makes 8 cups. Hands-on Time: 26 min., Total Time: 46 min.
Step 7
Per cup (with 1 cup rice): Calories 424; Fat 2g (sat 1g, mono 2g, poly 4g); Protein 2g; Carb 5g; Fiber 6g; Chol 25mg; Iron 3mg; Sodium 804mg; Calc 76mg
Chef's Notes
MyRecipes is working with Let's Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA's MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.
suzyk216's Review
N/A
mkumpe's Review
Pretty bland - not very tasty.
Dougboy's Review
Very bland. Also the turkey sausage really got over cooked after spending 7 hours in the slow cooker on high.
Celty12's Review
This recipe is easy to doctor up. I used chicken stock, added bay leaf and a fresh jalapeno. As long as cooked on high until cooked all the way any toxin in any bean is taken care of.
krash17's Review
we love this recipe - make sure you use a creole spice blend that includes salt, and sub stock for water. helps with a lots of the blandness in other reviews. i also add sausage later in cooking.
Lbennett's Review
Needs more seasoning, as others' have said...very bland
Dkunnanz21's Review
I followed the recipe to a T and unfortunately did not read the comments before making it, I ran into the same problem as most and it was very bland and just not great, I started this dish at 1am yesterday in the crockpot because I wanted it for a football party today, I tried it around 10AM and it was bland. After reading the comments I started to play with it, I added 3 bay leaves, sprinkled some Cayenne pepper and it was still bland. I was starting to get frustrated, I went to the store and got Andouille sausage and sliced it up added it to the pot, let it simmer for about another hour and Bam, that did it! So my advice is skip the smoked turkey sausage, add the Andouille, bay leaves and cayenne. Hope this helps others.
jbrough1984's Review
N/A
JFletcher's Review
My husband and I both enjoyed this dish. I might try a cajun chicken sausage next time, rather than the smoked turkey sausage. We did add a touch of salt and some pepper once served, but that doesn't bother me, since everyone can season to taste.
Liked it a lot!