This Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice recipe takes a New Orlean’s staple and adapts it wonderfully for the instant pot! Sausage, ham, vegetables, and seasonings combined with dry, uncooked beans cook all in one pot, making this an EASY and healthy instant pot recipe!
I love adapting recipes for the instant pot! I’ve got dozens of easy instant pot recipes you can cook all in one pot, for dinner, like this Instant Pot Stroganoff, Cajun Pasta, and Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya.
I have vowed to only share practical Instant Pot recipes with you. Ones that I actually make my family, are easier to make in the instant pot than the stove-top version, and taste good! This delicious recipe checks all the boxes, and I’m really excited to share it with you!
What I love about this Healthy Instant Pot Recipe:
- Packed with protein from andouille sausage, diced ham, and beans, giving this recipe about 34 grams of protein per serving!
- Fresh vegetables including onion, celery, bell peppers, and green onion.
- Packed with New Orleans flavor from cajun seasoning, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, and parsley.
How to make Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice, step-by-step:
1. Brown sausage. Using Instant Pot sauté mode, brown sausages in 1 tablespoon of oil, remove to a plate.
2. Sauté vegetables. Sauté garlic and onions, celery, bell pepper, and green onions.
3. Add beans and spices, including black pepper, Cajun seasoning, thyme, oregano, bay leaves., water and chicken broth.
4. Pressure cook. Set on MANUAL/HIGH Pressure for 55 minutes, followed by a 15-minute natural release.
5. Puree some of the beans to thicken the mixture. Add salsa, parsley, sausages and diced ham.
6. Turn to Sauté for 15 minutes, or until desired thickness.
Serve with a scoop of white long-grain rice. Top with remaining chopped green onion, and top with hot sauce, if desired.
Important Tips for success:
- Adjust the cooking time as needed: given the various brand of instant pots, different elevations of users, etc., think of the cooking times I list as a starting point. If your beans aren’t cooked all the way after the 55 minute pressure cook, simply add a few more minutes.
- Check out your Instant pot manual. This recipe was created and tested in my Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cooker, 6Qt/1000W . Cooking times and liquid requirements may vary for your particular instant pot manual so it’s important to consult your manual to see the recommended cooking method for dry beans and adapt accordingly.
Dry Beans or Cooked Beans?
Dry Beans! The best part of this recipe is you don’t have to cook the beans, soak the beans, or use canned beans. Simply purchase a pound of dry, uncooked beans at the grocery store and let the instant pot do the rest.
Other Variations:
- Substitute the meat. Chicken or bacon could be substituted for the sausage. Cook the chicken or bacon completely in step 2, remove to a plate. (Both will overcook and be dry if you leave them to cook in the instant pot).
- Substitute the beans. You can substitute other dry beans for this recipe (black beans, etc.) but do not substitute canned beans!
- Make it vegetarian. To make this a vegetarian instant pot recipe, omit the ham and sausage. You could also add more sautéed vegetables, if desired.
Make-ahead, Storing, and Freezing Instructions:
To store: Red beans and rice will stay good stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To make ahead: This recipe can be made ahead of time and kept on warm for up to 2 hours before serving or make it 1-3 days ahead and store it in the refrigerator. Serve with hot cooked rice.
To freeze: Allow the red beans and rice to cool completely and store in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave or on the stove top. Serve with hot cooked rice.
Don’t miss my other easy Instant Pot Recipes! And if you love this, you might also love Dirty Rice, Borracho Beans, or Instant Pot Chicken and Rice.
Recipe
Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 pound andouille sausage , sliced 1/2-inch thick (smoked sausage can also be used)
- 1 heaping cup diced ham
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 medium yellow onion , finely diced
- 4 ribs celery , finely diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper , chopped
- 1 bunch green onions , chopped, divided
- 1 pound dried red beans (preferably New Orleans Camelia brand)
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 cup salsa
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley , chopped
- Cooked white long-grain rice , for serving
- Hot sauce , for serving
Instructions
- Rinse beans and remove any small dirt or withered beans. Set aside. (You do not need to soak them).
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Brown the sausages in 1 tablespoon of oil until browned on both sides. Remove to a plate.
- Add remaining oil to the pot, then add garlic and onions. Sauté over medium heat until onions become transparent. Add celery, bell pepper, and half of the green onions and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add red beans, black pepper, Cajun seasoning, thyme, oregano, bay leaves. Add water and chicken broth.
- Set on MANUAL/HIGH Pressure for 55 minutes, followed by a 15-minute natural release.
- Remove bay leaves. Spoon 1 ½ cups of the mixture into a bowl, mash until smooth (or use a food processor) and stir back into the pot. Add salsa, parsley, sausages and diced ham.
- Simmer on SAUTE for 15 minutes, or until desired thickness.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Add up to 1 cup more water or broth if beans seem too thick.
- Serve over white long-grain rice. Top with remaining chopped green onion, and season with hot sauce, if desired.
Notes
Important Tips for success:
- Adjust the cooking time as needed: given the various brand of instant pots, different elevations of users, etc., think of the cooking times I list as a starting point. If your beans aren’t cooked all the way after the 55 minute pressure cook, simply add a few more minutes.
- Check out your Instant pot manual. This recipe was created and tested in my Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cooker, 6Qt/1000W . Cooking times and liquid requirements may vary for your particular instant pot manual so it’s important to consult your manual to see the recommended cooking method for dry beans and adapt accordingly.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?!
RATE THIS RECIPE AND COMMENT BELOW! I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR EXPERIENCE.
So amazingly good! I’d eat this even as just a soup every week.
SO GOOD and easy to throw together! Amazing flavor (I thought salsa was an interesting addition and it really worked well). Husband raved. I will definitely make this again and again. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
The flavors of this recipe are really good; however, it turned out way to soupy for me. I had to remove a lot of the liquid to thicken it up. Is the recipe correct that it is 3 cups of water and 3 cups of chicken stock? Seems like that might be too much liquid based on how mine turned out.
Haven’t made this yet but questioning why is salsa used in the recipe. Can you answer please Ms Laura, why salsa was added? Thank you
Salsa is added for flavor! Hope you enjoy.
This is an excellent Instant Pot recipe. I used pork sausage that I bought in Ville Platte, Louisiana and ham I smoked . I substituted tomato sauce for salsa. No other changes were made to the recipe.
This was excellent. I did not add ham due to keeping sodium down. Highly recommend trying this recipe!