Chef John's Red Beans and Rice

• servings: 8 servings
• active time: 30 minutes
• total time: 3 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound dry red kidney beans

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

12 ounces andouille sausage, diced

1 cup finely diced onion

¾ cup chopped celery

¾ cup poblano peppers

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 quarts chicken broth, or more as needed

1 smoked ham hock

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

hot sauce to taste

4 cups cooked white rice

2 tablespoons chopped green onion, or to taste

Directions

Place beans in a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse.

Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir sausage in hot oil until oils slightly release from sausage and edges brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir onion, celery, and poblano pepper into sausage; cook and stir until vegetables soften and start to turn translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir garlic into sausage mixture; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir red beans, chicken broth, ham hock, bay leaves, black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce into the sausage mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours. Add salt and continue simmering until beans are soft, meat is tender, and desired consistency is reached, 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. Season with salt.

Spoon rice into bowls, ladle red beans mixture over rice, and top with green onion.

Nutrition

• Calories: 542 kcal
• Total Fat: 21 g
• Saturated Fat: 6 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 46 mg
• Sodium: 1384 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 63 g
• Dietary Fiber: 10 g
• Total Sugars: 4 g
• Protein: 26 g