Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice with Chicken Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced yellow or white onion
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 4 cans (15-ounces each) kidney beans, undrained
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons coarse or freshly cracked black pepper (see note)
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 ½ pounds kielbasa or chicken sausage, sliced (see note)
- Hot cooked brown rice, white rice or quinoa for serving
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients except the kielbasa/sausage in a medium slow cooker and give it a good stir. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. Add the sausage and cook until warmed through (anywhere from 20 minutes to another hour).
- Add additional salt to taste before serving. Serve over hot, cooked rice (white or brown) or quinoa.
Notes
Nutrition Facts: the nutrition facts for this recipe were calculated based on the sausage and bean mixture, but does not include the rice.
Sausage: for the kielbasa/sausage, you're looking for precooked sausage that you slice into rounds - I like using the chicken sausage (Aidell's brand). Something similar, pork or beef or turkey, would work for this recipe.
Pressure Cooker: to adapt this to a pressure cooker, combine all the ingredients except the sausage and rice to a pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes. Quick release the pressure. Add the sausage and use the Saute feature (on the Instant Pot) to heat through. Serve over the cooked rice.
Black Pepper: a lot of the flavor (given the short list of seasonings) comes from the black pepper. I used coarse ground black pepper (from Costco) and the full 2 teaspoons was perfect for us but depending on the brand/type of black pepper you are using, it might add more heat than you like. You can always add 1 teaspoon during cooking time and add more at the end, to taste, if you want to play it safe.