Alabama-style Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
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This is a Cajun inspired dish with an Alabama twist. The traditional recipe for Red Beans and Rice used andouille sausage, a Cajun ingredient. I opted for Conecuh Sausage, an Alabama ingredient. Based out of Evergreen, AL, Conecuh Sausage is the best commercial smoked sausage I’ve ever tasted.
Small red beans, historically used in the recipe, either fell out of favor or became hard to find. Kidney beans are used most now. I was thrilled to find a package of small red beans at my grocery store. REAL red beans. They’re smaller than kidney beans and taste more like pinto beans than kidney beans. I was happy to have an authentic ingredient.
1 pound dried small red beans or kidney beans
1/2 to 1 pound Conecuh smoked sausage
1 quart beef or chicken stock (homemade or commercial)
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 stalk celery including leaves, chopped
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
3 to 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 to 2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons seasoned salt (I use Season-all)
Soak beans in water overnight. The next day, drain beans and add to slow cooker along with all other ingredients except sausage. Cut sausage in 1 inch pieces and brown. Drain and add to slow cooker.
Browning the sausage will add flavor, help the sausage hold up to a long cooking time and render off some of the fat.
The big white iceberg looking thing is the stock that frozen solid. I forget to get it out of the freezer last night. Cook on high for 6 to 7 hours or until the beans are tender.
Serve with Basmati rice.
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Interesting bean Jackie! They are so tiny. I’ve never seen those used for red beans & rice, not even when I lived in New Orleans, but I do wonder why. Do you think the switch happened when somebody tasted the red kidneys & found them better or maybe the larger beans were more filling. We love Camellia brand the most but my MIL once gave me a bag of Winn Dixie brand kidney beans and they made a great pot of beans.
I am a big fan of Conecuh but I also love Savoie’s, and Manda, but honestly sometimes even for me the andouilles are a bit much, so good ole HIllshire works too. Course my husband loves the hotter sausages – go figure! I’m just happy to be right between Alabama and Louisiana & have such a wide selection available!
Miss Mary,
The red beans are a mystery to me. I’ve looked them up and found some references to them in cooking Red Beans and Rice but I haven’t found any explanation as to why kidney beans took their place in that dish. I was looking for a bag of kidney beans and just happen to spot them at Publix. I’ll be cooking up a pot of chili with the leftover tomorrow. The mystery of the small red beans continues………
I like the smaller ones too – looks yummy – I always have trouble when I do beans in the crockpot – they are always too runny and I have to take them out and cook them down some so the juice is thicker – am I using too much water?? I made homemade chili yesterday for the ballgame (Roll Tide) and jalapeno cornbread – it was yummy and spicy – even though it is still hot as blazes here!
Ann,
I think the thickness of the broth depends on the type of bean. I find white beans (navy, limas) create a thicker broth than darker beans like pinto and red beans. The broth for these beans never got very thick and I only added a quart of water which is what I felt I needed. They weren’t even completely covered. Chili’s coming up tomorrow for us. Thanks heavens for air conditioning! <3
My dad was from a little town in Louisiana and he always used kidney beans. Probably because that was what they had on hand. If they sauce is a little thin, don’t be afraid to had a little flour to thicken it up–especially if you use a crock pot. Sausage depends on taste. The hot talks back the older I get. Use what you like. You can always have one on the side and one in the pot. Imagination is the best recipe.
Wayne,
Thanks for stopping by! There are many variations to this recipe. You should use what tastes good to you, for sure.
I hope you visit again!
My neighborhood grocery store had small red beans, so I bought them! I’m soaking them tonight and getting out the slow cooker tomorrow morning. Should be real good, I’m using linguisa portuguese sausage. Mmmmmm!
Sandra,
Red beans will be so good with the Portuguese sausage!