Caribbean Rice and Beans
Caribbean Rice and Beans delivers a flavor explosion with garlic, onions, and intensely delicious spices. Infusing it with bay leaves, thyme, scotch bonnet, and coconut milk creates an incredible rice meal!
I would like to say that with what the world is experiencing right now, every day should be a gratitude day. So, I’m beyond thankful for this gift of life and my beloved family by my side.
And while I’ve been daydreaming about my next Caribbean trip, a tropical food trip in my kitchen, starting with this rice and beans recipe, will have to do. Or if you’re into Jamaican food, it’s rice and peas. 😍
What Type of Beans for Caribbean Rice and Beans
When making this scrumptious meal, I don’t have any favorites, so whatever is in the pantry works. Traditionally, Caribbean beans and rice use red kidney beans. However, it’s just as delicious with black or pinto beans or pigeon peas. The look may change slightly, but that’s about it.
Recipe Ingredients
- Rice – Long-grain separates more easily. However, medium-grain, jasmine, and basmati rice work just as well.
- Seasoning – Garlic, onion, hot pepper (scotch bonnet peppers are my fave), Creole seasoning, thyme, bouillon powder, bay leaves, optional smoked paprika, and good ol’ S&P pack a flavor punch.
- Kidney Beans – Dried beans are cheaper, but for convenience’s sake, I’ve gone with canned. Choose which is best for you and your Caribbean red beans and rice.😉
- Coconut Milk – Full-fat coconut milk provides liquid to cook the rice and a tropical taste.
- Chicken Broth delivers the rest of the needed liquid and adds extra flavor.
How to Make Caribbean Rice and Beans
- Wash rice until water runs clear. Drain water.
- Sautee Aromatics – Heat a saucepan with oil. Then add onions, garlic, thyme, and hot pepper, and sauté for about a minute. (Photos 1-2)
- Simmer – Stir the rice into the pan, then the beans, and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add coconut milk, bay leaf, bouillon powder, Creole spice, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). (Photos 3-4)
Note: Stir occasionally to prevent burning, adding water as needed. - Serve – Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves. Serve warm and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Jerk Rice and Beans – For even more spice, add a teaspoon of jerk seasoning to the traditional recipe.
- Bean Swap – Pigeon peas, kidney beans, and black beans are all conventional choices. You can also use other beans, such as pinto beans, red beans, or lentils.
- Vegan Version – Replace the meat-based broth with vegetable broth; done.
Tips and Tricks
- Test the rice to avoid overcooking. It should be tender but still have a slight bite, and the beans should be tender but not mushy.
- Almost any chili pepper, such as habanero and jalapeño, will work if you don’t have a scotch bonnet.
- Don’t skip rinsing the rice because it removes excess starch and keeps the rice from getting sticky.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
Cool the rice and beans after cooking and freeze them in meal-size portions in airtight containers for 2-3 months. It will last in the fridge for 3-4 days—the same works for leftovers.
Thaw frozen rice and beans in the refrigerator overnight. Then simmer (stirring occasionally) in a pot until it bubbles. Add water or broth as needed to keep it from burning—a microwave works, too.
FAQs
Caribbean rice and beans definitely have a West African influence. Enslaved Africans brought the recipe to the Caribbean, and it quickly became a staple in many Caribbean cuisines.
It depends on who you ask and where you are in the world. In Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, it’s known as rice and peas. That’s because, in the West African Akan language, the word for pea refers to most legumes, including beans.
Rice and beans are a nutritious meal. So you can serve it as a complete meal or add meat and sides, such as ripe fried plantains.
What to Serve With Caribbean Rice and Beans
It’s traditionally served with chicken, beef, or pork. It goes excellent with brown stew chicken, Jamaican curry goat, or jerk chicken. Fried sweet plantain and Caribbean coleslaw are wonderful sides.
More Popular Jamaican Dishes to Try
Conclusion
This Caribbean rice and beans recipe takes rice to a whole new level. Would you like more African-based recipes? Then follow me on Facebook for more! ❤️
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in February 2014 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Caribbean Rice and Beans
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (or canola)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
- 2 cups uncooked long grain rice
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk (about 1¾ cups)
- 1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 small bay leaves
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2¼ cups chicken broth or water (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (optional)
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
Instructions
- Wash rice until water runs clear. Drain water.
- Heat a saucepan with oil. Then add onions, garlic, thyme, and hot pepper, and sauté for about a minute.
- Stir in rice to the pan, followed by beans, and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add coconut milk, bay leaf, bouillon powder, and Creole spice with 2¼ cups of broth or water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover with a lid, and simmer until rice is cooked, about 20 minutes (more or less). Stir occasionally from the sides to prevent burning add more water as needed.
- Adjust for salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves You have to stir occasionally to be preventing any burns.
- Serve warm.
Tips & Notes:
- Use 3 cups of water or broth for really moist rice and beans. If you want your rice to look just like in the picture, use 2 cups of water or broth.
- I used paprika and Creole salt to enhance the rice’s flavor. It’s not traditional, so if you want traditional rice, omit the paprika and use regular salt instead of Creole salt.
- Feel free to switch the coconut milk with 2 cups of water.
- If you want to make it vegan, vegetable broth is fine.
- If using dry pigeon peas, boil them until tender, then replace beans with pigeon peas in the recipe instructions. You may also use pinto or black beans instead.
- I use uncooked long-grain rice. No need to parboil; just rinse it until the water runs clear. One of our readers here has used Japanese short-grained rice, and it works. Brown long-grain rice works, too.
- Too much liquid and stirring would make your rice mushy.
- You may cook it ahead and refrigerate it. It heats up very well the next day.
- If you don’t have chicken bouillon, you may leave it out or use half of a Maggie cube and add it to the pot.
- For those who want to cook it using an Instant Pot, one of the readers shared this: saute everything like you usually would and cook for 3 minutes at high pressure with a natural pressure release.
- No Creole spice? You can use my jerk spice.
- You can add your favorite cooked protein to the mix, like shredded smoked turkey, diced chicken, ground meat, sausages, and so on.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Love your version of rices and beans. Goes great with some Jamaican Jerk chicken.
http://caribbeanfood.com/recipes/jamaican-jerk-chicken-recipe-a-deliciously-hot-treat
Wow. Made this and it was awesome. This is truly the first rice and beans dish I have ever had that is faaar from boring. Thanks again. And oh… love your name 🙂
Hi Donavan! Thanks! Totally agree not your boring rice and beans. Thanks again for the feedback
Is this super spicy? Wondering if my kids will be able to enjoy!
Hi Amanda! No, it is not! However, you can leave out the pepper just to be on the safe side.
Wow! Thanks for the detailed feedback- you have just made my job easier. I am going to try it using the rice cooker. Can’t wait . FYI, I do have a curried goat here http://africanbites.com/?p=3707. Check it out!
This process seems similar to making jollof sans meat. Can I use a rice cooker or bake in foil pan? I will let you know the answer, haha. Ive perfected jollof using the brown rice setting. I loathe cooking rice on the stovetop.
I can’t wait to hear the outcome- please be so kind as to share this with us. Pretty please.
Girl it came out perfect!
Using the rice cooker I tweeked it a bit:
I used the sauteé pan to prepare the onions and other things in that mix. I changed the rice and added coconut milk the same level as I’d use water. I added the salt After the milk. Then mixed in the sauteed spices and plopped the pepper in On white rice setting.
It was better than the restaurant. They’ve lost a customer. I paired it with the Jamaican Browning chicken stew… Which I followed the recipe with no alterations. Added plantain and a salad.
Husband loved it, so it’s a keeper!
I’m going to try the jerk slow cooker chicken Sunday :).
Oxtails later n the week.
I wish you had a recipe for curry goat too.
Thanks I loved it!
may try this. just so I’m clear, you put the red beans in with the rice in the rice cooker while it was cooking?
Yes I did! It goes in with the rice cooker.
This looks delicious! I am printing it off and adding it to my menu. Always looking for some new rice/bean dishes and the coconut milk sounds awesome.
http://myeverydayoasis.com
Thanks Mary. You are going to enjoy this!!!
Do I have to wash the rice and do I need coconut milk I’m allergic. What can I substitute?
Donny yes you do wash the rice first and you can replace the coconut milk with chicken broth or water.
Plain unsweetened almond milk is a nice substitute for coconut milk if you have an allergy..
Another fantastic rice dish to make at short notice.
Thanks.
Sorry, but you DON”T put coconut milk in Jamaican rice. I tried it and got gooey globbed rice. And where did your brown coloring come from? Nothing in your recipe would have added the brown color that this rice usually has. Most recipes use Pickapeppa Sauce to give it some color and flavor.
Jim, sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work out for you. As you can see the reviews above , a lot of people have successfully made and enjoyed this rice.
I agree some recipes do not have coconut milk but most do, it is a matter of preference.
It is clearly stated above that, to achieve this orange/brownish color I added cajun salt and paprika. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I’ve personally never saw this recipe without coconut milk as the liquid base…
The correct way would be to soak beans overnight to soften, the tin beans really do this dish no justice. Then boiling the Beans (peas) in water when cooking so it is this deep burgundy colour (which is the colour the rice ends up taking), adding the seasoning like scallion (spring onions) and a scotch bonnet to help season to preferred taste before adding the rice and coconut milk.
Enid Donaldson is the best reference for authentic Jamaican dishes so could help with any references.
LOVE so many of your recipes.
Thank you so much for sharing!!! Glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes.
Sorry but I used the bar and 4 cups of water to compenate for the milk as per box instructions(add 2 c water to the box bar) and this turned out a goopy rice. tasty but goopy, I agree with the above writer.
Sorry to hear this . Have you tried it with coconut milk? It might work out if you go with the suggested ratio .
Jim, I think it’s your rice cooking techniques rather than the recipe. The traditional JAMAICAN rice and peas recipe DOES contain coconut unless for personal choice you decide to leave it out. Your rice probably turned gloopy because there was too much liquid content or you stirred the rice toomany time, and probably with a spoon. Instead of using the canned milk which can (with too much water content) make your rice gloopy, opt for using solid creamed coconut which uou can buy in bars. 1/3 would work well with this recipe. Also cooking the beans the traditional way (dried) would give the rice it’s brownish colour. And finally always stir your rice with a folk!
Thank you so much Foodlover. These are great suggestions.
Oh my, got to have the coconut for flavor. I lived in Jamaica for 5 years and they all use coconut milk. I’m in/from KY and can’t get all the exact ingredients like jamaican escallion (have to use green onions here. ugh). But Jamaicans and rest of people who’ve eaten my rice n peas say yummy. I use Jasmine rice, like 3 cups, I get Grace coconut powder online, mix it in blender with water, like 4 1/2 cups) and a bit of sugar (seems to bring out flavor), a can of dark red kidney beans (scrape the red from bottom of can), salt, thyme, and rather than just throw the green onions in I chop them about an inch long, 3 stalks. To me the key was just the right amount of water and heat and don’t stir very much, cook hard till waters going then at end of cooking turn heat way down and stem till the rice doesn’t stick together. If appears goopy, leave top off while steaming. Jamaicans have told me mine tastes like the real deal. 45 minutes.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your tips with us Bruce
I am terrified of cooking dry beans. The one time I did they came out just awful. Can this be done with canned beans also? It looks so delicious!
Absolutely girl. That is what I use on weeknights when I need to whip up this rice and beans. Please let me know how it works for you.
Beans are not a complete protien. The only foods that have all of the amino acids necessary for them to be considered complete are animal products. Dairy is often a complete protien choice for many vegetarians. That being said beans are still a good source of protien.
The combination of rice and beans together form a nutritionally perfect protein. That is why so many low income cultures or vegans consume this for a nutritionally healthy diet.
Preparing this recipe tonight with leftover grilled chicken that was marinated in a fruity/hot pepper marinade before grilling. Then will top with scallion/parsley and coconut shrimp. Cooked greens will be a side. Know it will be great. Thanks,
Thanks for sharing -I would love to be at your dinner table – your menu sounds really good!
This is true. Many legumes combined with rice do create what is considered to a “perfect” (aka complete) protein. And quinoa is a complete vegetal source of protein all by itself. Meat is not the only complete protein (containing all the necessary amino acids) It’s good to verify your nutritional facts before posting- as there are many rumors out there.
You are right, that animal proteins are the most complete. They are already connected and structurally sound. However, our bodies have to spend a lot of extra energy to break them all down to use the single amino acids. Our bodies have to borrow proteins and calcium from our muscles and our bones in order to break them down, thus causing some damage. However, when we eat plant foods, we get all of the singular amino acids that the body can use right away. It is important to have a variety of plant foods to provide a variety of amino acids. Thank you so much for this great recipe!
My Pleasure! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
I’m making this for the second time this month! My husband loved it the first time I made it. I’ve had my share of rice and bean attempts! I can’t wait to prepare it for my mother in law, she’s Guyanese.
Ashley , I know she will love it as much as your husband loves it. Let me know how it goes.
This is one of the best rice dishes I have ever made. Perfect recipe! Thank you 🙂
Aww, thank you Sabina. So happy to hear this.
The coconut milk seems like something that might be done in Trinidad. It looks awesome and I want this right now. Too bad I only have dried beans in the pantry.
You can do this with dried beans! Just soak and cook them first with a bay leaf and a few garlic cloves. That’s the way my husbands family makes this and the way I was taught (by him)
Thanks for sharing !!!
Is there a reason you use canola oil and not vegetable oil?
Canola oil is much better heart friendly choice than vegetable oil- according to various reports. It does not affect taste.
Canola oil is rapeseed oil, and is unfortunately through its industry – reported as heart healthy, but is in reality associated with heart lesions. It is a genetically modified product, so no one knows for sure its true effects on humans over time.
It also is said to be “heart healthy” due to a reported high omega 3 content. If high in omega 3’s, it would need to be refrigerated, or have preservatives added to avoid risk of cancer-causing free radicals which develop quickly in unprotected oil. Just had to add what unbiased research shows.
Love your blog.
Thanks for sharing!
I have to comment on the Caribbean rice & beans – That receipe should be called Jamaican rice & beans. Most of the other Caribbean Islands do not use coconut milk in their rice & beans receipe. It is just called Red Beans & rice.
Thanks for sharing!
Well they eat it all over the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, and I love it! Since I’m living here right now- but in the mountains instead of on that coast- I’m glad I can get my fix whenever I want with your recipe.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us Ann.
Or you could use coconut oil even better.
You sure can!
I used olive oil and made it for a potluck at our church easter egg hunt…
It was gone and quick Thank you for sharing this recipe !!!
My pleasure! Thanks for letting me know.
Thank you for saying that!! I’m so sick and tired of th food industry claiming canola oil is good for us. It is a food abomination and should be yreated as such.
How about no oil. I make rice and beans. With no oil and it still delicious. Oil is a hyper concentrated fat that increase Glucose intolerance, elevated blood sugar and is the cause of type 2 diabetes.
Some readers have experience success without oil .So it works without it
Canola oil, corn oil, vegetable oil, soybean oil, etc., (a/k/a Frankenstein industrial oils) are not heart friendly. Those oils have a high omega 6 profile which is not good for your heart and turn rancid when exposed to high heat converting them into trans fats. I would use either coconut oil, thee or butter from grass fed cows. The latter have a high heat tolerance and are excellent sources of vitamin D.
Thanks for sharing !!!!
Hi Registered Dietitian here – I’d like to clarify that canola oil has a high smoke point and will not convert to trans fat when heated. The only way any type of oil is converted to a trans fat is through hydrogenation,adding extra hydrogen to convert a liquid oil to a solid fat. Also many people cannot afford high priced oils that are deemed “non-gmo” and have to make due where they can to select heart healthy oils. Coconut oil is not cheap and is basically all saturated fat, so I recommend to not replace all cooking fat with coconut oil. Yes, coconut oil is absorbed through a different route than most other fats because it has medium chain fatty acids, but that does not make it more healthy. Same goes for butter – everything in moderation. Saturated fat content contributes the most to heart disease. I’ve got the jerk chicken thighs that go with this recipe in my crockpot now! Can’t wait to try it!