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.
Hey I was wondering if you could use lentils with this recipe. Sounds awesome and I want to try it now!! Lol
You sure can. But you have to cook the lentils first for about 15-25 minutes depending on the lentil before adding to the mixture. Let me know if you do make it and how it turns out for you.
I made this rice and beans recipe along with your brown chicken stew. My Guyanese husband gobbled it up, and I loved it as well. (I dont usually like the combination of beans and rice.) Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe.
Yay! Glad it was a hit with the family.
Mine looks like crap, but tasted like heaven. So far I made the best Caribbean cream with rice and beans ever!! Aside the fact that I can eat it with a straw, the taste is very good. If i can convince people to eat it they wont regret it.
Hi Daniel! What happened did you add more cream? Happy to hear it tasted really good.
Oh man… 🙁 I wish you wrote to cover the pot in the instructions. Mine came out really creamy and thick, it taste great but I wish it would have come out like in your photos. I followed all the instructions and used measuring cups for everything, also to note I cooked it in a Le Creuset dutch oven pot.
So sorry Sueann. Will update recipe.
I made this rice today and oh my God, it was wonderful. I followed the directions to a “T” and it came out fantastic.
Yay!! Glad it worked out well for you.Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Just discovered your blog through pinterest, the whole family loved this caribbean rice and beans recipe which I paired with jerk chicken. I can’t wait to try jamaican brown stew chicken and curried goat stew! Thanks!
Hi Lauren! Glad to hear it was a hit with the family. Those are some of my favorites you are going to enjoy them too!!
Hi i need to make this recipe for 25 to 30 ppl, big portions can you give me the correct t of ingredients
Just triple or quadruple the recipe.
Hi Imma,
I am confused…….in your instructions for Caribbean Beans & Rice, you stated it is necessary to stir the rice to keep it from sticking and then in your post you stated that you should not stir the rice. My finished product looked liked rice pudding. This recipe was a waste of my resources. Which one it is stir or not stir???
Your response would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Karen! So sorry to hear about this. Now here is what I do. When I add the rice and other ingredients I stir. Then when it’s time to let it simmer. I don’t stir as much and if I do. It’s from the sides, to prevent any burns. If you use a non-stick cookware, you should simmer without stirring . Hope this helps. Thanks for the feedback! And do let me know if you have any more questions
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Had the exact same experience, my rice making involves leaving it completely alone. Also, is it just me or is a full can of coconut milk AND more than 3 cups of water an awful lot of liquid for 2-cups of rice?? Caveat: I can successfully make plain white rice on a regular, but any time I try anything like this, it ends up like it did tonight, a big mushy mess. I know it’s me, but even with following rice & beans recipes exactly, it never works out. Please note that I’m pretty freaking good in the kitchen, too. Despite this constant and rather humbling failure.
Hi stina! After reading your comment I decided to give this rice and beans a go, several times using different methods…trying to make it as easy as possible. You are right 3 cups would be too much for cover and forget. I would really urge you to try out again this time with 2 1/4 cups rice. Will update recipe shortly with pictures and variations. So sorry it didn’t work out well for you the first time.
Caribbean Rice and Beans
Really glad I found this site, I can’t wait to try the Caribbean Rice and Beans. One question though, how do you treat the whole Scotch bonnet pepper? Do you need to scorch and peel it first (like a Hatch green pepper) or just use it skin on? Thanks!
William
No need for scorching, you just use it with skin on. If you want more heat prick with toothpick and use. Or just leave it whole.
Just made this tonight for supper. It was DELICIOUS! The only thing I would change is putting the lid on the pan next time, I did have to simmer it for 10 minutes longer. No big deal. Thank you for a wonderful recipe! It is so creamy and stick-to-your-sides tasty.
Hi Kelly,So glad to hear it worked out well for you. Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Immaculate;
I find your recipes easy. However, I never make rice and peas/beans by sautéing vegetables first unless I am making pilaf.
In the Caribbean, coconut milk is used. Boiled first, then beans added, seasoning and allspice can be added (delicious), additional water. Bring to boil, add washed rice. Bring to boil, cover and cook on low 20 mins or so. My mum has used plain milk in the past. I have added coconut extract because I had no coconut milk.
In your instructions, you mention to stir the rice from the sides to prevent burning. Not necessary. Just cook on the lowest flame covered. If there is burn at the bottom…even better. We LOVE the burn 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Arlene, I hear you and thanks for sharing another way of making this tasty rice. I like to sauté the onions first and stir the rice because it really adds flavor to the overall dish.
I made this dish for the second time, the first time it came out too mushy, so I reduced the total liquid (inclusive of the coconut milk) to that of what was called for for the rice and it came out great…we spend much time in the Caribbean and love beans and rice.
Awesome! Glad to hear it worked out well for you !
Hi Lee! So sorry to hear about this. A couple of things you need to keep in mind when making this dish, is the liquid ratio. If you over do it will result in a mess. In addition, refrain from stirring the pot , cover tightly with a fitting lid and let it simmer for about 18-20 minutes . Hope this helps for next time.
Hi. I’m a terrible cook so this doesn’t surprise me but my rice came out very creamy and rice is not done? The flavor is great but milky. Its simmering for 40 min. Looks like rice pudding. What did I do wrong?
Can you do what you need to then transfer to rice cooker to finish?
Yes, you can.
An Englishman here who recently traveled to the carribbean. We left absolutely in love with the food! You dish is just as good as the best rice dishes we had there. Thank you so much for the delicious recipe.
Woops. One other comment. I didn’t have any kidney beans, so I used fresh peas. Tasted great. I look forward to trying it with beans next time.