Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice with Smoked Pork – IP MINI Rice – Hurst’s HamBeens Cajun Red Beans

Red beans and rice is a classic Cajun dish and this package from Hurst’s Hambeens is fantastic! The included seasoning packet is a little spicy so go easy on adding anything extra. You can simply put the beans, seasoning packet, and 5 cups of water into the Instant Pot (IP) and cook for 40 minutes on high with a natural pressure release. But it really becomes an amazing dish with added veggies and smoked meat all served over white rice. The extra 20 minutes cook time is to really soften the beans and get the meat to become fall-apart shreddable.

NOTES:
• Why Sort and Rinse Beans? Sorting is important to remove and small rocks, debris, and any misshapen, discolored, or broken beans. Rinsing will remove dust and particles.
• Veggies: The standard mix for “the holy trinity” is onion, celery, and green bell pepper. You can adjust your ratios to your own liking. I usually go for an equal parts mix anywhere between 1-2 cups each, diced.
• Stew or Soup? I’m using 5 cups of broth in this recipe because I like the beans to be more like a stew. But you can add an extra 3-4 cups broth (total 8-9) if you want it soupy.
• Meat Choice: Use any smoked pork/ham, sausage, or turkey that you have. If using sausage (andouille or similar), slice into ½” pieces and sauté along with the veggies at the beginning.
• Seasoning Packet: If you don’t want to use the enclosed packet you can replace it with homemade seasoning or buy another brand of premade seasoning (I like Badia’s). That way you can buy any bag of red kidney beans or buy from the bulk section without having to buy the Hurst’s bag. Here’s a simple Cajun seasoning recipe that will make enough for three batches of this:
◦ Cajun Seasoning: 2 TB ground cumin, 2 TB ground coriander, 2 TB smoked paprika, 1½ TB salt, 1½ TB black pepper, 1 TB dried oregano, 1 tsp cayenne pepper. Mix altogether and use 3-4TB per pot of beans.
• Rice: I think of red beans the same way as I do chili – it must be served with white rice! It would be nice to use the pot-in-pot (PIP) method, but the long cook time will result in overly mushy rice. Use whatever method you have to cook white rice – stovetop, rice cooker, steamer, etc. I just happen to have multiple IP’s and almost always use the 3qt Mini for making a big pot of rice. Instructions are below if you want to try it.

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Today’s Ingredients:

For the Red Beans in a 6 or 8 Quart Pot: (sauté + 60 mins on high + full NPR)
20 oz bag Hurst’s HamBeens Cajun Red Beans, sorted and rinsed
• including the Cajun seasoning packet
2 TB butter + 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large celery ribs with leafy tops, chopped
2 medium green bell peppers, seeded & chopped (using 1 green and 1 red in the video)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
½ – 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
5 cups chicken broth (Better-than-Bouillon and water in the video)
1 lb smoked pork of your choice – pork jowl in the video

For the White Rice in a 3, 6, or 8 Quart Pot: 4 mins on high + 10 mins NPR
2 cups long grain white rice, rinsed (using jasmine rice in this video)
2 cups water
2 TB rice vinegar
1 tsp salt

Toppings Suggestions:
• Hot Sauce
• Chopped Onions and Tomatoes
• Crushed Saltines

Instructions for the Red Beans:
1. Preheat the Instant Pot on the highest sauté setting. Add the butter when the display reads “HOT.” Once the butter melts, add the olive oil and swirl the pot to coat the bottom. Then add the onions, celery, and bell peppers. Cook, stirring once or twice, until the veggies are just softened. This step should take about 5-8 minutes.
2. Add garlic, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and Cajun seasoning packet. Cook, stirring continuously, for just another minute. No longer than a minute to prevent the garlic from scorching.
3. Add 1 cup chicken broth and deglaze the bottom of the pot. Make sure to scrape up any stuck-on browned bits from the bottom to avoid getting a “BURN” warning later.
4. Add the rinsed beans and remaining 4 cups of broth and stir to evenly distribute the ingredients.
5. Add the smoked meat and nestle it down so that it is fully submerged in the liquid.
6. Lock and seal the lid and cook on High for 60 minutes followed by a full natural pressure release. [Start the IP Rice when the 60 minutes is over. See below for instructions.]
7. Discard the bay leaves and move the smoked meat to a tray for shredding. Discard any bones or excess fat if you wish and then return the meat to the pot.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with white rice and optional toppings and ENJOY!