Archive recipe

Red Beans and Rice

Name: Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients: 1 quart dried red beans; 1 carrot; 1 onion; 1 bay leaf; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 pound ham or salt meat; boiled rice, for serving; salt and pepper

Dried red beans cooked with ham, onion, carrot, and herbs, served with boiled rice.

This record is adapted from The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book (1910), preserved in the Louisiana Creole collection of the Open Recipe Archive. It is a historical source: the method is condensed from the original’s six steps, the quantities are restated in modern units, and the boiled rice the original names only in its directions is listed as an ingredient here.

The dish

3 of 8 items checked

Red Beans and Rice

archive.org

3 of 8 items checked · 5 aisles

Produce

1carrotChecked by You
1onion

Meat & Poultry

1 lbham or salt meat

Dairy & Eggs

1 tbspbutterChecked by You

Pantry / Durable

1 quartdried red beans
rice

Spices & Seasoning

1bay leaf
salt and pepperChecked by You

Cooking Instructions

Wash the beans and soak them in cold water for at least five or six hours, or overnight. Drain.
Cover the beans with fresh water in a pot. Add the ham or salt meat, butter, minced onion and carrot, and the bay leaf.
Simmer gently until the beans are tender, about two hours, adding water as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve hot with boiled rice, with the meat arranged on top.

Adapted from Open Recipe Archive · The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book (1910; archive record marked public domain). View a published recipe at Internet Archive (opens in a new tab)

Appears in: The Louisiana Creole table