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Pressure Cooker Red Beans are a fast, inexpensive, filling, and flavorful staple meal. It's a Louisiana tradition, but FASTER! BudgetBytes.com
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4.39 from 26 votes

Pressure Cooker Red Beans

Pressure Cooker Red Beans are a fast, inexpensive, filling, and flavorful staple meal. It's a Louisiana tradition, but FASTER!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Total Cost: $6.70 recipe / $1.12 serving
Servings: 6
Calories: 520.48kcal
Author: Beth Moncel

Equipment

  • Instant Pot
  • Chef's Knife
  • White Cutting Boards
  • Liquid Measuring Cup

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb smoked sausage (like andouille)* $1.60
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil $0.13
  • 1 onion $0.37
  • 1 bell pepper $0.98
  • 3 stalks celery $0.24
  • 4 cloves garlic $0.32
  • 1 lb dry uncooked red beans $0.97
  • 1 tsp dried thyme $0.10
  • 1 tsp dried oregano $0.10
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika $0.10
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne $0.02
  • Freshly cracked black pepper $0.05
  • 3 cups chicken broth $0.39
  • 2 cups water $0.00
  • 3 green onions, sliced $0.20
  • 6 cups cooked rice $1.13

Instructions

  • Slice the smoked sausage into medallions. Add the olive oil and sliced sausage to the multi-function pressure cooker or a skillet and sauté the sausage until it is brown on both sides (about 5 minutes). Once the sausage is well browned, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon.
  • While the sausage is browning, finely dice the onion, bell pepper, and celery, and mince the garlic. After removing the sausage, add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the pot and continue to sauté for another five minutes, or until the onions are soft and transparent. The moisture from the vegetables should dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
  • Rinse and sort through the beans to remove any bad beans or debris. Add the beans to the pot along with the cooked sausage, thyme, oregano, paprika, cayenne, some freshly cracked pepper (about 20 cranks of a pepper mill), chicken broth, and water. Stir to combine.
  • Secure the lid on the pressure cooker and close the vent. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes (either use the manual button or bean/chili button on the Instant Pot and increase time to 35 minutes), then let the pot naturally release pressure as it cools. Test the beans to make sure they're extremely soft. If they're not soft yet, re-secure the lid, close the vent, and cook for an additional 20 minutes on high power.
  • Once the beans are very soft, stir and smash the beans agains the side of the pot with the back of a large spoon until the liquid thickens. Taste and add salt as needed (start with a teaspoon and add more until the flavors pop).
  • Add about 1.5 cups of red beans to a bowl, top with 1 cup rice and a sprinkle of sliced green onions.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*Feel free to use a whole pound of smoked sausage. I had 1/2 pound left over from another recipe and made it work with what I had.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 520.48kcal | Carbohydrates: 97.42g | Protein: 29.77g | Fat: 11.1g | Sodium: 1321.67mg | Fiber: 26.65g