Beans and Rice with Sausage

**SueBee49** · 09-28-2012, 12:06 AM

This is a recipe I got years ago when I attended a Southern Living Cooking School. I’m going to post the original recipe and also the adaptations I’ve made over the years. I like mine best.

Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
2 TBS butter
½ cup celery, finely chopped
¼ cup each/ onion and green pepper, finely chopped
1 16-oz can kidney beans, drained
1 lb smoked sausage, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 10 ½ oz can beef broth
¼ cup water
1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp each: ground white pepper, black pepper, red pepper
1 ½ cups Minute Rice

Large skillet, saute’ veggies until soft. Stir in beans, sausage, broth, water, seasonings. Bring to boil, stir in rice. Cover and remove from heat for 5 minutes. 4 servings.

My adaptations:
Big glob of butter in a very large skillet.
About 2-3 stalks of celery, 1 whole onion, 1 whole green pepper. I chop them rather coarsely. Saute’ in butter until soft. Add 1 can (16 oz I think) Swanson Beef Broth. I add 2 cans of Bush’s Hot Chili Beans, undrained and about ¾ can of water. I use the recommended seasonings. Cover, simmer for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, I very thinly slice a pack of Eckrich Smoked Beef Sausage (Mesquite flavored when I can find it). I add that and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Add rice, cover and let sit about 10 minutes. It turns out a bit on the soupy side. However, it makes a lot and it doesn’t dry out so much for leftovers. I also add a dash of Tabasco sauce.
This is great for leftovers, freezes really well, too.
My way is probably about 6 servings or if served with hot bread, could probably be 7-8 servings.

**Lovemybliss** · 09-28-2012, 12:26 AM

That sounds so good!

**SueBee49** · 09-28-2012, 12:35 AM

It really is good. And it stretches the meat budget. One of those things that I cook all the time in the cooler/cold months. Great to have small containers in freezer to pull out to take to work. Thaws before lunchtime, micro for a minute or two and everybody wants some.

**mamamia** · 09-28-2012, 03:55 AM

That recipe really does sound good, and I think I'll stick it on my menu for next week. The only thing is I'll change the smoked sausage for either Hot Italian or Chorizo. Think it'll work okay?

Thanks for posting!

Theresa

**Rona** · 09-28-2012, 07:15 AM

This sounds lovely - I think I'll give it a go next week

**Rosebudget1** · 09-28-2012, 07:24 AM

Yummy! I am going to try this. My DH loves stuff like this!

**SueBee49** · 09-28-2012, 08:26 AM

I don't know how it will turn out with any other type of sausage since I only eat beef smoked sausage. But I'm betting it will be OK. It's one of those recipes you can play around with until you get exactly what you like. Just remember, it is a bit on the spicy side for kids so you may want to tweak as appropriate.

**Libby** · 09-29-2012, 06:13 PM

I'm wondering how this would turn out with regular pork sausages that have been boiled first then sliced on a bias and use chicken broth instead of beef.

**Labontet** · 09-29-2012, 06:30 PM

This sounds soooooo.. good. Thanks for posting the recipe. I can see where many variations of sausage products could be used. Saying that, smoked sausage is one of my favorites. :-)

**SueBee49** · 09-29-2012, 06:40 PM

Libby, I'm not so sure about the chicken broth. For me, the beef is what gives it such a good flavor and I'm not sure the chicken broth combined with the chili hot beans would be so good. Thinking about it, I wonder what it would taste like with something like cannellini beans, chicken broth, and the other stuff - veggies and such? Might be worth trying.

**Libby** · 09-29-2012, 07:33 PM

I don't know why but I have discovered that pork and chicken flavours marry very well together

One day I'll give this a try. I'll use leftover pre-cooked rice too.

**Russ** · 10-03-2012, 07:07 PM

Eating this right now!

very good!
I put a jalapeno in for an extra tang.

**SueBee49** · 10-03-2012, 07:53 PM

Glad you're enjoying it. I use a couple of dashes of Tabasco for my tang but since I love jalapenos I'll try that next time.

**abecedarian** · 10-03-2012, 08:54 PM

I've been reading about dehydrating lately.. and somewhere I read about dehydrating leftover cooked rice..then when you need some minute rice, it's done and in a jar or bag. I don't usually keep instant rice, so this might be a good alternative. To tone down the spiciness a notch, perhaps using regular chili beans would suffice. I think we'll try this recipe in the next couple of weeks; sounds great!

**SueBee49** · 10-04-2012, 12:08 AM

Actually, abecedarian, the original recipe is real mild and calls for kidney beans. I have used the mild chili beans when I couldn't find the hot beans and it's just as good - just not as spicy as I like it so I add more ground red pepper and Tabasco sauce. When I fix it for company or to take somewhere, I tone it down. It's one of those recipes you can play with and adapt to your own taste. I hope you enjoy when you try it.