| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 55 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Inactive: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 slices smoked bacon or 1 small ham hock
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 cup dried red kidney beans, brought to a boil and cooled, drained
- 5 cups cold water
- 1 Scotch bonnet, halved and seeded, or 2 serrano chilis
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
- 4 scallions, crushed*
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 1/2 cups long-grain rice, washed and drained
Instructions
- Heat a Dutch oven or large, deep pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon to the hot pot and cook until light brown on both sides. Add the garlic and saute until light brown. Add the drained beans along with the cold water to the bacon and garlic and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pot, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until beans are just tender, about 1 hour. Add the chili peppers, cinnamon, coconut milk, scallions, thyme, allspice, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and, once the mixture has returned to a boil, stir, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and has absorbed all of the liquid. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving. Remove the thyme sprigs and Scotch bonnet pepper halves and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 907 |
| Total Fat | 34 g |
| Saturated Fat | 23 g |
| Carbohydrates | 127 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 g |
| Sugar | 2 g |
| Protein | 25 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Sodium | 1411 mg |
Reviews
The best Caribbean rice and beans recipe that I have tried! I had to make a couple substitutions based on what I had on hand…I used canned beans, dried thyme and a smoked ham hock rather than bacon but it still turned out very flavorful and delicious. The scotch bonnet gave it the perfect amount of spice. Next time I will follow the recipe exactly and I bet it will be even more amazing. The family loved it and there was plenty for leftovers…definitely a keeper!
This came out wonderfully!
Made the house smell amazing and turned out great!!!
The Caribbean flavors in this dish are spot on – perhaps others used “old” spices that lost their flavor?? I would say the recipe easily makes enough for 8 people – my family went back for second and third helpings! Pairs nicely with jerk chicken and leftovers are delicious warmed up with a poached egg on top. yum!
Not what I thought it would be. I followed the recipe to the tee, but the rice and beans did not
Cook correctly . I was a huge fan of Michael Chiarello but I have friends who came to his restaurant in Napa. They were disappointed . So was I with this recipe. I don’t know what else to say. Very sad. : (. :(.
Sincerely V. Letizia.
Cook correctly . I was a huge fan of Michael Chiarello but I have friends who came to his restaurant in Napa. They were disappointed . So was I with this recipe. I don’t know what else to say. Very sad. : (. :(.
Sincerely V. Letizia.
Great recipe! I used a half of a Jamaican spicy pepper, I believe it was a habanero and it came out quite spicy! I may use a little less next time but the taste went extremely well with the other ingredients. This is super delicious, I have made many rice dishes and this definitely comes out as one of the best. I used brown rice instead of white and for this reason I’m assuming it came out a little more moist / soggy than usual. I also agree with the other review about adding the canned beans later on. I always use canned beans because to me they taste almost nearly the same and it’s much quicker. You should definitely give this recipe a try!
Loved it! Very authentic. Instead of bacon, we used meaty smoked ham shanks; took the meat off the bone and added back to the pot. Yummy.
Needs a bit more punch, and salt. I think all seasonings could be doubled. Maybe add a little sugar.
This was what I was hoping for and more. I did a little substitution though. I used brown rice instead of white, used the serranos instead of scotch bonnets, and (dare i say it) used canned beans. The canned beans shaved a significant amount of cooking time and they were just fine. However, I would maybe add them towards the end of the cooking time for the rice next time as they became quite mushy.
I was impressed with the level of heat with 2 serranos…or should I say lack of heat. I expected it to be quite spicy. But even my fiance, who is kind of a wimp when it comes to heat, thought it was not spicy. He also gave me a thumbs up on the level of coconut flavor. He’s not a fan, but the coconut flavor melded so well with the other flavors that he was ok with it.
This rice and beans dish was exceptional. It was absolutely not bland like a couple of other reviewers stated. It makes a lot, and it is easy to make. I can’t wait to make this for guests or for a summer bbq.