Can you cook beans and rice together? (3 Tips for you)
In this brief guide, we will answer the question, can you cook beans and rice together? We will discuss some popular recipes that cook beans and rice together using black beans and red beans. We will discuss some measures and cooking time needed to cook beans and rice on the stove and in a pressure cooker.
Can you cook beans and rice together?
You can cook beans and rice together. Cooking beans together with rice is not a new trend, it is a traditional food in many cultures including Caribbean, Asian, and Mexican. While the classic recipe calls for using black beans and white rice, there are other beans and rice varieties that follow recipes that require cooking them together.
How to cook Black beans and rice together?
Recipe 1- Latin American Black beans and brown rice
- Start by sauteing onions and garlic together and then add cumin. Fill a pan with either chicken or beef broth, then add beans and rice and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- Stir once when you are halfway through and check if the rice is tender enough for you.
- To add flavor, add a spoon of olive oil, lime juice, and cilantro.
- You could also add some jalapenos, olive, corn, and some tomatoes.
How to cook Red beans and rice together?
Recipe 1- Spanish red beans and rice
- Start by sauteing bacon slices to make them brown and crispy. Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic and cook until the onions become golden.
- Add the rice and mix them thoroughly with the vegetables. Then add bay leaves, tomato paste, cumin, paprika, and salt.
- Then add the beans to 4 cups water and boil.
- Set the flame to medium-low heat and cook for 18 minutes or until the rice becomes tender and edible.
- Remove the pan from the stove, fluff it using a fork and serve while it’s still hot.
Recipe 2- Jamaican Red beans and rice
- To make Jamaican red beans, first saute garlic, onion, scallion, and thyme.
- Add the rice and red beans followed by coconut milk, water, salt, pepper, and whole scotch bonnet pepper. If you can’t get scotch bonnet pepper, then substitute with habanero.
- Mix the ingredients and let it cook for a few more minutes. Discard the pepper.
- Put a lid on the pot and let it cook at a low flame for 25 minutes until all the water evaporates.
- Bring the pot off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes with the lid on.
Can you make beans and rice together in an Instant Pot?
You can make beans and rice together in an instant pot. The quickest recipe to cook black beans and rice together takes around 22 minutes. The methods save time as the beans need not be soaked or sauteed.
To make black beans and rice together in an instant pot, you need brown rice, dried black beans, diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, cumin, chili, garlic, and salt.
- Add the ingredients to the instant pot. Start with onions, followed by brown rice, black beans, water, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and diced tomatoes at last. Follow the order that the ingredients are written.
- Shut the lid of the pressure cooker with the pressure vent sealed. Cook at the highest power for 22 minutes.
- After the cooking time has elapsed, let the pressure cooker quickly release at venting. If the rice does not turn out to be tender, then you can not cook for a further few minutes. Instead, stir the rice and let it sit for 10 minutes. Also, make sure to make a note of the time so that it becomes easier to get rice of your liking the next time.
- Add cilantro, stir and the Mexican black beans and rice are ready to be served.
Some additional tips to cooking rice and beans together in an instant pot:
- You can also use pinto beans or red beans instead of black but they tend to take longer to cook in a pressure cooker than black beans.
- You need dried beans to cook in an instant pot. If you use canned beans, they would turn to mush.
- You can also add chicken when you cook rice and beans together in an instant pot.
- You can serve guacamole, steamed vegetable, cucumber, and tomato salad with the beans.
In this brief guide, we answered the question, can you cook beans and rice together? We discussed some popular recipes that cook beans and rice together using black beans and red beans. We discussed some measures and cooking time needed to cook beans and rice on the stove and in a pressure cooker.
