Active time: 50 min. Total time: 50 min.
Yield: Serves 8 (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

Our Quick and Easy Red Beans and Rice recipe is comfort food to the max. It’s creamy and gets lots of texture from the smoked sausage, beans, and bacon. Using smoked sausage adds a nice depth of flavor. Once you get all the ingredients chopped, this comes together very quickly. Skip draining and rinsing the beans: It won’t just save you time, but it’ll also help everything thick so it’ll feel like it’s been simmering for hours. Pump up the heat by adding more pepper or crushed red pepper, or serve some hot sauce on the side. Add an ice cold beer and some hot crusty French bread to round out the meal.

Ingredients

• 1 pound hickory-smoked sausage (such as Conecuh), cut into 1/2-in. rounds (about 4 cups)
• 6bacon slices, cooked and crumbled, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings
• 1 1/2 cups chopped sweet onion (from 1 large onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped celery (from 2 stalks)
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (from 1 medium pepper)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic (about 3 garlic cloves)
• 2(15.5-oz) cans light or dark red kidney beans
• 1(8-oz.) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Hot cooked white rice, for serving
• Chopped scallions and hot sauce, for serving

How to Make It

Step 1

Place sausage in a Dutch oven over medium, and cook, stirring often, until browned, about 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a plate lined with paper towels. Add reserved bacon drippings, onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic to Dutch oven, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. 

Step 2

Increase heat to medium-high; stir in beans, tomato sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, sugar, salt, pepper, and cooked sausage, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Stir in crumbled bacon, and serve over hot cooked rice. Sprinkle with scallions, and serve with hot sauce.

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