Authentic Jamaican rice and peas recipe! This Caribbean easy one pot rice and kidney beans recipe is packed full of flavor, delicious, and makes a perfect side dish. Learn how to make rice and peas from scratch.
2cupsRiceeasy cook long grain rice or sella basmati
1400gCoconut milkcanned
2sprigSpring onions
1sprigThyme
1tablespoonJerk seasoning
1wholeScotch bonnet
Saltto taste
Instructions
First, wash the beans in warm water twice. Add beans in a pot, add water to cover the beans by 3 inches, cover the pot, and leave to cook till soft. The beans should be soft but not mushy. Add more water during cooking if need be to maintain 1 inch above.
When the beans are tender, add in coconut milk, jerk seasoning, spring onions, thyme, washed rice, salt, and scotch bonnet. Stir, cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. If using canned beans, add everything to the pot at the same time.To cook it without coconut milk, substitute for water or broth.
After 30 minutes, when the rice is soft and liquid dried up, stir the rice and beans together.
Remove the spring onions and thyme.Take off heat and serve.
Video
Notes
TIPS
If you suffer bloating from eating beans you can benefit from soaking the beans first or you can parboil the beans before adding fresh water to finish cooking.
Precook the kidney beans or use canned beans to cut down the cooking time.
You can use canned beans rather than cooking the beans from scratch. If you drain the canned beans the colour of the rice and peas will be subtle.
Cook the peas in a pressure cooker to cut down the cooking time.
To cook without coconut milk, substitute with broth or water for the same quantity.