Vegan Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice

Name: Vegan Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: american, southern
Ingredients: 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped; Kosher salt and black pepper; 3 celery stalks, finely chopped; 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped; 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 heaping tablespoon white or yellow miso paste; 2 teaspoons smoked paprika; 1 teaspoon sweet paprika; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more to taste; 1/2 teaspoon ground sage (optional); 1 pound dried red kidney beans (no need to soak); 3 dried bay leaves; 3 fresh thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 teaspoon soy sauce; Cooked rice, for serving; Sliced scallions, for serving; Louisiana-style hot sauce, for serving

By Sarah DiGregorio

Published Jan. 23, 2020

Vegan Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice — Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Total Time: 1¾ hour
Rating: 5(856)
Comments: Read comments

Here’s a vegan version of the classic New Orleans dish that uses smoked paprika, miso paste and soy sauce to add a savory notes. Pressure cookers are ideal for preparing dried beans; even unsoaked beans cook quickly and evenly, so that the beans become creamy but still keep their shape (though we’ve got instructions for a slow cooker approach, too). Here, you want the beans to be very tender, so that the stew is thick — with a few beans that have slightly broken down — and not soupy. This vegan version of “Monday red beans” is not as creamy as the one made with pork, so smashing a few beans against the side of the pot at the end of cooking is particularly important. Louisiana-style hot sauce is key as well.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

¼cup vegetable oil
1large yellow onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper
3celery stalks, finely chopped
1green bell pepper, finely chopped
10garlic cloves, finely chopped
1heaping tablespoon white or yellow miso paste
2teaspoons smoked paprika
1teaspoon sweet paprika
1teaspoon onion powder
1teaspoon garlic powder
½ to 1teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more to taste
½teaspoon ground sage (optional)
1pound dried red kidney beans (no need to soak)
3dried bay leaves
3fresh thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1teaspoon soy sauce
Cooked rice, for serving
Sliced scallions, for serving
Louisiana-style hot sauce, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Turn on the sauté setting of a 6- to 8-quart electric pressure cooker and heat the oil. Add the onion, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until limp and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the celery and bell pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the chopped garlic, miso paste, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne and sage (if using). Grind in a generous amount of black pepper and add ¾ teaspoon salt. Stir well to combine all the ingredients, then turn off the sauté setting.
Step 2
Add the beans, bay leaves, thyme and 5½ cups water. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits. Cook on high pressure until the beans are creamy, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 3
Turn off the pressure cooker and allow the pressure to reduce naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid. Add the soy sauce, and season to taste with salt and cayenne. Using a fork, mash some of the beans against the side of the pressure cooker to make the mixture creamy. It will continue to thicken as it sits, or you can turn on the sauté setting and let the mixture bubble for a few minutes to thicken. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Top the beans with hot cooked rice and scallions; serve with hot sauce.

Ratings

5 out of 5

856 user ratings

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Comments

BEVERLY A SAUER5 years ago

Under self-imposed quarantine, 70 years old. Powdered onions and garlic are not the most delicious option but their shelf life, small storage requirements, and availability make them the best option in a crisis. The old Girl Scout in me keeps dry goods and spices in the pantry to ‘Be Prepared’ for any contingency: hurricanes, blizzard, COVID.

Todd5 years ago

Oddly, salt isn’t mentioned in the ingredient list, but step 1 includes adding 3/4 tsp of it. Since both soy sauce and miso typically contain a huge amount of sodium, it might be a good idea to hold off on adding salt until the very end, and then only adding it if it really seems necessary.

jbno3 years ago

Louisiana native here. Instead of miso and soy (which honestly feel pretty sacrilegious) just add some liquid smoke. My dad went vegan for a few years and that's what we used to give our beans the smokiness they need.

amanda2 months ago

adding liquid smoke is great! I need to remember how fast that stuff pours out though — definitely accidentally added a tablespoon and thats all I can taste now lol next time, measure with a half tea spoon

Susan Hamilton2 months ago

I used Camellia small red beans and my tried and true method of cooking beans in the instant pot: instead of sautéing the chopped vegetables and spices I put them all directly into the instant pot with the beans and water. I soaked the beans overnight so needed only 3 cups of water and 15 minutes of high pressure to cook the beans perfectly. I didn’t have miso, onion powder or garlic powder, so substituted with my usual umami ingredients of 1 Tbs each of red vinegar, olive oil, and honey. Not wanting to mask the flavors with heat I used only 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper. After 40 years of cooking in south Louisiana can tell you that our best cooks use a modest amount of cayenne to bring up the flavor of foods but not overpower them. If this is not enough heat for you then add a few drops of Tabasco before serving. The 3 bay leaves, 10 garlic cloves, and 2 tsp. smoked paprika were not excessive. In fact they were perfect for vegetarian/vegan red beans. This recipe has definitely enhanced my practice of cooking vegetarian beans in the instant pot! Grill your favorite sausage to serve on the side for the non-vegetarian friends and family. Rice, salad, and your done—except for maybe some cornbread.

Mary4 months ago

I’m sad to say there were something off with this recipe. I found the beans to have a bitter flavor, not sure if it came from the thyme (I used dried) or perhaps too much celery? But something just was off. Granted the bar is pretty high for me – my husband‘s grandmother is from New Orleans and makes the most incredible red beans with smoked turkey and sausage. Obviously, I knew this was going to be a different beast without meat, but still the flavor was disappointing. I added maple syrup to try and counteract the bitter flavor and some butter fue richness which helped a bit.

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