Spicy Red Beans with Chicken and Andouille Sausage

By John Willoughby

Spicy Red Beans with Chicken and Andouille Sausage
Sabra Krock for The New York Times
Total Time
3 hours, plus soaking
Rating
4(459)
Comments
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This recipe came to The Times in a 2012 article about cooking in a bean hole, a classic method of outdoor cooking popular in Maine. Here’s how it works: Dig a hole big enough for the pot you’re planning to cook in, then build a fire of hardwood logs in it. Drop a dozen or so rocks into the fire once it’s started. When the wood has burned down to embers, remove the rocks using barbecue gloves, put your pot of presoaked beans into the embers, drop the rocks around and on top of the pot, cover everything with dirt and walk away. Come back in about eight hours, and your beans should be ready. Not in the mood to dig a hole in your backyard? No worries. These spicy New Orleans-style red beans with chicken and andouille sausage can just as easily be made in your oven. The slightly sweet creaminess of the beans and the richness of the chicken temper the sharp heat of the andouille sausage and red pepper flakes. Serve over a pile of snowy white rice alongside an ice-cold beer.

Featured in: Who Needs an Oven? Just Bury Your Beans

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 1pound red beans, soaked overnight or quick-soaked, then drained and rinsed
  • 1tablespoon olive oil
  • 6bone-in chicken thighs
  • 1pound andouille sausage (or substitute linguiça), sliced ½ inch thick
  • 1onion, sliced
  • ½green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 2stalks celery, roughly chopped
  • 2tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2tablespoons filé powder (optional)
  • 2 to 3teaspoons red pepper flakes
  • 2teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1teaspoon black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

968 calories; 57 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 24 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 54 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 60 grams protein; 923 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Drain and rinse the soaked beans and heat the oven to 350.

  2. Step 2

    Heat the oil in a 6-quart Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-high until hot but not smoking. Add the chicken thighs and brown well, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the thighs, add the sausage to pot and brown well, another 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the sausage. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Add the garlic and sauté, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Add back the thighs and sausage along with the beans, filé powder if using, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and enough water to cover. Stir well and bring the mixture to a simmer.

  4. Step 4

    Cover and transfer the pot to the oven and bake until the beans are tender, 2½ to 3 hours, checking every half-hour or so after the first hour and adding water as needed if all the liquid has been absorbed.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
459 user ratings
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Comments

AHubby

A favorite of ours. Not at all pretty but fabulous and spicy. I wonder though if 350 for 2-1/2 to 3 hours is a mistake? After just 1 1/2 hours the beans are tender and the chicken falls off its bones.

Terry J

This was excellent. However, 3 tsp of red pepper makes it very picante. Would cut that in half the next time. Also, the beans cooked up in about 1 1/2 hours.

We had plenty of beans and sauce left afterwards. I pureed them in a blender and thinned with chicken broth, and the result was an excellent red bean soup that we loved.

Kofi

Delicious!!! loved it but didn't use much spice and used Canned Beans so my cooking time was just approx 40 mins until the the chicken was cooked.

Charlie in VT&NOLA

Big hit, loved this. Camellia beans! Soooo creamy and sweet. Really simple and really good. I’d reduce the crushed red from 3tsp for ordinary mortals. But amazingly it’s not overpowering at that level — just a solid glow in the throat. Top marks, it’s on the Hitlist.

RetSoCalRN

RE: using a slow cooker to cook kidney beans Many if not most slow cookers do not get hot enough to boil your beans. So, if you intend to use a slow cooker, soak and boil your beans before adding them to your slow cooker: Per https://cfaes.osu.edu/sites/cfaes_main/files/site-library/site-documents/News/chow_kidneybeans.pdf “red kidney beans have a toxin, ‘phytohaemagglutinin,’ also called PHA, or kidney bean lectin.” The FDA recommends these steps for preparing dry red kidney beans: • Soak the beans for at least five hours in water. It’s not a bad idea to change the water periodically, but it’s not necessary for safety. • Drain the beans from the final soaking water. • Boil the beans in a pot of fresh water for at least 30 minutes. Note: Research indicates that the toxin is destroyed when boiled at 212 degrees F for 10 minutes, but scientists recommend 30 minutes to be certain the beans reach the proper temperature for the amount of time necessary. Don’t use a slow cooker: It likely won’t get hot enough.

Andy M cbus

Great dish. I reduced the chili pepper flake and replaced with some Aleppo pepper and some charred poblano. The red beans I used were from Rancho gordo. I also added carrots and mushrooms . Highly recommended dish that serves a crowd.

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