Ingredients (~6 servings)
- 1 lb dried red kidney beans
- 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
- 1 smoked ham shank
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 large bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups steamed white rice
Sort and Parboil Your Beans
When sorting beans, be sure to remove any stones or unusual-looking beans that you come across (you will probably find a few).
After you have sorted them, rinse them in a colander several times until the water appears clear coming from the bottom of the colander.
In a large pot, bring enough water to boil to cook your beans, then put them in the pot, and let them boil for exactly 10 minutes.
Boiling beans for this long allows the skins of beans to become softer and for beans to cook more uniformly inside the slow cooker.
After boiling the beans for 10 minutes, drain and rinse them again with fresh water and immediately place them in your slow cooker.
Add Everything Else and Let It Go
Now that the beans are in your slow cooker, add the sausage, ham shank, any vegetables that have been chopped, and all of the spices.
Add the chicken broth to the mixture and stir this all together thoroughly.
Make sure that the liquid just barely covers the mixture (if it isn’t covered, add enough chicken broth or water to cover).
Put the lid on the slow cooker and let it cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
Check for Doneness and Serve
You will know that your beans are done when you gently poke them with a fork, and they feel tender but not mushy.
The meat from the ham shank will come right off the bone when you remove it from the slow cooker — shred the large pieces and stir them back into the mixture.
You will want to stir the mixture one last time before you serve it to taste for salt and add more if needed.
When serving, put 1 cup of the bean mixture over white rice and enjoy!
The bean mixture will stay good in your refrigerator for up to 5 days and can be reheated and eaten the next day, and, in fact, tastes better the next day than it did the first day!
Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients
~6 servings
- 1 lb dried red kidney beans
- 1 lb smoked sausage sliced
- 1 smoked ham shank
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 1 large bell pepper chopped
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups steamed white rice
Instructions
- Sort beans, removing stones and rinsing thoroughly.
- Parboil beans in boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain and transfer to slow cooker.
- Add sliced sausage, ham shank, chopped vegetables, seasonings, and chicken broth.
- Stir ingredients and ensure liquid just covers contents.
- Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.
- Check bean tenderness with fork and shred ham shank meat.
- Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Serve over steamed white rice.
