This recipe for rice and beans is so delicious! I have adapted it from the traditional Haitian style of making rice and beans. The scent and taste of the cloves make the dish! Serve with avocado on the side and you'll want it every night of the week!
Used a 15 oz can of drained & rinsed kidney beans and reduced the amount of water to 1 1/2 cups and it was perfect! Used an African adobo spice mix which contains a bit more heat. Served with a roasted beer can jerk chicken.
Read MoreThis dish is way too hot! I've never used a scotch bonnet chile pepper before so didn't know what to expect. Don't know if we'll be able to eat it b/c of the spices...it smells good though!
Read MoreUsed a 15 oz can of drained & rinsed kidney beans and reduced the amount of water to 1 1/2 cups and it was perfect! Used an African adobo spice mix which contains a bit more heat. Served with a roasted beer can jerk chicken.
This is so good! I don't usually like Red Beans & Rice but I really like this. My local Walmart didn't have the scotch bonnet, he said to substitute a habanero, but I settled for a jalapeno, sliced & seeded and thrown in the pot. It is the perfect heat for us. I did soak my beans first (habit). This recipe was nice because I actually cooked the beans yesterday, put in fridge & finished tonight. Husband thought it was too "clovey" so I will use less next time.
this taste just like my mother's recipe! i never got it from her since she cooks from memory like most great mother chefs do!! the scotch bonnet pepper gave it the zip i needed and this recipe is adaptable to any beans. when i make it with black beans i use celery instead of shallots and it comes out great. thank you for this recipe. it will be a main staple in my home
YUMMY! This surprised my Haitian parents and grandma. I made it to these specs just for fun - made me nervous at first because I'm used to making it a bit differently. It was DELICIOUS, TASTY, VERY EASY... Dad went back for more!
I'm not a big fan of Red Beans and Rice but this is something special. The cloves give it that extra flavor which made the house smell incrediable. My husband came home and that was the first thing he said, "what smells so good"? I didn't have the chili pepper so I used red pepper flakes just to give it a little heat. I also didn't have any parsley so I used dried and left it in. This recipe is something different then your plan old red beans and rice dish.
It is similar to what my family has prepared for years so I give it a 4 because I think these seasonings will make it taste similar. Any red bean can be used (pinto, kidney, red), but the for the best red color in the rice I use red beans which are most similar to what we use at home. Also in order to get the red color of in the rice you have to start with dry beans instead of canned and cook the rice in the bean water.
We really enjoyed this. I've never made rice and beans from scratch, so I followed the recipe exactly, except I used quinoa instead of rice (which required a little tweaking of the water/grain measurements). It was so easy! After it was finished, I added another tsp of adobo and chopped up half of the hot pepper for some extra heat. The flavor was so unique--the clove taste really came through. This dish is even good cold.
This dish is way too hot! I've never used a scotch bonnet chile pepper before so didn't know what to expect. Don't know if we'll be able to eat it b/c of the spices...it smells good though!
Awesome! I come from a Haitian family and got used to my dad's cooking. However when I moved overseas, I cursed myself for not learning how to make on the most basic and beloved dishes in Haitian cuisine. This recipe taste just like my dad's, aunt and grandma's du riz colay and now I can make it for my little one. Delicious! Thanks!
I made this with canned kidney beans, and I couldn't find Scotch bonnet peppers so I used two large jalapenos instead. I ended up adding a lot more Adobo seasoning - was glad I hadn't already added salt. I served it with sliced avocado as suggested. A nice easy and tasty meal. Thanks, La La!
I made it exactly as directed - delicious and healthy - an A+ in our book. DH asks for it frequently, which is really saying something!
The kids and I loved the recipe...the hubby did not like it. He put ketchup on it. He said the ketchup made it palatable~Yuck~Now you see what I am working with =o) We served it at a pot luck and it was a big hit. Avocado and a dallop of sour cream are yummy additions!
OMG this was almost exactly as I remember it! The only thing is, I dunno how anyone thinks 5 cups of water to 1 cup of rice is correct. It came out too soggy, so I'm trying it with 4 cups of water to 4 cups water. I'll let you know... UPDATE: Yup, 4 cups water was plenty! It occurs to me that if you use Uncle Bens (which a lot of Haitians did, back before long grain rice became readily available in the Americas), you would have wanted the 5 cups of water, but with long grain, 4 should be plenty. Good!
Rice got a little mushy with so much water. I will make this again, but reduce water. Thanks for the recipe. Awesome with pickliz.
I see a good potential in this recipe, but it is way, way too salty! I would recommend to start with half the salt and go from there. Can always add more, cant take it away though LOL
These were great, but a little dry. I used a can of kidney beans and 1 1/2 C water per another reviewer, and I think it could've used 2 Cups of water instead. Also, I didn't have shallots so I used onions (probably 1/4 Cup); I used less cloves (scant 1/8 tsp) and was glad I did. It was just right; 1/4 tsp would've been too clovey for us. I also used more Adobo seasoning and didn't use any chile pepper; I just sprinkled on some ground red pepper instead and it was great! I will definitely make this many times!!
Love this dish. I used canned kidney beans and added them to the rice at the END. They are already cooked therefore any more cooking would be too much (as seen by other reviewers who used canned beans) which to me is the best/easiest way to make this dish.
One word: YUK
This was great! I haven't been back to Haiti for years and was starting to get antsy for non-boxed rice and beans, so I figured I'd try and recreate the dish here. I love it because it's so simple! I couldn't find a scotch bonnet pepper so I used a jalapeno. It was good, but the scotch bonnet is so necessary to Haitian cooking that I'm keeping my eye open for them. Also, I couldn't find adobo seasoning but I don't think I missed it. It was good even with the changes I had to make. Plus it smelled DELICIOUS! I even made hubby eat with his hands like I used to. I gave it four stars because it would be too liquidy as written, that is more New Orleans style. Only 4 to 4-1/4 cups of the bean's water is needed. This one is a keeper, thank you!
Hands down the best rice & beans I've ever tasted. I didn't have the pepper, so I subbed a tiny bit of chili flakes. I also threw in a bunch of chopped celery. I only used 4 cups of water instead of 5, and it came out just wonderfully...not sure if it was supposed to be more "moist"? Anyways it was fabulous and seasoned excellently, will definitely make this again.
Good HEAVENS, this was good. I used 16 ounces of undrained red kidney beans, an onion instead of a shallot, and left out the chile pepper. Went a tiny bit scant on the Adobo and cloves, just to see for the first time, and it was perfectly spiced. Will definitely make it according to directions, but just wanted to use what I had on hand. Our whole family LOVED this--it's going in the family recipe box. Thanks!!
this had a weird taste to me, I added 1/4 cup of sugar to cancel out the bitterness. I will not make this again
Beats Jamaican style red beans and rice anyday, I must say. Very good! Smelled really yummy when I was making it, and tasted even better. Passed the test among even the pickiest of critics, even though I had to leave out the adobo powder since I couldn't find any.
Haitian Rice & Beans Haiku: "There's too much liquid. I had to change a few things. Cloves make it special!" I used a can of drained, rinsed kidney beans instead of dry, and onions instead of shallot - I also browned 1/2 lb. smoked sausage w/ the onions and garlic for a carnivorous husband. I used 1/2 c. basmati to 1 3/4 c. water and it was still too liquid-ey upon serving. Despite having the scoop it w/ the slotted spoon, the taste was incredible! My only complaint though is wondering whether or not I have some super-human immunity to spice b/c the scotch bonnet didn't make this fiery at all. But ohhhhwow the smell, the cloves, the beans - this was a fantastic way to make a standard rice'n'bean bowl much more interesting.
Had rice at a Haitian cafe and really loved it; so I decided to make this recipie based on the good ratings but it was a disapointment. To start with, trying to cut time, I used low salt canned beans-my first mistake. They were softer texture than cooking dry beans from scratch, and in the end they were just way too soft. I took the advice of others and used 3 1/2c of liquid-the rice came out like mush (I used long grain white). AND THE SALT-WAY TOO MUCH!! Perhaps if I used dry beans the salt would have been appropriate, but certainly not with canned beans! I tried to save the dish by adding 1/2lb cooked, unseasoned hamburger as well as 1 cup additional plain cooked white rice, and its still much too salty. Overall I wasnt crazy about the flavorings either. The clove was ok, but a bit overwhelming, and I did use adobo seasoning, and I am just not impressed. Shallots were just not necessary either. Onions would have sufficed. Considering this recipie a failed attempt at good rice and beans. Perhaps I might try it again with 1 tsp salt and without the adobo seasoning, but its doubtful that I would even bother.
This was really good paired with jerk chicken. I used brown rice instead of white and it turned out really well. Although next time I will probably only use 1 bay leaf, 2 were very strong.
I tried to make this as written but used brown rice, 3.5 cups of liquid as other reviewers said it was too watery, and I didn't have a chile so just used dried red pepper. Boiled for the first 10 min then covered on low for 25 min. Came out absolutely delicious, will be making again.
This was tasty and a nice side dish but I found the 5 cups of liquid was too much. Next time I'll try 4 or 4 1/2. I used 1/2 cup of coconut milk as part of the liquid which was really nice too.
Wish I could give half a star. This would be a 3 1/2. We liked the flavor and level of spiciness but had some texture issues. Possibly my beans were extremely old because they did not cook evenly at all. When some were finally soft, the rest were mushy. Will try again after restocking the pantry.
This was good, except calls for way to much salt I think. 1 tbsp? My instincts told me not to add that much salt but I decided to follow the recipe. Well I was right, I think next time I will add 1/2 tbsp. I also added green onion instead of a shallot, and I couldnt find the pepper it called for so I added a peperoncini which are in a jar in the international aisle of the grocery store. I also added dried herbs b/c didnt have fresh ones. So I say this is very good, I will make it again. Thx! I also used a can of kidney beans and reduced the water to 1 1/2 cups as another reviewer said.
This was pretty good! I used a jalepeno pepper instead- I chopped it up and just cooked in into the rice and beans; worked well. I don't think I'll make it again based on personal preference, but it was fun to try!
This recipie was pretty darn good! I added a banana pepper cause I didn't have a jalapeno but I'm sure the jalapeno would have been better. Thanks for the idea!
Excellent! Made this when we had 2 other couples over and I was nervous it wouldn't turn out well but everyone absolutely loved it. Will definitely be making again.
Fantastic! I adored them! Worked excellently w/ brown rice; it just took a while longer to cook. Wonderful served w/ tostones.
Definitely worth the while... my only question, where do you get bonnet chile peppers?
This was really good! I left out the adobo because of dietary restrictions and the pepper because I was feeding it to my kids. It was good without being spicy, but my husband got out the hot sauce and that made the dish even better. Yum! This will be my go-to red beans and rice recipe from now on. And hopefully soon, we can find some gluten-free adobo sauce!
My hubby and I loved this recipe, the kids notsomuch, but that's not surprising, as they just want burgers and potatoes! LOL! We liked it alot!!!!
I think the make-or-break element here is the cloves. If you like cloves, then this is an excellent recipe. If you don't care for them they take over the dish. I went light on them and my family reacted strongly to the flavor.
I made this according to the directions. It didn't have much flavor. I won't make it again.
This was an excellent recipe, I loved the addition of cloves--I would've never thought to do that. I also used an habanero, and used a lot less salt than the recipe asks for. I'll make this again for sure!
This was very delicious! It took some time to prep and make, but the results were DELICIOUS. The only changes I would make, there was ALOT of rice, could have fed alot of people, and the rice was really mushy. I would reduce the amount of water for this recipe. Other than that, add more spices, because the rice and water absorbs alot of it and i ended up having to salt my plate, but besides that YUM!
I used canned kidney beans to simplify the recipe and basmati rice instead of long grain. I also substituted unsweetened, canned coconut milk (7 oz.) and the drained liquid from the canned beans for some of the liquid. Fantastic! A great accompaniment to jerk chicken.
The family and I really didn't like this recipe and we love beans and rice. The flavor of cloves was really strong. We will not be making it again.
Having lived and worked with Haitians..beans and rice was a daily food item..I do like hot..scotch bonnet can be very hot..I use allspice rather than cloves..and if kidney beans not available..I'll use pinto beans.I also add a dollop of espresso to darken the rice and add extra earthiness..its like using gravy master...beans and rice w yucca and a fried chicken that was marinated in garlic..lime and thyme is devine...parsley is not needed..it gets lost in the earthiness of the dish..when a Haitian says my rice(beans and rice) is better than there's..this new england guy feels proud.
I grew up in the South, but never really liked red beans and rice. This recipe, however, was delicious, highly flavorful and I can't wait to make it again and add some sausage or some shrimp. I added the adobo and it was just perfect.
I was expecting more of a Mexican style rice and beans, but was pleasantly surprised by the spice-filled "holiday" flavor that worked out perfect for the Christmas holiday. I didn't have ground cloves and tried to grind them myself, and I had to use dried thyme that I wasn't able to take out, so it was a little too spicy. I'd recommend less spice if you don't have fresh parsley and thyme, or ground cloves. But very delicious. I'd definitely make again. Would go well in a stuffed pepper.
This recipe was FANTASTIC!! It's great paired with buffalo wings. I made this on a Sunday afternoon and the smell in the house was wonderful.
Attempted to make this dish last night. This recipe calls for way too much water. The rice came out so mushy. Was the consistency of rice pudding or risotto. Will make again, but will decrease the water by 3 cups.
delicious! made this with brown rice no fresh spices(since i didnt have any at at the time) and with jalapeno. my husband and iboth loved it.
We've made this at least 10 times. It's so good. Cheap ingredients, lots of protein, easy to make, tastes fantastic. We serve it with mojito pork on top
Very flavorful. I used 1 can of beans instead and added them 5 minutes before the rice was finished so that the beans didn't dry out. And I cut down the water to 2 1/2 cups.
A very good, and easy dish to pull off. The cloves add a great touch to it. I pretty much followed the recipe as/is, with the addition of a couple of dried chipotles along with the scotch bonnet (although I used a habanero instead of a scotch bonnet, but fairly similar). The chipotles gave it a nice smoky flavor that complimented the cloves nicely. Served it as a side to a grilled chicken marinated in a habanero mango ginger sauce. Put it all together and it makes for a nice, spicy meal.
Speechless no words.
This was just okay. The clove flavor was way too strong, but even without it this wouldn't be a to-die-for recipe. Good on occasion when you need a meatless meal. I added an extra half cup of rice since I could tell it was going to be a more soupy rice, and it was just the right consistency for me.
So. Great. I didn't have adobo seasoning but did have a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce so threw in one of those and omitted the scotch bonnet pepper. We mixed in a spoonful of sour cream and my toddler and preschooler inhaled it.
For a beans recipe, this is really good. I can't say I just want to make it very often, though. I used pinto beans because I can't have kidney. I used green onion for the shallot, took the advice to half the salt, and used a seeded jalepeno pepper for the bonnet chile pepper (couldn't find one.) For the Adabo seasoning I ground and made into a paste 1 clove garlic, 1/4 t oregano, 1/4 t peppercorns, 1/8 t paprika, 1/4 t salt.
Two cups of water was perfect with canned beans. I recommend less oil (perhaps 2 tablespoons), that's the only thing I will change next time.
I have been to Haiti twice now and i love tha food so much i crave in on a daily basis when ive come back to tha states. Iam going to try to make this for tha first time. Hope it tastes exactly how i remembered:) wish me luck!
I used basmati rice (because that is what I had) and used a four cup liquid to a two cup rice ratio (the four cup liquid ratio included a 330ml can of coconut water to make the four cup liquid total). I also omitted the cloves, adobo seasoning, used a whole uncut jalapeno pepper instead of a scotch bonnet pepper, as my kids are not used to that kind of heat. My husband two "small" samplings before dinner because it was so good. The reason for the 4 star rating is for the tweeking of the liquid to rice ratio, as per what others had suggested.
This was delicious! A great began main or side dish! I thought five cups of liquid seemed like a lot for only one cup of rice, so I reduced the total liquid to four cups, and it came out just right.
I don't often feel compelled to write a recipe review, but this was stellar and likely to be a frequent side dish. I did not have scotch bonnet, but I didn't look for a recipe until after I had shopped. I know it is crazy hot though, so would just tone it to my audience if I didn't want to use it. As it was, I use the cayenne pepper that I had on hand. Wonderful! Makes a ton, and could have cut in half for the 2 of us, easily.
A little hot for me. I lived in Haiti several years, and you've got to use the dried beans and bean water if you want the good color with the rice. But I must say, we never had beans and rice without bean sauce, in our region. We always cooked beans and pushed them through a strainer, like making applesauce, to make the sauce. There was nothing quite so good as beans and rice and bean sauce!! And, though expensive, kabrit! (goat meat!)
Really good. I used canned beans and 2 cups chicken broth instead of bean water. Agree with other reviewers, it was way too salty (I used low sodium broth) and probably will go 1/8 tsp on the cloves next time. Otherwise this smelled wonderful, tasted great and was a perfect complement to our BBQ-ed Jamaican Jerk chicken. Thanks!
I must have done something wrong! After all the great reviews I was really excited about this dish, but after I cooked it, I just found that it was HOT, but flavorless. I could taste a hint of the cloves... but then just heat. Nothing else came through. I tried adding some tomatoes and other seasonings to give it more than "rice cooked in water" taste, but it didn't help. I ended up pitching the whole thing. :(
Ok, Ive made this recipe a few times and discovered how to make it tastier and EASIER. 1. Boil the beans in at least 8 cups of water. Add 2-3 bay leafs. Add at least 3-4 maggie cubes into the water. I can't believe I didn't remember the cubes earlier. Maggie cubes are a staple ingrediant in a Haitians' kitchen! 2. Add about 3 cloves or the 1/4 a teaspoon as suggested. Whole cloves taste horrible by the way. It would be unpleasant for whoever is eatting your food to bite into one, so its better to use ground cloves. 3. I added 4 allspice balls because thats how granny made it. 4. Add salt and pepper to the water. 5. After about 1 1/2 hours add your rice and a pat of butter or oil to the bean water. 6. Cook until rice is done. And your DONE! Frying the beans will add flavor to them, but if you flavor the water they should already have a good flavor and you wont need to further fry them! Much easier and made for a tastey Haitian style rice!
It was pretty good. I also used canned beans and more rice. I also left out the clove because I’m having it with jerk chicken and it has a lot of those types of spices in it. My husband is also not a huge fan of cloves and nutmeg if it’s not in a dessert.
Great recipe but way too much water. Next time I'll try 2 c of water for each cup of rice.
This dish was delightful! I did make some changes. I used the boil and soak method on the beans and substituted brown rice. I couldn’t find scotch bonnet peppers so I substituted a dab of jerk seasoning that included scotch bonnet peppers.. The heat and flavor were perfect. I reduced the salt to one teaspoon. I will add another half teaspoon next time. I had adobo seasoning from a recipe here on Allrecipes. The amount of water called for was too much so I added an additional half cup of rice. Next time I will use less water.
My boyfriend and his family are French Caribbean (Haiti). I made this for them one evening, and they LOVED IT!!! It brought smiles to their faces:) And gave me a so much praise for attempting it!!!
I altered the recipe a bit. I used Jasmine rice, vegetable stock instead of water and canned black beans & reserved the liquid. Total liquid was about 2 - 2 1/2 cups. I didn't have shallots so I used sweet onion instead. I used only a teaspoon of salt (still a bit too salty but probably because the canned beans were processed with salt), 1 teaspoon of dried Thyme instead of fresh, and dried Parsley. I also omitted the hot pepper. The added bean liquid gave the rice a nice color and it tastes delicious.
I made this bean dish and we just loved the taste. I am making a pot for Super Bowl party with jerk pull pork. I have made these beans so many times. I reduced the salt to half. Great and healthy dish.
Please provide more Haitian recipes - I have two adopted girls who need to taste some food from home. (One nick-named La La, by the way).
I really enjoyed this! I changed a few things though. For one I reduced the salt by half, and even that was pretty salty. Second, to reduce cook time I used 15oz can of beans and cut the water in half.
