Instant Pot Popeyes Red Beans and Rice are a creamy, smoky copycat made with dry red beans, Cajun seasoning, liquid smoke, and plenty of spices. The beans cook right in the Instant Pot without soaking, then are served over warm rice for an easy homemade version of the Popeyes favorite.
Popeyes red beans and rice was one of those restaurant sides I really wanted to figure out at home. The first time I made my version, my husband wasn’t convinced I could get the flavor right—but after trying it, he was impressed. 😂
Why I Love This Recipe
Ingredient Notes
- Olive Oil: Used to sauté the onion and garlic before pressure cooking, which helps build the base flavor of the beans.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic adds savory flavor to the beans. Mince it before sautéing.
- Onion: Chop the onion fairly small so it softens and blends into the beans as they cook.
- Dry Red Beans: Use 16 ounces of dry red beans. There’s no need to soak them before adding them to the Instant Pot.
- Liquid Smoke: Adds the smoky flavor you expect from Popeyes-style red beans without adding smoked meat. A little goes a long way.
- Cajun Seasoning: I use Slap Ya Mama seasoning, but your favorite Cajun seasoning will also work. Keep in mind that different brands contain different amounts of salt.
- Cayenne Pepper: Adds heat to the beans. You can reduce or leave it out for a milder version.
- Chili Powder: Adds another layer of savory chile flavor without adding too much heat.
- Red Pepper Flakes: Add a little extra kick throughout the beans. Reduce them if you prefer less spice.
- Cooked Rice: Serve the finished red beans over warm cooked rice. White long-grain rice works well for the classic combination.
- Chicken or Ham Broth: Provides the cooking liquid and adds more flavor than water. Ham broth will give the beans a smokier, more savory flavor, while chicken broth is usually easier to find.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
How To Make Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté and add the olive oil. Add the chopped onion and garlic.
- Sauté for 2–3 minutes, until the onion begins to soften. Add the dry red beans. There is no need to soak the beans first.
- Pour in the broth and add the liquid smoke, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and red pepper flakes.
- Stir everything together, then cancel the Sauté function.
- Secure the lid and set the valve to Sealing. Pressure cook on High Pressure for 90 minutes.
- When the cooking time is complete, allow a 20-minute natural pressure release, then carefully release any remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and stir the beans.
- Serve the red beans over warm cooked rice.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
Tips I Found Helpful
- No soaking needed: The dry red beans go straight into the Instant Pot, making prep much easier.
- Sauté the onion and garlic first: A few minutes of sautéing helps build more flavor before pressure cooking.
- Check your Cajun seasoning: Some blends are much saltier than others, especially when combined with broth. Wait until the beans are finished before adding any extra salt.
- Use ham broth for more smoky flavor: Chicken broth works well, but ham broth gives the beans a deeper, smoky flavor.
- Adjust the heat: Reduce the cayenne and red pepper flakes for milder beans or increase them if you like more spice.
- Stir well after cooking: The beans will become creamier as you stir and some of the beans break down.
- Let them sit if needed: If the beans seem a little thin when you first open the pot, let them sit for a few minutes. They will continue to thicken as they cool. 🫘🍚
Frequently Asked Questions
More Copycat Recipes I Love
Instant Pot Popeye's Copy Cat Red Beans and Rice
Instant Pot Popeyes Red Beans and Rice is an easy copycat recipe made with dry red beans, Cajun seasoning, liquid smoke, and spices. No soaking is needed, and the creamy, smoky beans are served over warm rice.
Ingredients
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 onion chopped
- Dry red beans 16 oz
- 1/2 tbsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp Slap Yo Mama Seasoning or cajun seasoning
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 Cups cooked rice
- 6 Cups chicken or ham broth
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté and add the olive oil. Add the chopped onion and garlic.
- Sauté for 2–3 minutes, until the onion begins to soften. Add the dry red beans. There is no need to soak the beans first.
- Pour in the broth and add the liquid smoke, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and red pepper flakes.
- Stir everything together, then cancel the Sauté function.
- Secure the lid and set the valve to Sealing. Pressure cook on High Pressure for 90 minutes.
- When the cooking time is complete, allow a 20-minute natural pressure release, then carefully release any remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and stir the beans.
- Serve the red beans over warm cooked rice.
Notes
There is no need to soak the dry beans before pressure cooking. Sauté the onion and garlic first to build flavor, and keep in mind that Cajun seasoning and broth can both contain salt, so taste before adding any extra. For a smokier flavor, use ham broth instead of chicken broth. Stir the beans well after cooking for a creamier consistency.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 525Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 7gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 173mgSodium: 158mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 47g
Coming from NOLA, I spent yearsssss perfecting my red beans. About a week ago my 16 y/o son said he wished he could figure out how Popeyes makes theirs taste so meaty without meat..so I could make some for him lol. I happened to stumble onto this recipe while looking for Ninja Foodi mashed potato pancake recipes. It’s like it was meant to be lol. I can’t wait to try these! A tip for thickening red beans that I’ve found to be my favorite is taking some out and mashing them very well with a fork before adding them back. Thanks for the recipe!
does this really mean a tablespoon of all these things? 2 tbs of liquid smoke is a LOT, and the same is true of cayenne and pepper flakes – we like stuff hot, but that is a LOT!
Gosh I hope so or my dinner is going to be ruined 😳😳😳
Would you be able to do this in a crockpot? If so how would you suggest?
Teaspoons! I was making some awesome faces chewing my dinner.
We like our food spicier and saltier than most people do, but this was way over seasoned. I wonder if she meant teaspoons? I backed down on the cayenne pepper and skipped the liquid smoke but put in the rest.😳😳😳 We ate it but it wasn’t great. I’ll go back to my old recipe off of the Camelia package.
I agree with the previous comment about seasoning being a bit much. I made this and it was super spicy, but good.
Id probably cut the seasoning in half for it to be more edible
I’m going to try the recipe, but switch the hot spices to tsp. rather than TB. The combination of spices sounds good, but if it’s too hot, it would ruin the food for me and I couldn’t eat it.
I’d rather add more sice afterwards than add too much at first, and be sorry later if I can’t handle the heat!
Can’t wait to try the red beans and rice what flavor liquid smoke do you use?
Hi there! I can’t wait to try this recipe out. One question: should you soak the dry beans first? Thanks!
I did not soak mine
Thank you to all who shared that the original poster meant tsp and not tbsp!!! Grateful that I followed your advice as teaspoons of the spices give it just the right amount of “kick”. Added chicken andouille sausage and mashed some of the red beans then added them back to the instant pot to thicken. Served over rice with a side of okra for the family .
Thank you for this recipe. I made it for the first time. Hubby loves it but says its not the same as Popeyes.I am wondering What FLAVOR Liquid Smoke??? I did not know what to get so got Hickory and maybe that is the difference in the flavor. Could not find Ham Broth so used the Chicken broth. Will make some ham broth but in the absence of that could one add some better then Bullion Ham Base?
Yes I used the bullion base
Really, really good!!! I’ve been whining for a while to Popeye’s and the major food delivery guys about not being able to get their red beans & rice delivered. It’s baffling. I got tired of no response, so I scoured the internet and found this.
I used Tony Chachere’s salt-free Creole seasoning (added salt). I didn’t have chicken broth, so I used 6 tablespoons of Knorr chicken bouillon in 6 cups of hot water. I used a tad bit more olive oil as well.
I’ve got NOLA roots, so what stopped my search for a red beans and rice copycat Popeye’s recipe, is because I saw the inclusion of Slap Ya Mama in the ingredients! Now, I’m curious what the original ingredients were, where folks thought it was too spicy.
Red beans were soaked overnight then cooked in a crockpot with finely minced yellow onion and red pepper.
I crispy fried then crumbled 2 lbs of uncured bacon, then I added about 3/4c of that bacon grease to beans.
I set aside all bacon crumbles for the end then mixed in when beans were transferred to a bowl. I did that to preserve some texture of the bacon.
I used fresh-cooked then cooled jasmine rice with ghee, pink Himalayan salt and white pepper.
I used minced garlic in a jar instead of fresh cloves, and chicken broth. No liquid smoke.
Beans were fire! So GD good.
I soaked my beans. Do I need to adjust the cook time?
I like smoked paprika instead of liquid smoke and cayenne, it gives it a gentle heat and smokey flavor. I mash some beans to thicken.
go ahead
Wow! This was amazing!! Served it with brown rice, and honestly said an expletive with my first bite, it was that good! Only thing I did differently was to take some bean and broth mixture out and pureed it with my immersion blender. I then returned it to the pot and boiled it down until it was thick enough for my liking. Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I added leftover ham. It was delicious and did, in fact, taste a lot like Popeyes’ red beans. I served with coconut rice.
My mother was raised in the Panama Canal Zone. Her Red Beans and Rice are much blander and includes slices of salt pork.