Instant Pot Popeye’s Copy Cat Red Beans and Rice
Instant Pot Popeye’s Copy Cat Red Beans and Rice is bursting with flavor! Creamy, flavorful, and the right amount of Cajun spice to kick it up a notch.
If you enjoy Popeyes than lake this Copycat red beans and rice at home to pair with dinner tonight! Pair with some fried chicken and dive in!
Popeyes Copycat Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
My husband actually loved this recipe. At first when I said what I was making he looked at me like I couldn’t nail the flavor. Popeyes beans are magical so I had a lot to live up to! But, I pulled it off and he was impressed.
Does Popeyes Red Beans and Rice Have Pork In It
The actual recipe does not have meat in it but does use pork fat. Liquid smoke is what is used to help give it that meaty flavor without having the meat in it.
You will find many copycat recipes do feature a ham bone or ham in it. This helps to achieve its classic flavor. It isn’t wrong to add meat, so feel free to do so if you want some heartier beans.
What Is The Difference Between Red Beans and Kidney Beans
Red beans and kidney beans get people confused often. Red beans are smaller in size compared to a kidney bean. But they can be swapped out in many recipes as the flavor they showcase is very similar.
What Sides Go With Red Beans and Rice
- Cornbread | Sweet or savory cornbread is up to you! Both will work great for pairing next to your red beans and rice.
- Collard Greens | A classic side to go right next to your red beans. Add in some bacon and dive in and enjoy the southern classic flavors.
- Vegetable | Cook up your favorite vegetable side and pair next to your beans. Green beans, broccoli, etc.
How Can I Thicken My Red Beans and Rice
If you find your beans are not thick enough to meet your standards, this is an easy fix. Simply add to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water, and then mix it up until thin. Then pour into the red beans and rice and stir, while it is still piping hot (or even boiling). This will thicken your beans without affecting the flavor. You can repeat if need be.
More Copy-Cat Recipes in the Instant Pot
Panera’s Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, Olive Garden Zuppa Tuscan Soup, Applebees Copy Cat Spinach, and Artichoke Dip.
Best Way To Store Leftover Popeyes Copycat Red Beans and Rice
Grab an airtight container and store it in your fridge. These beans and rice need to be refrigerated or they will go bad. Store for 3-5 days in the fridge. Reheat in microwave for a quick reheat or opt to warm them up on the stove. If you do the stovetop stir often, to prevent burning. If your beans are too thick add in a splash of stock or water.
If you are a fan of Popeyes I highly suggest trying my Instant pot version. You can get the incredible flavor just like at your favorite restaurant.
Instant Pot Popeye's Copy Cat Red Beans and Rice
Instant Pot Popeye's Copy Cat Red Beans and Rice is bursting with flavor! Creamy, flavorful, and the right amount of Cajun spice to kick it up a notch.
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
- Place Pot on Saute.
- Add olive oil, garlic, and onions.
- Add dry beans. (no need to presoak)
- Add broth, liquid smoke, and seasonings.
- Stir everything.
- Place on Manual High Pressure for 90 Minutes.
- Do a natural release for 20 minutes.
- Serve over rice.
Notes
*updated the seasonings as people thought it was too spicy 🙂
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 317Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 1373mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 4gSugar: 1gProtein: 25g
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.