Louis Armstrong’s Red Beans and Rice Recipe (2024)

Onion, celery, parsley, bay leaf, water, use a smoked sausage, pickled meat or some butter. What cha got. Everything goes in cold. The smell on the stove simmering all day in my mama’s kitchen smells like Monday to me. When the beans soften smash a few. Stir as after as you like. Allow the beans to cool a bit and become even more creamy. Re heating make the dish even better.Grandma Myrtle would add vinegar peppers at the table. All seven kids ate it up. NOLA is home.Ketchup, skip it.

I've never seen pickled ham anywhere. What's a suitable substitution?

I don't eat pork products any longer, but I can still make red beans and rice, if I want. I made a really wild variation of this recipe, sans meat (I added smoked paprika and a couple of dashes of liquid smoke). It was wonderful, just like Louis Armstrong and his music. I admit, it was not this recipe exactly, but I did use the ketchup. To those who say this recipe isn't real or authentic red beans and rice, I say this: it's Louis Armstrong's recipe. That alone makes it authentic in my book.

If you're looking for "pickled meat" as we call in in Louisiana, you need "salted pork", anywhere else in the country. I live in ABQ, NM now but will always be from NOLA. Also, the trinity is necessary. A bay leaf or two, minced garlic and some creole seasoning goes a long way. If you're using ketchup, you don't cook it in the dish! Smother it in ketchup when you eat. Hot sauce too! To get it creamy, add butter to start & use a potato masher at the end to get the perfect texture beans.

My New Orleans grandma and grandpa were fighting about ketchup in the beans on her death bed. She swore by it, he didn't!! Both versions were great and different.

Wait until the beans are cooked to add the vinegar. Adding vinegar in the beginning will increase the cooking time because the beans break down slower in acid.

Great recipe, I would substitute 3-4 hours of stove top cooking time with 15-20 minutes in my pressure cooker!

Instead of pickled pork, try adding some vinegar to the dish or if you're really keen, make your own. Alton Brown has a recipe for pickled pork.

This is a unique recipe, not the standard red beans and rice.Pro tip: When the beans are ready, bring to a very gentle boil & prepare a Beurre Manié (good sprinkling of flour and 1-2 tablespoons of butter mashed together into a paste). This will make your beans oh so very creamy and delicious.

I have a copy of ‘Pop’s Favorite Dish,’ written by Louis & Lucille. It definitely needs an update. I’ve been playing with it for years, but have taken a totally different tack from what you’ve done. Definitely no ketchup (though I did finally concede that a little bit of tomato paste is necessary). Next batch I’m going to put in 4 lbs of cubed smoked pork shoulder and let it stew with the beans. I love this dish. No one way to do it.

My mother, a born and bred New Orleans native, going back generations taught me to throw together red beans that have been soaked overnight, into a large pot, (Dutch oven), with raw onions, smoked sausage pieces cut approximately 2 inches long, with cold water covering the beans about an inch. When beans were tender, she added file’, the sassafras spice ground up, and Cajun spice mix. I use Chef Paul’s. Never EVER would she add ketchup!!! To her it was an abomination on anything except fries.

Really boring. So much is missing from this recipe that to fix it means reworking it so much one should just start with a better recipe. This is far more Creole (kidney beans, lack of seasoning) than Cajun (small red beans, the trinity, bay, thyme) that, well, if you like more pedestrian foods, go ahead. If not, there are FAR better red beans recipes out there.

Love a mess of red beans! But, don't add the vinegar or the salt until the beans have softened...otherwise it's going to take them forever to become soupy. Oh, pickled ham hock is the same as salted ham hocks anywhere but the South.I throw a bayleaf into mine and add some minced garlic to the onion at the end of the saute, just long enough for it to become aromatic. Then I sit back sand enjoy the smell of those beans cooking.

Don't use old dried beans; they'll never soften. With apologies to Pops, forget the ketchup. My relatives in NO added some chopped bell pepper, and cooked the sausage in with the beans. If using pickled meat, I'd leave out the added vinegar. But, they're your beans. Make yourself happy.

smoked turkey necks or wings are divine...

I never really liked kidney beans. Growing up in the Midwest, kidney beans were always ruining the flavor of chili. I'd never seen them really shine. Because I didn't want to commit too much shelf space, I opted for 2 cans over the prescribed 4 cups dry. The salt pork I used was almost entirely fat, so instead of hot sauce which would dissolve its way into the fat I used 3 chilis from a can of adobo (sans too much adobo). The heat feels right. I like kidney beans now.

The great amount of ketchup called for isn't a surprise. Some NOLA dishes use lots of tomato paste and sugar. "Sweet red gravy" isn't a favorite of mine. The simple recipe printed on a Camellia Brand package of red beans is hard to beat.

Thismy be sac religious, but can you use canned beans?

Many years ago, my mother catered an affair held by the then president of Queens College, Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny, when the Armstrong House became part of Queens College. My mother was given the Armstrong's red beans & rice recipe in advance and was asked to cook it on Mrs. Armstrong's stove for the reception. It is an excellent recipe. and it was a great reception with many great Jazz luminaries in attendance.

I moved to New Orleans three years ago and gained weight in no time - the food here is so rich and seductive! It seems there are as many opinions about what makes “authentic” rice and beans as there are Saints fans. Relax everyone! I made this exactly as written and it’s delicious!!

Pickled ham hocks are made by 'Hormel' packaged in a glass jar.

This was exceedingly sweet from the ketchup. I added quite a bit of cider vinegar at the end to knock down the sweetness, but it's hard to cover up. I'll make a different version next time.

Less flavorful than I had hoped but the real problem was my own doing. I've cooked many beans 'n rice dishes and they all call for a covered pot. I assumed this would be the same and I obviously assumed wrong. After simmering covered for the recipe time (~3 hours) I still had something like bean soup, with some very firm beans. Took the cover off and 2 hours later had a nice texture with al dente beans. (beans WERE soaked overnight)

My dad’s South Philly version: 1 lb. large dried Lima beans; 1 to 2 lb. Boneless pork ribs; 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles; 1 onion; a bay leaf; 1 tsp cumin seed; 1 tsp oregano. Cook in very low oven for six to eight hours. Bliss.

Really boring. So much is missing from this recipe that to fix it means reworking it so much one should just start with a better recipe. This is far more Creole (kidney beans, lack of seasoning) than Cajun (small red beans, the trinity, bay, thyme) that, well, if you like more pedestrian foods, go ahead. If not, there are FAR better red beans recipes out there.

Love a mess of red beans! But, don't add the vinegar or the salt until the beans have softened...otherwise it's going to take them forever to become soupy. Oh, pickled ham hock is the same as salted ham hocks anywhere but the South.I throw a bayleaf into mine and add some minced garlic to the onion at the end of the saute, just long enough for it to become aromatic. Then I sit back sand enjoy the smell of those beans cooking.

I liked the idea of cooking a Louis Armstrong recipe. I feel that's the reason there's ketchup in the recipe. If I used Dukey Chase's recipe, would there be ketchup? On the other hand, we really enjoyed the beans. Didn't serve with rice but ate them like a thick bean soup with slices of ham on the side. Tonight I will make New Orleans flavored meatballs to go with. Maybe they'll taste like Andouille--I hope so. I made this in my Instant Pot but on the stove would have been easier.

Don't use old dried beans; they'll never soften. With apologies to Pops, forget the ketchup. My relatives in NO added some chopped bell pepper, and cooked the sausage in with the beans. If using pickled meat, I'd leave out the added vinegar. But, they're your beans. Make yourself happy.

I don't eat pork products any longer, but I can still make red beans and rice, if I want. I made a really wild variation of this recipe, sans meat (I added smoked paprika and a couple of dashes of liquid smoke). It was wonderful, just like Louis Armstrong and his music. I admit, it was not this recipe exactly, but I did use the ketchup. To those who say this recipe isn't real or authentic red beans and rice, I say this: it's Louis Armstrong's recipe. That alone makes it authentic in my book.

My New Orleans grandma and grandpa were fighting about ketchup in the beans on her death bed. She swore by it, he didn't!! Both versions were great and different.