Rice and peas is the quintessential Jamaican food. It’s a side dish that accompanies most meals in Jamaican cuisine. Some of the Jamaicans that I know say that rice and peas is considered a must have on Sundays. That’s definitely a tradition that I can get on board with. My Sundays would be even better if I made it a point to always have rice and peas. For those who might be confused, wondering why rice and peas is called rice and peas when it’s made with beans, not peas. It’s because beans are often called peas in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.
Note: This recipe makes rice and peas with dried beans. I’ve posted a separate recipe for rice and peas with canned beans. You can get that recipe by clicking on the link here.
How to Make Jamaican Rice and Peas
To make rice and peas, you will need 3/4 cups of dried red kidney beans, 2 cups of long grain brown rice, 1 scotch bonnet pepper, 1 cup of coconut milk, 4 stalks of thyme, 2 stalks of scallions, 1 medium onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon of allspice, 1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste), 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 2/3 a cup of chicken broth, and water. Put the beans in a bowl with cold water. Let the beans soak in the water overnight or for at least 8 hours. The beans will become softer and plumper. I recommend not using beans that are older than 12 months as old beans won’t soften.
Soak the rice in a bowl with warm water while you work on the following steps: In a medium non-stick pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil on medium-high heat (about 5 minutes). After straining the red kidney beans, add them to the pot. Add chopped scallions, minced garlic, minced ginger, chopped onions, thyme (leave whole), allspice, black pepper, and scotch bonnet pepper to the pot. Don’t cut open the scotch bonnet pepper. You want it to go in whole otherwise it will make the dish too spicy.
Bring the water to a boil on medium-high heat (about 3 minutes). Lower the heat to low and let the bean mixture simmer for 60 minutes or until the beans are al dente (almost done). Remove the scotch bonnet pepper and thyme stems from the pot and toss them out. Add the salt, coconut milk and chicken stock to the beans. Pour the rice into a strainer and wash and rinse the rice over the sink. Add the rice to the beans and mix well using a spoon. The liquid should be about 1½ inches above the rice. If it’s more than that, you have too much liquid and should remove some of it to prevent the rice from becoming soggy. If it’s less than that, it’s not enough liquid and you should add more water to get the liquid to this height.
Here, I borrow a technique for making jollof rice by covering the pot with tin foil (aluminum foil) before covering it with a lid. Doing this helps to trap in steam to cook the food evenly. Bring the rice to a boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Set the stove to low heat and let the rice and peas cook for 40 minutes or until tender. When the rice and peas is half-way done, use a spoon to gently turn it to prevent it from burning. Around 6 minutes before the rice and peas is done cooking, remove the tin foil from the pot and let the rice and peas cook with only the lid covering the pot. And you’re done! Rice and peas can be used as a side dish for just about any savory Caribbean dish. Try it with this Jamaican curry chicken. Enjoy! Let me know how it goes!
Jamaican Rice and peas
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup dried red kidney beans
- 2 cups long grain brown rice
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (leave whole)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 4 stalks thyme (leave whole)
- 2 stalks scallions (chopped)
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp fresh ginger (minced)
- 1 tsp allspice (ground)
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1 tsp black pepper (ground)
- ⅔ cup chicken broth
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Soak the red kidney beans in cold water overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- When you're ready to cook the dish, soak the rice in a bowl with warm water while you work on the next steps.
- In a medium non-stick pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil over medium-high heat (about 5 minutes).
- Strain the beans and add them to the pot.
- Add the scallions, garlic, ginger, onions, thyme, allspice, black pepper, and scotch bonnet pepper to the beans.
- Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat (about 3 minutes).
- Set the heat to low and let the bean mixture simmer for 60 minutes or until the beans are al dente.
- Remove the scotch bonnet pepper and thyme stems from the pot. Add the salt, coconut milk, and chicken stock to the beans.
- Using a strainer, wash and rinse the rice over the sink and then add the rice to the beans, mix well using a spoon. The liquid should be about 1½ inches above the rice and beans.
- Cover the pot with tin foil (aluminum foil) to trap in steam to cook the rice and peas evenly.
- Bring the rice to a boil over medium heat (about 5 minutes), then set the stove to low heat and let the rice and peas cook for 40 minutes or until tender. Using a spoon, gently turn the rice and peas when it’s about half-way done to prevent the bottom of the dish from burning.
- About 6 minutes before the rice and peas is done cooking, remove the tin foil from the pot and let the rice and peas cook with only the lid covering the pot
Notes
- Avoid using beans that are older than 12 months as old beans won't soften.
- If you want to use canned beans instead of dried beans to make rice and peas, you can follow my recipe for Jamaican rice and peas with canned beans.
- A few people have asked me what pepper they can use to substitute scotch bonnet pepper as it's not sold in grocery stores in their area. So, I thought I'd include a note here. Habanero pepper is the closest substitute for scotch bonnet pepper. If you can't get habanero pepper, you can use chili peppers like serrano pepper and Thai red chili. Also, since you don't cut open the pepper in rice and peas, you can leave it out without changing the taste of the dish by much.
14 Comments
Janis Gaskin
August 27, 2022 at 9:58 amHi Mavis,
want to ask as I’d started this search looking for oxtail recipes but cant find the exact ingredients, they all suggest oxtail seasoning, but what is in this mixture please?
Best wishes,
Jan G
Meals by Mavis
August 27, 2022 at 10:09 pmHi Janis, oxtail seasoning is a mixture that is typically made up of allspice, paprika, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic powder, etc. It’s a seasoning mixture that you use in place of adding spices individually (like I’ve done in my recipe for oxtails; click here for my oxtail recipe). It basically gives you a short cut to add flavour to the oxtails without having to add the spices one at a time. I prefer to add the spices individually, so I don’t use oxtail seasoning; this is just a personal preference. You can give oxtail seasoning a try (Cool Runnings makes one that a lot of grocery stores carry) and decide if you prefer to use it or add the spices individually.
Linda
January 15, 2022 at 7:45 pmHi I was just wondering how do I make this recipe using can beans? And how much water and both do I use? Thanks
Meals by Mavis
January 16, 2022 at 1:34 pmHi Linda,
Sorry, I forgot that I’d mentioned in this post that I’d post my recipe for rice and peas with canned beans at some point. That was close to 3 years ago. So, clearly that recipe is overdue. I’ll post it next month as I’m a little busy right now. To answer your question, you want all the liquids (i.e., the water, juice from the canned beans, coconut milk, and broth, if you’re using) in the recipe to add up to a total of about 3½ cups (742 ml). I break this down to 2 cups of water, ½ cup of coconut milk (I like to add an extra 2 tbsp of coconut milk for more flavour; doing this doesn’t throw off the liquid amount too much), ¾ cup of juice from the canned beans (if you get less than this from the canned beans, use water to top it up to this volume), and ¼ cup of broth (you can use water instead if you want to be more traditional).
There are also slight changes to the directions. You’re not going to start by cooking the beans like in this recipe, as the beans are already cooked. So, start by sauteing the onions and garlic in about 1 tbsp of oil. Then add all the liquids (except for the coconut milk) and all the other ingredients, minus the rice and canned beans. Once that’s done, cover the pot and bring the liquid to a boil. Once the liquid starts to boil, remove the scotch bonnet pepper from the pot, then add the rice (make sure to rinse it in a strainer under running water), beans (I usually use the 540 ml can of dark red kidney beans), and coconut milk to the pot. Use a wooden spoon to stir everything together, then cover the pot (you can cover it with aluminum foil first, but it’s not necessary, I just think the rice turns out the best when I do this). Let the liquid come to a boil, then turn the heat to low and cook the rice and peas for 35-40 minutes. If you use the aluminum foil, remember to remove it just before the rice is done and let the rice finish cooking with only the lid covering the pot.
I hope this helps. I’ll post the more detailed recipe next month.
Update: I’ve now posted the recipe for Jamaican rice and peas with canned beans. For anyone who’s interested, click on the link here.
Yolanda Staten
November 21, 2021 at 9:16 pmI am enjoying the recipes that I have read so far, will read more.
Meals by Mavis
November 21, 2021 at 9:31 pmI’m glad you’re enjoying the recipes, Yolanda. Thanks for letting me know.
Linda
October 22, 2021 at 11:33 pmHi I just found this wonderful recipe is the scotch bonnet really hot? And if so can it be taken out of the recipe
Meals by Mavis
October 23, 2021 at 4:48 amHi Linda. Scotch bonnet is a really hot pepper (typically hotter than a jalapeno). However, in this recipe, the scotch bonnet is used without opening it and exposing the seeds and membrane (where most of the spiciness comes from) of the pepper. So, the dish isn’t actually spicy. It’s on the mild/medium level of spiciness. However, if you are very sensitive to pepper and are still concerned, you can leave out the pepper. It has such a low profile in the dish that leaving it out doesn’t really change the overall flavour of the dish. I hope this helps.
Amanda Kestenbaum
July 16, 2021 at 1:14 pmMy dad lived in Jamaica when he was young and talks of rice and beans with fondness. I think I shall make this for him.
I also think that the way you have written this recipe down is great, I do not have to wade thru two dozen photos before I get to what I need. I’m definitely going to have a look at some of your other recipes.
Meals by Mavis
July 16, 2021 at 1:24 pmI’m glad that you like how I’ve written the recipe, Amanda. I always try to make things readable for people. Let me know how the recipe turns out for you and your father. I’m happy to hear that you’ll be checking out the other recipes on the blog.
Carol mack
January 30, 2021 at 3:03 amHi there is no chicken broth in Jamaican rice and pease
Meals by Mavis
January 30, 2021 at 11:11 amHi Carol,
I’m aware that Jamaican rice and peas typically doesn’t include chicken broth. This isn’t meant to be authentic.
Carlyle
April 18, 2021 at 8:53 amBut it sure add more flavor.
Meals by Mavis
April 18, 2021 at 10:16 amIndeed, it does. That’s why I include it.