Popeye’s Red Beans and Rice brings the authentic taste of Louisiana to your table with creamy red beans seasoned with Cajun spices and served over tender, fluffy white rice. This beloved Southern classic is one of Popeye’s most requested recipes, and for good reason. It’s inexpensive, filling, and delivers that unmistakable Louisiana flavor that keeps customers coming back. This copycat version actually surpasses the original by using real ham hock for a deeper, smokier flavor.
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What Makes Popeyes Red Beans and Rice So Good?
While Popeyes is famous for their chicken, their Red Beans and Rice stands as an equally impressive Southern classic. This dish captures the heart of Louisiana cooking with its rich, creamy texture and authentic Cajun seasoning. The combination of tender beans, aromatic spices, and fluffy rice creates a comforting meal that’s both satisfying and affordable. The flavors actually improve overnight, making it perfect for meal preparation.
Why You Should Try This Copycat Recipe for Red Beans and Rice
This version surpasses even Popeye’s because it uses a real ham hock. Southern cooks traditionally love ham hocks for the deep, meaty, smoky flavor they impart to their beans, but the Popeyes Red Beans and Rice recipe doesn’t include it.
If you can find one, use it, but if you would rather not, see below for a budget-friendly vegetarian alternative.
Popeye’s Red Beans and Rice Ingredients
To make this Popeyes Red Beans and Rice recipe, you’ll need:
For the Red Beans:
- Canned red beans – Foundation of the dish, providing protein and creamy texture when properly prepared
- Smoked ham hock – Delivers essential smoky depth and authentic flavor that elevates this above the original
- Water – Acts as a cooking medium and helps control consistency while allowing flavors to meld properly
- Onion powder – Provides consistent savory flavor throughout without adding texture
- Garlic salt – Delivers garlic flavor and necessary seasoning in one convenient ingredient
- Red pepper flakes – Add subtle heat and authentic Cajun spice profile
- Salt – Enhances all flavors while helping break down beans for proper texture
- Lard – Creates rich mouthfeel and authentic Southern taste
- Ground black pepper – Provides warmth and depth while complementing the ham’s smokiness
For Serving:
- Long grain white rice – Provides proper texture and absorbs flavors beautifully
Ingredient Notes
A larger ham hock means more flavor. Select one weighing half a pound or more. If you don’t want to use a ham hock, 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke is a good alternative.
If you want a vegetarian version of this recipe, leave out the ham hock and replace the lard with three tablespoons of olive oil.
Please use good-quality rice with this. We did not like the results with Minute Rice, but Success Rice boil-in-the-bag did come out well. This recipe lets you make Popeye’s Red Beans and Rice at home.
How to Make Red Beans and Rice Like Popeyes
To prepare this copycat Popeyes Red Beans and Rice:
- Empty two cans of beans into a medium saucepan. Add the ham hock and water.
- Bring the uncovered beans to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for about an hour until the meat is tender. Keep an eye on the beans to ensure they never come to a full boil or dry out.
- Take the pot off the stove and allow it to sit until the ham hock is cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bone and dice it into small pieces.
- Discard the bone and return the meat to the pan. Stir in the remaining seasonings and the lard.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the beans for only a few seconds to help break them up. If you don’t have a stick blender, you can use a food processor.
- Dump in a can of drained red beans and pulse once or twice to break them up. If you are using a food processor, return the bean mixture to the pan.
- Stir the uncovered beans over low heat for a few minutes to warm them evenly, and serve with fluffy white rice on top.
How To Serve Red Beans and Rice
Spoon the red beans into a bowl. Spoon hot white rice in the center of the red beans. Try garnishing with a few slices of green onions or scallions for a pop of color and extra flavor. Serve with hot sauce on the side.
What Goes With Red Beans and Rice?
Red beans and rice are a hearty main course, but they are often served as a side dish with fried chicken. Other sides that go with them include mac’ n cheese, biscuits, and coleslaw.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator Storage: Store cooled beans in airtight containers for 3 days. The flavors improve with time.
- Freezing: Freeze in portion-sized freezer bags for up to 3 months. Individual portions make convenient, quick meals.
- Reheating Method: For best results, reheat beans in a 350°F oven in a covered casserole dish with a splash of water for 15-20 minutes. Prepare fresh rice for optimal texture.
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Enjoy rice? Check out my favorite rice recipes
Be sure to look at more of the best side dishes and copycat restaurant recipes.
Popeyes Red Beans and Rice Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cans red beans
- 1 smoked ham hock (1/2 to 3/4 pound) (or substitute with 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke)
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons lard
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 4 cups cooked long grain rice for serving
Instructions
- Pour 2 cans of beans into a 2-quart saucepan along with the ham hock and water.
- Simmer on medium heat for an hour, until the meat starts to loosen from the bone.
- Remove from the heat and cool until the ham hock is cool enough to handle.
- Remove the meat from the bone, and place the meat, beans, and liquid from the pot in a food processor.
- Add the onion powder, garlic salt, red pepper flakes, salt, and lard.
- Process for only 4 seconds. The beans should be chopped and the liquid thick.
- Drain the remaining can of beans and add it to the processor.
- Process for just a second or two; you want these beans to remain almost whole.
- Pour everything back into the pan and cook slowly on low heat, stirring often, until you’re ready to serve.
- Serve over rice.
Video
Notes
- 🫘 Bean Basics: Never let beans reach a full boil – gentle simmer maintains texture and prevents mushiness.
- 🍖 Ham Hock Help: Choose hocks weighing 1/2 pound or more for optimal flavor infusion.
- 🍚 Rice Right: Skip instant rice – long-grain traditional rice provides the authentic texture.
“cans red beans” “cans red beans” That is as far as I got before I knew this was BS.
This is nothing like Popeye’s red beans and rice!! Totally ruined my day!! This recipe is great for bean and cheese burritos…..
I am really sorry your day was ruined Rebecca.
hahaha! Stephanie you are so funny!
Thanks 😉
I have tried a lot of recipes in my 67 years of cooking but my day never was ruined by any of them.Anyway,this is a good recipe but as I do I changed a bit after tasting.l added more liquid smoke,some cilantro and cumin.My hubby will not eat
without meat so I added some cut up turkey sausage.We really enjoyed this,we are 25 miles from a Popeyes so this serves us well.Tyvm!
BOOHOO!
I am making the bean and rice recipe for 100 peaple for a church event for ash wed. would you have a recipe for that amount I feel if I multiply this recipe I might over do the spices what is your suggestion.. thank you
I would definitely increase this by 8 to 10 fold. I am not sure this is a great meal for Ash Wednesday, it has meat products in it.
Thank you for the recipe but we were friends with Al Copeland, Sr and his Red Beans and Rice had no meat in them, He used Liquid Smoke only to obtain the flavor.
Just made it yesterday and I think it was delicious. I didn’t use lard because the hammocks had plenty of fat on them and I didn’t add salt because the canned beans had plenty of salt in them. All in all I am excited and can’t wait to see what my mother thinks of them. She is addicted to Popeye’s Red Beans and Rice.
I also added a little of McCormick Cajun spice too.
Thanks for the recipe!
I hope you enjoyed this dish!
Awesome! I’d like roll you around in bacon grease you hot thing!!
Looks so amazing!! Can’t wait to try it!!
Thank you for posting this recipe! The flavor was great, but it wasn’t exactly like Popeyes beans and rice. On my second attempt I added some cooked bacon to the recipe and came ALOT closer to that Popeyes beans and rice flavor. You might want to try adding bacon and observe the difference in flavor. Thank you again. I’m making this for my mardi gras potluck and think it’s going to be great.
Doesn’t taste like Popeyes at all,I even made it twice because I thought i was doing something wrong.
Having phantom audio playing on your site while also having an embedded link to video is idiotic at best. I would have loved to see your video, but your poor web design has made me want to tell everyone I know how bad you suck at the “internet”. People like you are worse than internet pornography 🙂
P.S. You could do so much better and I would be happy to visit your site if it did not have mentally challenged audio ads playing in the background.
Thank you. I had cleaned that up a long time ago.
you could have gotten your point across without the snarkiness….
Oops, just read thru comments again and saw the same question. Missed it the first time. Sorry about that!
I realize this is an old post/recipe, but hope you still look at comments. I’d like to try this with something other than lard. What can I use in place? I do realize taste may be affected.
If I make this with bulk beans, not canned, how much should I prepare?
I would think about 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound would work.
I used this recipe and it did not taste like popeyes red beans and rice. It was good but not like Popeyes.
I made this with chorizo sausage instead of ham hock, and threw in a load of celery salt and Cajun spice….brilliant! As close to the original as I could make here in England. Thanks for the great recipe!
Beans are not listed in the ingredient list.
Please use 3 cans of beans. Use the cans that are between 14 to 16 ounce cans.
Maybe they’ve adjusted the recipe, but the beans are the 2nd ingredient in the ingredients list.
Beans were always in the ingredient list.
How about a recipe for Cracker Barrel “Sweet Potato Casserole” ??
I don’t have a food processor and I noticed you didn’t use it in the video. Would this recipe still work great without one?
It isn’t necessary, but you will get a better texture if you use it. On the day of the shoot I forgot my food processor. All of those videos are pretty much me and the camera person in a rented kitchen. We only have so much time, so if I forget something, I gotta move on. We should about 5 or 6 videos at once. I am hoping later this year to move into my own kitchen in a different home. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I didn’t use one in the video, because I forgot to bring it to the camera shoot that day 🙁 Just use whatever you like to mash the beans a bit.
Try a blender very quickly it works the same
Thank you for your suggestion. Again, when I made the video, I rented that kitchen, and I had to bring in everything myself so there was a lot of equipment that didn’t make the cut.
Why is the recipe different than the video?