Instant Pot Haitian Rice And Beans – Red beans and rice is a popular dish in Haiti. Traditionally prepared with Haitian Epis (Haitian Seasoning Base), and served throughout the year. The flavors in this Haitian red beans and rice is as bold as any flavors you will find in other Haitian recipes. This delicious and nourishing dish is an instant pot version. Thanks to pressure cookers, Haitian rice can be made in a matter of minutes!
Haitian rice and beans can take hours to make. More specifically, it is because of the amount of the time it takes to cook the beans (2-4 hours).
We pressure cook the beans in the instant pot in just a fraction of the time it would take to cook it on the stove. We’re talking about 20 minutes for the red small beans
Why Does This Instant Pot Haitian Rice And Beans Work?
Number one reason – No need to presoak the red small beans as they will be pressure cooked. Everything is made in the Instant Pot.
No babysitting necessary. The automatic program does the work for you. You can also use canned
Typically, Haitian rice and beans can take up to six hours to make. Why? Well, the beans take forever to cook. With this version, the rice is cooked in about 35 minutes from start to finish! In the end, you are left with authentic Haitian flavor, and the rice and beans are cooked from scratch.
How To Make Instant Pot Haitian Rice and Beans?
To make this rice dish, you will need the following ingredients: small red beans, you can use basmati rice or jasmine rice, onions, better than bouillon or Haitian epis, water, ground cloves (I purchased mine from Aldi), garlic, olive oil, and coconut milk.
First, add the beans and pressure cook in the Instant Pot.
Cook for 20 minutes, then quick release. Drain using a strainer but reserve the water.
Wash the rice until the water is clear – should be about 3 washes. This will remove extra starch. Set aside.
On the instant Pot, click the sauté setting button and adjust the time to 5 minutes. Add the oil, garlic, and onions. Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant, then add all of the other ingredients minus the water, cook for about 2 minutes, but stir ones.
Add the water from the beans, then coconut milk. Stir.
Add the rice. Stir. Cover with lid. Turn the steam release handle to “sealing”.
Click on the “Rice” setting button; this will cook the rice for 12 minutes; however, your instant pot may readjust the timer to a more appropriate time base on the pressure.
Leave the setting as “Normal”. Fluff and serve warm with your choice of meat and vegetables. Enjoy!
MORE HAITIAN FOOD TO TRY
The rice and beans come together to form a complete protein which will keep you feeling fulfilled long after you take the last bite. No matter how you choose to alter this recipe, there are not a whole lot of ways to do it wrong.
If you loved this Instant Pot Haitian Rice and Beans recipe, try one of the following recipes listed below to pair with your rice.
It warms our hearts to see the recipes you make from this site, tag us on Instagram or Facebook so we can see your beautiful dish.
Also, we would appreciate if could give it a star rating below!
Don’t forget to see this recipe and all our latest videos on YouTube!
Instant Pot Haitian Rice And Beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup Red Kidney Beans
- 2 ½ cups Jasmine Rice or Basmati Rice
- 1 can Coconut Milk (13.5 FL Oz.)
- ⅓ cup Chopped Onions
- ¼ cup Haitian Epis (Seasoning) or 1 tbsp. better than bouillon
- 3 Garlic Cloves chopped
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cloves or Allspice
- 4 cups Water
Instructions
- In the Instant Pot (IP) add 4 cups water and cook the beans for 20 minutes on high pressure; turn the steam release handle to sealing. Quick release once cooked. Using a strainer, drain the beans and reserve the water. Wash the rice and set aside (see picture above).On the Instant Pot, click on sauté, set timer for 5 minutes. Add the oil, garlic, and onions. Cook for about 1 minute.
- Add the beans and stir once. Cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the better than bouillon paste, salt, black pepper, ground cloves. Stir once. Add the rice and stir once. Cook for another minute. Add water and coconut milk, stir once.Cover, seal and press the "Rice" setting. Cook for 12 minutes (do not exceed this time as you do not want the rice to overcook). Quick release. Fluff and serve warm with your choice of meat or vegetables. Enjoy!
Christa
Thank you for this recipe. I’m making it for the second time tonight. The only issue I have is that my instant pot takes so long to preheat, even in between sautéing and cooking the rice. Does yours do that too? I am impatient and I want it to be done in the time the recipe says. 🤣
Mirlene
Oh no! I am so sorry. I’m not sure which model of the instant pot you have, but no my instant pot does not take long to preheat. Maybe you can preheat it while you gather the ingredients. Hope this helps.
Robin
Thank you so much for this recipe! My Haitian family members are so glad that I can finally make a good epis AND diri ak kole. 🙂
Mirlene
Robin, thank you. I am so glad to read that. You are very welcome and thank you for making our recipes. Hope you find more recipes you’ll enjoy.
Janet Fair
I’ve made this three times also, thank you ! This is very good. My best friend was a Haitian girl and she died! She was a very good cook. I never got the recipe from her. This make me think of her.
Mirlene
I am so sorry Janet. Our deepest condolences. Thank you so much for making this dish and we are honored that it made you think of her.
Amy
Are small red beans kidney beans?
Mirlene
Hi Amy, thank you for your question. No, small red beans and kidney beans are not the same. Red beans are smaller than kidney beans.
Fel
thank you for this recipe! it is delicious!
I just have one question: in the last step, when you say to select the “rice” option on the instapot and cook the rice for 12 minutes, do you mean to set the instapot rice timer to 12 minutes and wait for it to finish, or do I select the rice option and wait 12 minutes from that time?
let me know if I’m being confusing!
thank you
Mirlene
Hi Fel! My instant pot automatically set to 12 minutes once I select the “rice” option. Please adjust the time if necessary. Thanks again for making this recipe.
Barb
Love this rice. I’ve made it 3 times.
Mirlene
WOW! Thank you very much, Barb!
Sil
thank you! came out great!
Mirlene
Thank you very much, Sil.
Susan
Are you kidding me?!? This is such a great recipe! I saw it this morning and made it for lunch along with pikliz and sòs. Everyone loved it! I was so glad it didn’t call for a big slab of ti malice. It was AMAZING! So easy and delicious. It will be going in the meal rotation for sure. Thank you!
Mirlene
You’ve made my day. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate you making this recipe and enjoying it so much. Thanks, Susan!
Jill Kane
Which kind of better than bouillon do you use? Can you substitute regular milk for coconut milk? I’m anxious to try this. We ate this every day when I was teaching in Haiti.
Mirlene
Hi Jill,
Thank you for reading. We use the vegetable base version. No, please do not substitute regular milk for coconut milk. If you do not like the flavor of coconut milk, you can omit it.
Genevieve
I appreciate the Instant Pot adaptation but no Haitian I know puts coconut milk in the rice cole.
Mirlene
Thanks for the comment, Genevieve. The coconut milk is not cold as it is from the can. Hope you enjoyed the recipe! Blessings.
Sandra
This recipe is great! I’ve made it several times and love it! Tastes just like the Haitian diri kole I grew up eating. Can you please tell me what the measurements would be for a smaller portion? Like 1 cup of rice for example.
Mirlene
Hi Sandra,
I am SO GLAD you liked it. I am especially happy you’ve made it several times. For 1 cup of rice, use the 1:1 ration. If you decide to make it over the stovetop, use 1 1/2 cup liquid. I hope this helps.