Jamaican Rice and Peas Recipe (video)
When I was growing up in Jamaica there were unspoken rules about food. One was that you must always serve rice and peas on Sunday. If you served white rice with your Sunday dinner people would think you’re lazy.
Today people eat rice and peas whenever they want, but I still only like to serve it on Sundays. This traditional recipe is known for it’s fragrant use of thyme and coconut. This version uses coconut milk, but for the same recipe using creamed coconut (the liquid measurements are different) go to Gungo Peas and Rice and use kidney beans instead.
Ingredients
1 can (19oz) Kidney beans, including liquid
1 can (14 oz) Coconut milk
Water (approx 1-2/3 cups)
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Small onion or 2 stalks scallion, chopped
1 tsp Dried thyme
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
2 cups Long grain rice (rinsed and drained)
Method
1. Drain the liquid from the can of beans into a measuring cup and
add the can of coconut milk and enough water to make four cups of liquid
2. Add liquid, beans, garlic, chopped onion and thyme to large pot
3. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
4. Add rice and boil on High for 2 minutes.
5. Turn heat to Low, and cook covered until all water is absorbed (about 15 to 20 min).
6. Fluff with fork before serving.
Serves 4 to 6
Made this the other night and the rice was delicious. My whole family loved it.
Hi Ms Fay I have just cooked this and it’s more delicious than buying the dried red kidney beans and soaking
them over night thankyou so much for making these videoes so easy for other people to learn
God bless you : )
Hello. I am from Bermuda but living in Canada. Came across your website and I absolutely love it!!! Thank you so very much for sharing . God Bless !
I just realized that the video doesn’t match the recipe. It says 2/3 cup water on the recipe, but in the video its 2 cups of water. I followed the video the first time and the recipe the second time and my rice was hard due to lack if water. Thought I let you know so others don’t make that mistake.
I really enjoy this website and have made several recipes that came out great. Thank you.
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for bringing this lack of clarity to our attention. Some confusion may have been caused by the fact that in the video coconut cream is used and in the written recipe coconut milk is used because it is more commonly available. We have now added a note to the video and reworded the recipe so that the total liquid required is clear. All the liquid should add up to 4 cups when using 2 cups of rice. Thank you again. F&A
This recipe is just the best. The rice was so moist and flyffy. My husband loved it with the brown stew chicken… Keep them coming please.
Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for sharing your fabulous recipes. I made this last night and it was so amazing! I love that your recipes are easy to understand and follow which makes it great for me having never really cooked Jamaican food before.
I used to be afraid to use canned peas because I didn’t want the rice to come out white. Thanks a million for this recipe!
Can this recipe be made with brown rice?
Hi Treya,
Thank you for your question. Because brown rice takes longer to cook and uses more liquid than white rice you’d have to revise the measurements. But it should work. Let me know how it goes. Blessings, Fay
Can this recipe be made successfully in a rice cooker – that is, if I tossed all the ingredients together at once into a rice cooker? Thanks Fay.
Hi Debra,
I’ve never tried it but it should work. Let me know how it turns out! Blessings, Fay
my friend is Jamaican and I am absolutely delighted that I found you!! You’re spirit is BEAUTIFUL and I know NOTHING about Jamaican food, but have put my confidence in you! I am SO relieved that the ingredients are not as hard to find and overwhelming as I thought cooking foreign food would be. THANKS SO MUCH!!
Q: Is the coconut milk supposed to be sweet? (i know stew chicken requires unsweet milk) How will it affect the taste of the rice?
Hi Cotton,
Thank you for your interest and support. If you can find unsweetened coconut milk you’re best to use that. But, truthfully, sweetened coconut milk will still make for a delicious tasting rice… really can’t go wrong. Blessings, Fay
Thank you for sharing your recipes! I made your rice and peas and festival along with my own BBQ Jerk Chicken, it was AMAZING!!! I finally feel confident making rice and peas. I look forward to testing all of your recipes and appreciate you for the videos! ~Mrs. Adeena Brown
Can you give suggestions on how to cook this with dried beans? I normally cook beans and rice separate but would love to learn how to cook them together. How much dried beans would I need to start with? I know that half a cup gives about 2 cups cooked. Also I use brown rice which I know will require more liquid. Thank you!
If you want to use dry beans, soak 1 cup of dry red kidney beans in water overnight and follow the recipe.
Hi Miss Fay,
Blessings to you and your family. I just have one q. uestion
Which is better to use in the rice and peas coconut milk or creame.
My kids and I enjoyed the rice however I’d use less thyme when making it again. I guess I’m not a big fan of thyme. Thanks for the recipe. **FYI Your written recipe above did not include when the garlic goes in the pot.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for noticing the garlic was missing. The recipe has been fixed. Blessings.
I made this and your slaw recipe last night to go with some jerk chicken. AMAZING! Thank you for sharing such wonderful recipes with the world! I will definitely be trying some more.
Made this for Sunday lunch. Yum. Variations: 1/2 the recipe, used brown rice and fresh thyme. Will make again.