Delicious Trinidad Stewed Red Beans Recipe
Trinidad stewed red beans is a tasty side made by stewing veggies, aromatics and red beans in a browning sauce. With Caribbean green seasoning and pepper added for more flavor, this is a yummy saucy accompaniment for any Sunday lunch plate alongside macaroni pie, stew chicken and more.
If you’re a fan of Caribbean stews, check out my stewed lentils and chicken pelau recipes.
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Ingredients for stew red beans
For this stewed red kidney beans recipe, I used:
- pre-cooked red beans: I used store-bought ,cooked red beans for this recipe but you can start with dried red beans. Soak the beans in boiling water for an hour or soak in tap water for at least 6 hours. Drain, rinse thoroughly, and cook the beans until tender.
- brown sugar: used to make browning for the stew. You can skip this step by adding browning sauce to the veggies and beans.
- onion
- garlic
- pepper: I used pimento peppers but you can use chili or scotch bonnet peppers
- carrot
- pumpkin: here I used butternut squash but any type of pumpkin would do.
- green seasoning: this is made with chadon beni or culantro, cilantro, garlic, ginger, pepper, thyme and more. You can use store-bought green seasoning or make it from scratch using this recipe.
- ketchup: this adds some sweetness to the beans but you can substitute it for fresh tomatoes, tomato paste or tomato puree.
- salt
- vegetable oil
- water
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How to make stewed red beans
Prepare the ingredients
Step 1: If you are starting with dried red beans, prep them at this point by soaking them until they’ve plumped up (overnight using tap water or 1 hour using hot water), then strain, and cook in boiling water until they are tender. A pressure cooker is great for reducing the cook time of the beans.
If you are using pre-cooked red beans like me, rinse the beans to remove the liquid it is stored with. That liquid likely contains some oligosaccharides, which contributes to flatulence. So, rinse thoroughly.
Step 2: Chop the onion, garlic and pepper. Cut the pumpkin and carrots into 1/4-inch pieces. Cook time for this recipe is dependent on how long it takes for the pumpkin and carrot to become tender. So, smaller pieces are ideal.
Stew the ingredients
Step 3: Add a pot on the stove on low heat and allow to heat up for a minute or two. Pour in the oil and sprinkle in the brown sugar. If the sugar starts browning too quickly, stir it to ensure even heating.
Step 4: Allow the sugar to caramelize and become frothy. This can take seconds to a minute or more depending on how hot your pot is. When I took these photos, the sugar turned into browning within a matter of seconds.
Step 5: Once the sugar becomes frothy and develops a slightly dark color, add the onions to stop the sugar from burning. Stir to coat the onions with the browning sauce. You can leave the onions to cook for a minute before mixing in the garlic and pimento. Cook for another minute.
Pro tip: don’t allow the sugar to get too dark and burn, it will become bitter and that taste will dominate the dish. If it does burn, start over.
Make Trini red beans
Step 6: Toss in the pumpkin and carrot pieces, green seasoning and salt. If the ingredients begin to stick slightly, add a tablespoon or two of water. Mix the veggies and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
Step 7: Add the ketchup and pre-cooked red beans to the pot. Stir to ensure everything is well coated with the ketchup.
Step 8: Pour in the water, stir and allow to cook on low heat until the carrots are tender and the squash essentially dissolves. I usually skim any frothiness from the water surface. It usually takes about 20 minutes for the stewed red beans to be finished.
I typically use one and a quarter cup of water per one cup of beans and it becomes nice and thick. If you want a runnier dish, add more water when boiling. You can also mix in a little coconut milk too if you like.
Why make this recipe
Red beans Trini style are a great, delicious source of plant protein. They are a tasty, saucy element to any plate with fried rice, macaroni pie, callaloo, stew chicken and a simple salad.
Stew red beans recipe
Trinidad stewed red beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup red beans (preboiled)
- 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 pimento (any fresh pepper will do)
- 1/2 cup carrots (1 small carrot or 100g)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin or butternut squash (100g)
- 2 tsp Caribbean green seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1¼ cup water
Instructions
- Rinse the pre-cooked red beans thoroughly. (If using dried red beans, soak overnight or rapid soak for 1 hour using hot water, then rinse multiple times, and add to boiling water to cook until tender, usually about 45 to 60 minutes).
- Chop the onions, garlic, pepper, pumpkin and carrots (1/4-inch pieces). The latter two influence the total cook time so the smaller they are, the faster the dish will be ready as the beans are preboiled.
- Place a pot on low heat on the stove. Leave to heat up for a minute.
- Pour in the vegetable oil. Add the sugar.
- Leave the sugar to caramelize and become frothy. If the sugar melts quickly, stir frequently to ensure even heating.
- Once the sugar becomes slightly dark, mix in the onions to stop the caramelization process. Cook the onions for 1 minute. If it's too dry, add a teaspoon of water.
- Toss in the garlic and pepper. Mix and leave for another minute.
- Add in the carrot, pumpkin, green seasoning and salt. Stir. Cook for 5 minutes. If the veggies begin to stick, add a tablespoon of water.
- Mix in the ketchup and red beans.
- Add water and leave to cook for 20 minutes or until the carrots and pumpkin are tender. Skim froth from the water surface periodically.
- Serve warm as a tasty side.
