Jamaican Rice and Peas
This Jamaican Rice and Peas recipe is an authentic recipe for the traditional Jamaican side dish featuring fragrant thyme and coconut milk!
Rice and Peas is a staple in the Jamaican diet and is a great accompaniment to most Jamaican entrees, such as Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Curry goat or brown stew chicken.
This rice recipe is an authentic Jamaican recipe, shared by my husband who grew up in Jamaica before immigrating to Canada in his early 20’s.
This is how my mother in law and my husband makes it, and I can honestly say it is easily far and above the rice and peas you can get at local Caribbean restaurants.
It’s a real staple in our household, and always carefully prepared with lots of love. It’s also a great rice dish that is naturally gluten free and vegan.
I hope you all enjoy this flavourful side dish as much as we do!
Why is this Called Rice & Peas?
You might be wondering why a dish that so prominently features beans, and not peas, would be called rice and peas rather than rice and beans.
That is because it is traditionally made with pigeon peas, and although kidney beans are a common substitute, Jamaicans also call kidney beans ‘peas’.
If you find a dish called rice and beans, it isn’t Jamaican.
How to Store Jamaican Rice & Peas
Rice and peas can be kept stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you need to store it longer, you can also freeze rice and peas in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Reheat gently on the stove top or in the microwave. (If reheating from frozen, thaw out overnight in the fridge.)
About the Ingredients for Jamaican Rice and Peas
Peas – We like to use dark red kidney beans as they give this dish it’s signature blush, but you can swap in gungo (or pigeon) peas if you can get them. Swapping in different beans can change the cook time, so please be aware of that. Avoid using canned kidney beans, you need to use dried kidney beans, it will affect the flavour and nobody wants white rice and peas. Avoid canned beans if you want authentic flavour, using dried beans is the only way to go and worth the extra time.
Scotch Bonnet Pepper – You can also omit the scotch bonnet peppers if you don’t like heat as they are very hot, however cooked whole it lends more flavour than heat, and the coconut milk counters a lot of it too.
Rice – 3 cups uncooked rice. We usually use either parboiled rice, long grain rice or brown rice. Be sure to rinse your rice well ahead of time so that the rice doesn’t stick together once cooked.
Coconut Milk – Unsweetened coconut milk for cooking, not the kind you drink. The higher quality the coconut milk, the better this side dish tastes. Trader Joes is really good if you are in the USA, in Canada Aroy-D is decent. Skip on light coconut milk. Grace also has coconut cream that comes in a box and we sometimes use that instead of the canned coconut milk. Personally I find the coconut cream a bit gritty and prefer just a good quality can of coconut milk. You can also make your own fresh coconut milk.
Garlic – You can add as little or as much as you like. 2 Cloves is the absolute lower limit.
Fresh Thyme – Absolutely one of the most important ingredients in this dish is the thyme. Fresh thyme goes a long way to adding loads of flavour.
Green Onions – Known as scallions to Jamaicans, green onions are really essential. They aren’t just a garnish in this dish.
Allspice – Very important to the flavour profile, and found in a lot of Jamaican cooking.
Salt & Pepper – Be sure to season everything to taste.
What to Serve with Jamaican Rice and Peas
The most obvious dish to serve with Jamaican Rice and Peas is Jerk Chicken.
My Jerk Chicken with Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Salsa recipe is as authentic as you can get for dry rubbed jerk chicken grilled on a gas BBQ. The salsa is to die for and freshens everything up.
While absolutely not even approaching authentic Jamaican curry, this Slow-Cooker Chicken Curry Recipe is super easy to throw together and full of great flavour. This is a super easy family dinner recipe that pairs perfectly with rice and peas!
Rice and Peas goes really well with any basic protein too. Smoked Tri-Tip is flavourful, juicy, and melt in your mouth tender. Make the best beef tip roast on any type of smoker with this easy recipe!
This easy yet flavourful and tender corned beef brisket is made conveniently in the Instant Pot in no time! This is a favourite of my husbands and pairs really well with rice and peas along with a side of sauteed cabbage.
This Cilantro Lime Chicken with Fresh Avocado Salsa is delicious served with rice and peas for a fresh tasting family dinner. It’s also a heart healthy recipe!
This recipe for Orange Glazed BBQ Chicken Drumsticks is Caribbean inspired and pairs so well with rice and peas. Marinated and grilled in a scotch bonnet and orange glaze, these chicken drumsticks are perfectly sweet and spicy. This is one grilled chicken recipe you’ll be craving all summer long!
How to Make Authentic Jamaican Rice and Peas
Yields: 8-10 Servings | Prep time: 10 Minutes | Cook time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of dried red kidney beans or pigeon peas, soaked overnight and drained
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3 Green Onions or Scallions, crushed
- 1 Can of Coconut Milk
- 1 Whole Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 3 cups of rice
Directions:
Place beans & garlic in a large pot and cover with about 7 cups of water.
Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer and cook until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes. You can test the beans by trying to crush one with the back of a spoon. If they crush easily then they are ready.
Do NOT drain the bean water!
Stir in the coconut milk, green onions, thyme, scotch bonnet pepper, allspice, salt, pepper and rice.
Bring back to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook until the rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Time depends on the type of rice used.
Jamaican Rice & Peas
This Jamaican Rice and Peas recipe is an authentic recipe for the traditional Jamaican side dish featuring fragrant thyme and coconut milk!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of dried red kidney beans or pigeon peas, soaked overnight and drained
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3 Green Onions or Scallions, crushed
- 1 Can of Coconut Milk
- 1 Whole Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 3 cups of rice
Instructions
- Place beans & garlic in a large pot and cover with about 7 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer and cook until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes. You can test the beans by trying to crush one with the back of a spoon. If they crush easily then they are ready
- Stir in the coconut milk, green onions, thyme, scotch bonnet pepper, allspice, salt, pepper and rice.
- Bring back to a boil and cook until the rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Time depends on the type of rice used.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 248Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 302mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 4gSugar: 0gProtein: 6g
This information is provided as a courtesy and for entertainment purposes only. This information comes from online calculators. Although frugalmomeh.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
One of the things I miss about living in the city was all the great food just a couple minutes walk from my door. There was a very popular Jamaican restaurant a block away….amazing food. And no matter what we ordered, we always got rice and peas to go with it!
Oh, this sounds so good! I haven’t used coconut milk before but it sounds like it would be really yummy.
This sounds so simple to make and yummy! Thanks for sharing!
mmm that looks tasty, maybe dinner tonight! Thank you!
This sounds amazing! Myself and my husband would love this! Bookmarking this page! Thanks so much for the recipe!
This sounds good. Interesting with coconut milk in it. What is Scotch Bonnet Pepper?
It’s one of the hottest peppers you can get and used often in Jamaican cooking. They look like teeny tiny miniature sweet peppers and come in a variety of colours. They are easy to find in the grocery store.
Mmmmm….this seriously looks so delicious! I’m going to try this for sure!
I can’t wait to try this with my jerk scallops. Yummy!
That sounds absolutely delicious. A must make.
This looks excellent. I miss eating Jamaican rice. I will definitely try making this one. Jamaican rice is so good!
Looks delicious. Would have to try and make that sometime
Sounds like a great recipe, although I am not sure I could handle the pepper!
Heidi, the pepper doesn’t actually make the rice spicy as you don’t cut it or crush it. It just adds a little flavouring, you could totally leave it out though.
I love Jamaican food and this sounds delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Sounds delicious!
I love Jamaican food. This recipe looks really good, and it looks easy enough that I probably won’t mess it up.
LOVE rice and peas! I’m trying this recipe for sure. Pinned!
This looks amazing! I will try this with your Jerk Chicken recipe 🙂 Our household loves chicken, so new recipes and side dishes that compliment it are always great!
I have never tried anything Jamaican before! This looks really hearty and yummy for those colder months! I will love to try this
I am sooo going to make this! YUM! I need a way to spice up my rice 🙂
As a Jamaican myself, kudos to you! Your rice looks fluffy and good, not wet and sticky as I’ve seen some people’s. I must say though (not particularly related to this post), I have yet to see anyone in the states cook true jerk chicken as the seasoning isn’t what makes it jerk but rather the wood 😉 The seasoning found here isn’t remotely near what we use back home either. If you want to know where you can get the wood if you want to try true jerk chicken, let me know and I’ll send you the site 😀
Where do you order the wood? I’ve had a hard time finding it since I’ve been in FL.
The coconut milk is a must for this recipe! It makes it so much better!
looks very savoury
I would love to try to make this! I am not the best at cooking any sort of rice, but I think I could pull this off.
Tried this tonight followed the recipe exact and omg so tasty!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing !
Thanks so much for the recipe,tried it and loved it !!
After I add the rice and bring to boil, do I then bring it back to simmer until rice is tender? I’ve never boiled rice for the entire cooking process and was just wondering since I’m notorious for burning the rice lol. Also what type of rice is best? I was planning on using brown rice….
Yeah sorry, you do want to drop it down to a simmer after it comes to a boil. We usually use parboiled rice, but brown rice works well too.
Does the type of beans matter? I tried white beans (dry) and they weren’t tender even after 4 hours!! What did i miss?
Thank you
Yeah, so that is because the type of bean you use definitely does matter – if you swap the beans you need to know how to cook the particular bean you have chosen. Red kidney beans do not need to be presoaked before cooking. I’m not sure what bean you used, but most of the “white” ones need to be soaked overnight and then still have a cooking time of up to 3 hours.
I like everything about this recipe except I’ve never heard of Scotch Bonnet Pepper. So that’s the only item I’m not sure of.
Do you add 3 cups of cooked or uncooked rice? I assume you’d let the rice cook if the latter?
Thank you for the recipe. My husband and I like spicy dishes and I’m sure we would really enjoy this one.