Rice & Beans
Rice & beans is simple, cheap and delicious. It is a budget-friendly classic, simple to add veg to, and can be batch cooked to save time and money for the future, too! We’ve gathered some expert tips and small steps to help you take a basic “rice & peas” dish from good to great!
Why is rice and beans so great?
Rice & beans (or “rice & peas” as it is known in the Caribbean) is simple, cheap and delicious. It’s focus on simple, readily available and affordable, and mild ingredients suit adult’s budgets and children’s palates very well and it is easy to add veg to without changing the flavour or texture of the dish too much. While you can serve this alongside cooked meat or fish, it is a balanced, protein-rich meal in and of itself, so you can make your money go further all while eating better.
Its adaptability means rice & bean can be as healthy, cheap, easy and quick as you choose to make it, meaning it’s a perfect basic family recipe to have under your belt to make small tweaks to over time.
You can make a big batch of rice & beans and freeze for up to a month to have it on hand for quick dinners, just make sure to cool and freeze quickly and reheat to piping hot to keep temperatures safe and healthy for the rice.
Use the basic recipe, small tweaks and tips below to take your rice & peas from good to better!
How are your rice & beans skills?
Getting
started
I’m just starting out.
Next
Level
I’m ready to take it to the next level.
Engaging
Kids
How can I get my kids involved and interested?
Getting Started
Rice & beans is simple, cheap and delicious.
Its mild, simple flavours go down well with kids, and it is easy to add veg to without changing the flavour or texture of the dish. By adding more veg and less meat, you’ll make your money go further all while eating better.
Here is a simple recipe for rice & beans which you can use as a base and build on over time…
Rice & Beans
Claire Wright
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 mug basmati (or other) rice
2 mugs water (or 1 mug water and one coconut milk if you prefer more flavour)
1 small red chilli, deseeded and halved lengthways (optional)
1 tin red kidney beans (or black eyed beans)
1 tbsp Jerk seasoning or 1 tsp each dried thyme and ground allspice (optional)
Cooked chicken or veggie alternative, to serve (optional)
Method:
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Pour 1 mug of rice and 2 mugs water (or 1 each water and coconut milk) into a large saucepan, along with the halved chilli if using, and bring to a simmer. Cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is fluffy (about 12-15 mins for basmati, longer for long-grain rice), adding more water if it boils away before the rice is cooked.
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Remove the chilli if you used one and stir through the drained kidney beans and seasoning (if using). Serve as is, or with some cooked chicken or veggie alternative. Some sliced spring onions are also traditional with this dish!
There is no need to go any further with this recipe until you are confident with it and feel up for the next step.
Feeling ready? Let’s see how you can get your next small victory without battles…
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
You could get kids rinsing the beans in a sieve, measuring out the rice and water in the mug, or scattering any optional extras like fresh herbs over at the end.
Activities
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.
Sensory
Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.
NEXT LEVEL
I Want To Improve My Rice & Beans
If you are feeling confident with your favourite rice & beans recipe, but you’re wondering if there are some small tweaks you could make for the better, this is for you.
We’ve outlined some simple stages for continually improving on a basic rice & peas dish to get you from good to great. Find where you feel your current recipe sits and see if the next step is something you could aim for. You don’t have to go any further, but if you choose to, make sure you are feeling confident with this new stage before you try the next one.
And remember, the MOST important thing is that the family enjoys the meal! These changes and swaps can take as long as is needed if your family isn’t ready for big changes all in one go. Small simple improvements over time may not even be noticed.
And remember, the MOST important thing is that the family enjoys the meal! These changes and swaps can take as long as is needed if your family isn’t ready for big changes all in one go. Small simple improvements over time may not even be noticed.
Making meals go further
With food budgets being stretched, meat can be expensive. Using veg and pulses can help a meal go further without noticeably altering the taste and texture. This not only saves you money, it also helps you get a little closer to 5-a-day! Go at your pace and work through the stages to build up to 50% meat and 50% pulses/veg over time if you can.
Rice & beans is a classic in this sense – while it is often served alongside cooked meat or fish, it is actually a balanced, protein-rich meal in and of itself, so you can easily serve by itself or with just a small serve of meat, fish or veggie alternative to keep costs down. While red kidney beans is the cheapest and most traditional option, you can of course swap out the kidney beans for a different bean (black, pinto or black-eyed beans work especially well), chickpeas or tinned cooked lentils.
Add veg
Adding veg means adding bulk, vitamins and fibre, so you can fill up hungry bellies while making a favourite meal cheaper, more filling and healthier! For the best chance of success, start small (with a veg you know the family like if possible), add a little more each time, don’t try to hide it, and build up over time.
Aim for 2 handfuls of veg per person in the long-run, but it’s better to go slowly and get there eventually than to rush to the finish line and find no one is ready to get there with you.
- Start with frozen veg – there is less waste, it’s cheaper and easier to add a little more each time. Try peas, sweetcorn, or baby leaf or chopped spinach, or even sliced carrots, diced onions or a bag of frozen mixed veg.
- If using fresh veg, make sure it is added at the start and allow time for it to soften in a little oil before adding the protein, and sauce. Try finely diced fresh carrots, onions and celery, diced fresh tomatoes, sliced peppers or mushrooms, cubed sweet potato or squash, or adding a few handfuls of fresh leafy greens at the end of cooking time if you prefer. If in doubt, start with sliced peppers, softened in oil before cooking the rice, or served raw and crunchy diced very small and scattered over the top or sliced on the side.
- While most veg will work here, ones that may not do quite so well are: root veg, strongly flavoured veg like brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, etc) and veg best served raw (like radishes, salad leaves, etc) might not fit so well in this one.
Don’t forget that the MOST important thing is that the family enjoys the meal! There’s no rush, and no pressure in not getting to 2 portions per serve.
Batch cooking
Once you are happy with your recipe, why not batch cook and freeze extra to save you future time, effort and money? Rice & beans batches well, just batch and freeze for up to 1 month and heat through to piping hot, or keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. To keep the rice at ideal temperatures, cool/chill quickly after cooking (within an hour of cooking) and freeze as soon as it is cool, and make sure to heat to piping, steaming hot before serving.
Not sure if batch cooking is for you? People often think batch cooking means you have to have a big freezer and a slow cooker. But while those things can be helpful, they’re definitely not essential. Find out more about how to start small with batch cooking in our guide.
engaging kids
Play is essential!
Think of children helping in the kitchen as a role play game with plenty of fun for maximum effect. One of the best ways to develop a love of veg in kids is to get them involved in the prep of the veg. Not only is cooking an essential life skill for kids to learn, but it’s a great, fun way to get them engaging with healthy foods!
Cooking with kids
One of the best ways to develop a love of veg in kids is to get them involved in the prep of the veg. Not only is cooking an essential life skill for kids to learn, but it’s a great, fun way to get them engaging with healthy foods! They don’t have to be involved in the whole process especially when they are very young (let’s keep the mess to a minimum!), just give them 1-2 smaller jobs they can own with some supervision.
If you are making rice & beans, why not get younger kids rinsing the beans in a sieve, measuring out the rice and water with a mug, and/or chucking a couple of handfuls of your chosen veg into the pan.
Older kids might be ready to learn how to chop some fresh veg to add at the start of the meal, stir everything together in the pan, and learning to taste (careful, it’s hot!) to determine whether to add some optional extras for flavour such as lemon or lime juice, fresh chopped coriander or mint, or perhaps some salsa or coconut milk for tang or creaminess.
See if they can tick off our Kitchen Ninja skills over time as you all get used to the recipe.
Arts & crafts
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging veg-based arts & crafts can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory.
Use these arts & crafts as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. While you make your rice & beans, why not set them up with our pepper face masks?
Games & puzzles
Like arts & crafts, games & puzzles are a very safe way to get veggies to become more familiar and takes any pressure off eating or engaging their senses around veg for now.
A great place to start with rice & beans might be our peppers Chop Chop game!
Sensory
Sensory engagement with veg is possibly the best way to get children to slowly become more familiar with a veg. Take away the pressure to taste for now (and remember that ‘tasting’ could be expanded to include sniffing, licking and smelling) and instead encourage exploring a veg with a sense of smell, hearing, touch or sight.
Why not start with a red pepper and get them to describe what they see – what does it look like? Does it remind them of a bell, a mini umbrella, or a scary face (if sliced in half lengthways)? Encourage their imaginations and see what fun ideas they come up with! See if they want to chuck some into the rice & beans, or serve them raw on the side, after having engaged with them.
Serving
If your kids aren’t ready to be in the kitchen helping with part of the prep or cooking process, why not give them a job around the serving that could help them feel involved in the meal?
A crafty kid may like to design a beautiful menu, one who likes to help can lay the table. One may like to help you plate up the food, another may love to give the meal a theme! If you can (and we know it’s not always possible), try to eat with the kids, as they are much more likely to eat healthier food if they see it being eaten (and enjoyed!) by their families.
Why not let your child be in charge of coming up with a fun name and story for the meal and decorating the table with the theme they have in mind! They could turn the table into a Caribbean island for the Jamaican “rice & peas” dinner to bright a little brightness to a dreary day, or come up with a funny story or some silly puns about the dish to share with everyone over dinner.
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