Rice and peas
Rice and peas
Coconut rice with kidney beans, thyme and allspice — the Jamaican Sunday pot that is not 'rice with a pea'.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Rice and peas.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Rice and peas is coconut milk rice cooked with kidney beans (or gungo peas), thyme, spring onion, garlic and a scotch bonnet left whole so it perfumes without detonating unless you burst it. Peas here means beans. It sits next to jerk. The rice should be separate, coconut-rich, not porridge. Soak kidney beans or gungo peas, then cook them until just tender before the rice goes in. Coconut milk, thyme, spring onion, garlic, allspice if you like, and a whole scotch bonnet left unburst so it perfumes the pot. The rice should finish separate and coconut-rich, not a porridge. Fluff and let it stand. Burst the pepper only if you want the heat in the grains. Peas here means beans. Measure the liquid; coconut milk is part of it.
Ingredients
- Rice, long-grain300 g
- Black beans, cooked kidney beans — or use kidney beans250 g
- Coconut milk400 ml
- Thyme4.9 ml
- Garlic2 clove
- Allspice2½ ml
- Fresh chilli, whole scotch bonnet1
- Salt4.9 ml
- Water150 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Rinse rice. Combine with coconut milk, water, beans, thyme, spring onion, garlic, allspice and salt. Nestle the whole chilli on top. Do not pierce it.
8 minStep 2
Simmer covered 18–20 minutes until the liquid is gone. Rest 10 minutes. Fluff. Remove the chilli unless you are brave.
20 minStep 3
Serve with jerk or a simple fried fish.
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Kidney beans → Tinned black beans
Darker, still coconut rice and beans.
Tips
- Kidney beans are the usual 'peas'. Gungo (pigeon) peas are the other classic.
- Burst the bonnet and the pot becomes a dare.
History & culture
Sunday lunch across Jamaica and the diaspora. Every pot has a family scotch-bonnet policy. Sunday lunch across Jamaica and the diaspora puts this pot next to a protein, often jerk or brown stew. Every household has a scotch-bonnet policy and a bean preference. It is daily starch as much as celebration food. Shop tinned beans are a weekday shortcut; dried beans still taste like a Sunday if you give them time.
Akan-influenced one-pot rice and West African bean logic, coconut from the island pantry. The name stuck. One-pot rice-and-bean cooking has West African antecedents; coconut milk is island pantry. The English name stuck. Enslaved cooks shaped this pot under conditions that are not a flavour note. Maize and other New World crops sit in the wider Caribbean starch story; this particular plate is coconut rice with beans, not a metaphor.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Rice and peas take?
40 min all in — 10 min prep, 30 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegan, Dairy-free, Gluten-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
What can I use instead?
Kidney beans → Tinned black beans. Darker, still coconut rice and beans.
Any tips from this recipe?
Kidney beans are the usual 'peas'. Gungo (pigeon) peas are the other classic. Burst the bonnet and the pot becomes a dare.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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