Before I had children, I wasn’t really much for cooking. I would grab something out of a can and eat it on my way to my second job. Naturally, after I got married, this had to change.

And when I discovered the magic of the crockpot, I learned that I didn’t have to love cooking. It would do the cooking for me! I went on a crockpot learning binge, finding all kinds of recipes that I could put in that thing.

Then I learned that a lot of slow cooker recipes are still time-intensive! I might have to find up to 20 ingredients. I might have to prep a lot of vegetables. I might have to scour the grocery store trying to find some kind of special seasoning.

With that much work, I was missing the point of the slow cooker – which is to do less work! So I was thrilled to come across this slow cooker red beans and rice recipe. It was already pretty easy, but I adapted it to be even easier. Because…I’m still not much for cooking.

I hope you love this! If so, be sure to try our easy vegan crockpot rigatoni for another simple slow cooker dinner!

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

You’ll need the following ingredients for this dish:

• 16 oz. bag of light red kidney beans
• 1 package of smoked sausage links
• 1 package frozen seasoning mix (onions, green peppers, red peppers)
• Chicken bouillon
• White rice

And that is it. Really. There are only five ingredients.

Start by rinsing the kidney beans and draining them in a strainer. Place them in the slow cooker. Cut up the sausage links into 1/2 inch circles and put them in the slow cooker as well.

Open the bag of frozen seasoning mix and toss the entire thing into the slow cooker. Now you’ll add your liquid.

The original recipe called for chicken broth, but chicken broth is kind of expensive. So I buy a container of powdered chicken bouillon and add about four teaspoons of it. Then I add seven cups of water.

Just for flavor – I add a little Cajun seasoning on top as well.

Put the lid on top and cook it for seven hours on Low.

About 30 minutes before the red beans and sausage are done, I cook the white rice. That way, it’ll be hot when the food is ready.

Dish the rice into bowls and ladle some of the beans and sausage on top. We’re done!

I might add a pan of biscuits to this, but this cooks up so large that I usually have enough for dinner the next night too. Win!

Get the full recipe below!

Print

Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

Adapted from http://littlemagnoliakitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/crock-pot-red-beans-and-rice.html

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 hours hours

Total Time 7 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 16 oz light red kidney beans
• 1 package of smoked sausage links
• 1 package frozen seasoning mix (onions, green peppers, red peppers)
• 4 tsp chicken bouillon
• White rice

Instructions

• Rinse the kidney beans and drain them. Place them in the slow cooker.
• Cut up the sausage links into 1/2 inch circles and put them in the slow cooker as well.
• Open the bag of frozen seasoning mix and toss the entire thing into the slow cooker.
• Add four teaspoons of powdered chicken bouillon and seven cups of water. Season to taste.
• Put the lid on top and cook it for seven hours on Low.
• 30 minutes before the beans and sausage are done, cook the white rice.
• Dish the rice into bowls and ladle some of the beans and sausage on top.

Don’t miss these other simple recipes for the family!

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The post Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

Even if you’re not vegan (which we’re not at the moment), this is a quick and delicious recipe that our family loves. I mean, I toss five ingredients into the slow cooker at around 2:00 and then we have a hot dinner at 6:00 p.m. It couldn’t be easier!

Yes, this recipe only has five ingredients. And they’re all kid-friendly! So there’s no “Ewwww!!! I don’t like this!” at the dinner table.

Plus, this is an easy recipe to customize. If you don’t like mushrooms, swap them for something else or leave them out. Prefer to use meat? Replace the vegan tofurky with ground beef. It’s really easy to make this into something your family will love!

If this is a family favorite, add our easy chocolate chip butterscotch cake mix cookies for a simple dessert!

Vegan Crockpot Rigatoni

We got the original recipe from the book Fix-It and Forget-It: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker, which I later gave away (like an idiot). Fortunately, the whole recipe is posted at Food.com. We’ve adapted the recipe to make a meat and dairy-free version below.

Yes, there are only five ingredients in this dish. (This is probably one of the reasons why I love it so.)

You’ll need:

16 oz. box of rigatoni

4 oz. Daiya mozzarella-style shreds

12 oz. Tofurky ground beef style

24 oz. spaghetti sauce (any brand is fine)

2 – 6 oz. cans mushroom stems and pieces

Cook the pasta according to the package directions, then drain it. Spray the inside of your slow cooker with nonstick spray. (You’ll be glad you did this later.) I usually turn my slow cooker on low heat when I put the pasta in the water.

Layer the ingredients in the slow cooker in this order:

1/2 of the spaghetti sauce

1/2 of the cooked pasta

1/2 of the ground Tofurky

1 can of mushroom stems and pieces

Repeat all of the layers a second time. I’m using a five-quart slow cooker here and it nearly fills it up, so you probably don’t want to try making this much with a smaller size slow cooker. If you have a smaller model, be sure to reduce the quantities of your ingredients.

Put the lid on the slow cooker and let everything cook on low for about 2 1/2 or 3 hours.

Since we’re using vegan “cheese”, we didn’t add it until the end. It’s not as firm as dairy cheese, so it takes very little time to melt it. By the time we were ready to add the “cheese” to the top, our dish was looking like this and smelling wonderful.

Sprinkle 1/2 of the Daiya mozzarella-style shreds over the top. Be sure you cover the entire surface with cheese. Replace the lid and cook for another 30 to 45 minutes.

Let’s take a look at how everything cooked underneath…

Oh my. That’s simply marvelous.

We dished it up and we served it and all the kids had seconds! If you want to round it out, you could easily add rolls and a salad for a full meal.

Full instructions and a printable recipe are below!

Print

Vegan Crockpot Rigatoni

Adapted from recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-rigatoni-60703

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 16 oz . rigatoni
• 24 oz . spaghetti sauce (any brand is fine)
• 12 oz . Tofurky ground beef style
• 2 - 6 oz . cans mushroom stems and pieces
• 4 oz . Daiya mozzarella-style shreds

Instructions

• Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Spray the inside of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Turn the slow cooker on to low heat.
• Layer half of all the ingredients, except the Daiya mozzarella-style shreds, in the slow cooker in the following order: spaghetti sauce, cooked rigatoni, ground Tofurky, and mushroom pieces. Repeat with the other half of each ingredient. Cook on low for 2 to 3 hours.
• Sprinkle the Daiya mozzarella-style shreds over the top. Continue cooking on low for 30 to 45 minutes. Serve.

If you’d like even more great slow cooker meals, check out the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook! (Affiliate link provided below.)

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker

Don’t miss these other easy recipes!

This post is part of the Crockpot Meals linkup from iHomeschoolNetwork! Be sure to stop by and visit our fellow bloggers for some great winter crockpot recipes!

For more simple family dinners, check out my Family Meals board on Pinterest!

The post Vegan Crockpot Rigatoni appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.