Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Belizean Rice and Beans
Red kidney beans and rice cooked together in coconut milk until fluffy and fragrant; the Sunday staple of Belize, quite distinct from stew beans served over rice.
Belizean · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 40 min
~451 cal · 9g protein · 66g carbs · 18g fat · 4g fiber · 3g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Belizean rice and beans is the everyday backbone of the national table, red kidney beans and rice cooked together in one pot with until the grains are fluffy and faintly sweet. Most Belizeans eat it more than once a week and almost always on Sunday, when it anchors the after-church meal alongside stew chicken, potato salad, and fried .
A point of pride to get right: rice and beans is not the same as beans and rice. Beans and rice means plain coconut rice with stewed beans and their gravy spooned over the top; rice and beans means the two cooked together, dry, in the same pot. It is the , with a little thyme, onion, garlic, and sweet pepper, that gives the Belizean version its distinctive flavour.
Cooks wash the rice well, add pre-cooked beans and , and let it steam down until the liquid is absorbed. It is humble, comforting, and endlessly variable from one family recipe to the next.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
1 cup dried red kidney beans (or 3 cups cooked)
2 cups long-grain white rice, well rinsed
1 1/2 cups
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
to taste salt
Instructions
1
If using dried beans, soak them overnight, then simmer with the garlic in plenty of water until tender, about an hour. Drain, reserving a little of the liquid.
✎ Chef’s note
This is the perfect use for leftover stewed beans from the day before; a cup of cooked beans is roughly right for two cups of rice.
2
Rinse the rice in several changes of water until it runs clear, which keeps the grains separate.
3
In a pot, combine the rice, cooked beans, coconut milk, onion, sweet pepper, thyme, oil, black pepper, and salt, with enough water so the liquid sits about an inch above the rice.
4
Bring to a boil uncovered until most of the liquid has cooked down to the level of the grains.
5
Reduce the heat to very low, cover, and steam for about 20 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed. Rest a few minutes, then fluff and serve with stew chicken or fish.
Belize City Creole tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Belize City. Hudut belongs to the Garifuna towns down the coast, Dangriga and Hopkins, rather than to the city: fish poached in a coconut broth with green plantain pounded by hand in a wooden mortar until it is smooth. Fry jacks, puffed squares of fried dough, are the ordinary breakfast alongside beans and eggs.
🗺️
Belize. Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America, and its kitchens sit side by side rather than blending: Creole coconut rice, Maya corn and recado in the west, Mestizo escabeche and salbutes in the north, and Garifuna hudut in the coastal towns of Dangriga and Hopkins, fish in coconut broth with pounded plantain.
🌍
North America. Almost every regional cooking here records who arrived and on what terms. Enslaved West Africans brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas and the techniques behind Lowcountry and Creole food; Chinese railway labour and later Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Vietnamese arrivals built the way the cities eat; and Indigenous foodways sit underneath all of it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Belize
Belizean Stew ChickenChicken marinated in recado rojo, browned in caramelized sugar, and stewed dark, served with rice and beans.
Fry JacksPuffy, crisp triangles of fried dough eaten with refried beans, eggs, or jam, the golden centerpiece of a Belizean breakfast.
GarnachesCrisp fried tortillas topped with refried beans, cheese, and pickled cabbage, Belize's favorite street snack-lunch.
Browse all Belize recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Steamer.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Belize meal
Seaweed ShakeDrink
Belizean Bread PuddingDessert
GarnachesLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Belizean Rice and Beans?
Red kidney beans and rice cooked together in coconut milk until fluffy and fragrant; the Sunday staple of Belize, quite distinct from stew beans served over rice.
Where does Belizean Rice and Beans come from?
Belizean Rice and Beans is a Belizean dish from Belize City, Belize.
Can Belizean Rice and Beans be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Belizean Rice and Beans recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Belizean Rice and Beans safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Belizean Rice and Beans take to make?
About 55 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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