Instant Pot Jamaican Rice and Peas

A couple of weeks ago, I cooked my first Jamaican-inspired dish, Rasta pasta, and I've been thinking about those flavors ever since. Having grown up in Louisiana, I have a deep love for Cajun and Creole flavors, which often find their way into my cooking. There is a diaspora connection between Caribbean food and Cajun/Creole food, with some remarkable similarities in flavor profiles.

To make Rasta pasta, I ordered Walkerwood Jamaican jerk seasoning, the go-to jerk seasoning in Jamaica. Now that I have a jar, I'm excited to explore more uses for it. So, I decided to try another Jamaican dish: rice and peas. In Jamaica, they call them peas, but they're the same red beans we use in Cajun and Creole dishes. The main difference is that the rice and beans are cooked together with coconut milk as a key ingredient. Through my Cajun/Creole lens, this dish reminds me of a combination of Cajun/Creole red beans and rice and jambalaya, but with tropical flair from coconut milk.

Full disclosure, it's not traditional to use jerk seasoning in Jamaican peas and rice; they usually use individual spices like allspice, thyme, bay, and scotch bonnets. But since I have my new bottle of Walkerswood, which contains those spices, I decided to use it instead of making my own spice mix. 

It's much quicker to prepare than traditional red beans and rice or jambalaya if you use canned red beans and an Instant Pot. In less than 30 minutes, you can have a vegan Caribbean-inspired one-pot meal ready to enjoy.

Instant Pot Jamaican Rice and Peas

1 T butter or oil
1 medium onion, diced

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

2 T Jamaican jerk seasoning. I used Walkerswood hot seasoning (get mild if you don't love spice)

1 t salt
1 15 oz can coconut milk

1 3/4 cup water
2 t Better than Bouillon, flavor your choice
2 cups long grain white rice, rinsed

2 cans kidney beans, drained

1 T lime juice

garnish with green onions

Sauté onion in butter or oil until golden. Add garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds. Stir in all remaining ingredients except lime juice and green onions. Seal Instant Pot and set to high pressure for 5 minutes. When time is up, allow it to sit for 10 minutes without releasing the pressure. After 10 minutes, release any remaining pressure, stir in garnishes, and serve.