Zambian Beans and Rice
A hearty vegan built around rice and tomato β roughly 60 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. Below: the ingredients split into pantry staples and a quick shopping list, a built-in serving scaler, and the method in 6 steps.
You'll mainly reach for pan and large pot. At medium difficulty across 6 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, the ingredients are plant-based.
What you'll need
Shopping list (2)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
π Unit converter
How to make it
- Rinse the dried beans, then soak them in plenty of cold water overnight or for at least 6 hours to shorten the cooking time.
- Drain the beans, cover with fresh water in a large pot, bring to a rolling boil for at least 10 minutes, then simmer uncovered for 60 to 90 minutes until fully tender, topping up with hot water as needed; season with salt only near the end.
- While the beans cook, heat the vegetable oil in a separate pan and soften the chopped onion and garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes until translucent.
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes and the finely chopped hot pepper and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the tomatoes break down into a thick sauce.
- Fold the cooked, drained beans into the tomato sauce, add a splash of the bean cooking liquid, and simmer together for 10 minutes so the flavours combine; adjust the salt.
- Meanwhile cook the rinsed rice in salted water until fluffy and tender, about 15 minutes, then drain if needed and serve the saucy beans spooned over the hot rice.
You'll use: Pan Β· Large pot Β· Saucepan
Tips & common questions
How long does Zambian Beans and Rice take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish β an estimate based on the 6 steps and 9 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes β use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Zambian Beans and Rice vegan?
Based on its ingredients, this recipe contains no meat, fish, dairy or egg, so it looks vegan-friendly. Always double-check labels on packaged items.
Related recipes
Zambian Beans and Rice is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Zambia Export Treemap.png by R. Haussmann, Cesar Hidalgo, et.al. Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. See permission to share image on web at: http://atlas.media.mit.edu/about/permissions/, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top β how we source recipes.