Jamaican Rice and Peas

Name: Jamaican Rice and Peas
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 34 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Jamaican
Ingredients: 2 cups Rice; 380g Coconut Milk; 450g Kidney Beans; 1 cup Water; 2 tsp Kosher Salt; 1/2 tsp Ground Allspice; 1/4 tsp Black Pepper; 3 Spring Onions; 2 sprigs Thyme; 1 Scotch Bonnet

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Vegetarian recipe with Jamaican flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 43 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 34 min total

2 cups Rice
380g Coconut Milk
450g Kidney Beans
1 cup Water
2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
3 Spring Onions
2 sprigs Thyme
1 Scotch Bonnet

Step-by-step instructions

Equipment Dutch oven.
Add rice, coconut milk, kidney beans, water, kosher salt, allspice, and black pepper to a large pot and stir until combined. Lay green onions, thyme and Scotch bonnet pepper on top. Bring mixture to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover with a lid. Allow to cook covered for 18 minutes over low heat, then remove from heat. Leave the lid on for an additional 5 minutes.
Open the lid and remove the green onion, Scotch bonnet pepper, and thyme. Fluff the rice and peas with a fork. Serve and enjoy.

Why this works on a weeknight

Jamaican Rice and Peas lands at about 34 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Rice & Grain Bowls collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Jamaican Rice and Peas actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍚 Rice & Grain Bowls Vegetarian Jamaican