Thanks! This had a lot of flavor, surprisingly.

Smoked Sausage & Red Beans' Haiku: "Not too thrilled with this. (I really didn't change much.) We trashed leftovers." I noticed that the recipe submitter added a review stating that the rice should be cooked separately, which I was relieved to see, b/c I can't imagine leaving rice in the crockpot for that many hrs. So I prepared the recipe as written (save for adding a can of Rotel), and reduced to it 4 servings, having a 1 lb. smoked sausage, and using 1 can of beans. Not really sure why this didn't make our tastebuds do a little jig, b/c normally we annihilate red beans over rice, but perhaps it had something to do w/ the length of time that everything sat in the crockpot. Smelled great, but just didn't do it for us.

I'm giving this 5 stars because my hubby and I both thought it was very tasty. I cut the recipe down to 4 servings and only used 1 can of beans. I followed the recipe as written except I did add red and green peppers, because we like them. I waited until the last 5 minutes before serving and added the Minute Rice. It was perfect! Thanks for sharing Syndi!

I halved the recipe and we loved it. To halve it, I used a single smoked sausage, 3 cans of dark red kidney beans and a cup of rice to 2 cups water. I also used a tiny amount of the garlic, as a personal preference. But I loaded up on the cajun seasoning lol. We like red beans and rice anyway, as well as smoked sausage. Blending those together along with cajun seasoning made a great meal. Can't have it too often, because of the heartburn factor, but this is definitely a repeat-worthy dish!

This was not that good. I did it as is and felt that it was very bland and needed some life. thankfully, I have a husband that will eat dinner no matter what.

Normally, I would cook the rice in with everything, as the recipe states, but since the originator recommends not doing so, I made the rice separate. Browned the sausage first and added a chopped green pepper. Cooked 1lb of (dry) red beans and added to the sausage mixture with about a cup of water. Cooked on the stove top for about an hour. Made brown rice in the water from the cooked beans and ate with the sausage. Really, really good.

I'm always on the lookout for good crock pot meals, as they make life as the mom of two under four much easier! This one caught my eye and I made it for the first time today. It was delicious! I read through the comments first and learned that the recipe was incorrect in saying to add the rice to the crock pot, so I didn't. I did the rice separately in the rice cooker. My husband can't handle much heat, so I cut down a bit on the Cajun seasoning and omitted the hot pepper sauce. I also halved the recipe as my crock pot is not large enough to hold the amount of food this recipe makes. Other than that though, I followed the recipe exactly, and the result was absolutely delicious! I have to admit I was a little leery of adding so much garlic, but it really gave the dish a nice flavor. I served it with cornbread and a salad. Yum! I will definitely be making this again! And I think next time I will go ahead and add the full amount of Cajun seasoning the recipe calls for. Update 2/26/2011: I decided to make this with dry beans today rather than canned. It's cheaper that way, and you avoid nasty preservatives. Prepare the beans according to the package directions (you will need to start them at LEAST 3 hours ahead of time, or you can soak overnight). Once the beans are prepared, you can toss them in the crockpot just as you would canned beans and follow the recipe from there. 1 lb of dry beans is perfect for 1/2 recipe. 2 lbs for full recipe.

Great cold weather comfort food, Absolutely loved this recipe, the ony suggestion i have is that if you are not a big fan of beans, which my family is not, use on less can of beans than the recipe calls for. Other than that this was fabulous!

This recipe was ok. I made it according to the directions adding the rice into the crock pot. I read the reviews prior to making this and wasn't sure whether to do this or not. I would not recommend doing this, make the rice and top with the sausage and beans prior to serving. I did add a can of southwestern style diced tomatoes and green chilies as a couple of people made this suggestion and I think it gave the kick my family likes. I also used Sriracha hot chili sauce instead of hot pepper sauce. I cooked according to the directions and when the meal was done I found it runny and the rice creamy not fluffy like in the picture. Overall the taste was good after extra salt and pepper was added (and extra hot sauce for my guys). I will try this recipe again cooking the rice on the side to see if it's better, if not I think I will look for a different recipe. Sorry it's just ok to us made as is...

When looking up recipes for a massive amount of keilbasa I had smoked in my smoker the day prior. This recipe came up. No photo, so I checked out all the ingredients..right up my alley..But then I normally don't look at the reviews unless it's a low number. With only a few reviews and some being very poor. I saw that the author of the recipe noted that the recipe was wrong. Having looked at that, then back on the ingredients and directions and realized the author said rice on the side. I decided to make it anyway. I used all ingredients and left out the rice. There's no way I could have added rice to my 6 quart slow cooker. NONE! It was filled to the brim. I cooked it on high for 5 hours, and took the lid off for the last hour, I made up a batch of rice in the rice cooker(2 1/2 cups uncooked rice and 3 1/4 cups water, dash of salt) when the rice was done, I added it to my sausage and beans. And served immediately. And my family just absolutely loved it. It wasn't over powering with heat (only 3 shakes of hot pepper sauce). Will make it again. I feel the recipe was intended this way. And not add the rice in the beginning. It would have been awful had I done so. I scooped out a bowl of the sausage and beans before adding the rice for myself and it was awesome with cornbread crumbled right in. YUM!! Hope my advice is taken. Do Not Add The Rice, make a pot seperate and then add at the end.