Charleston Red Rice

This red rice recipe is a Carolina Lowcountry tradition — cooked rice is baked with tomato sauce, bacon, and onion to make a savory side dish.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 5 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
• Calories: 331 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce
• 6 cups boiling water
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
• cooking spray

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Cover the dish and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish.

Step 3

Bring water, rice, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 4

While rice is cooking, cook bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings in the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Drain bacon on a plate lined with paper towels; crumble the bacon once cooled enough to handle.

Step 5

Cook and stir onions in the reserved bacon drippings until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in crumbled bacon, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce; bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce heat, and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 6

Spoon cooked rice into the prepared baking dish and stir the tomato-bacon mixture into the rice until evenly combined.