A rice and okra side dish with bacon and vegetables, made easy with the Instant Pot!
Instant Pot Okra Pilaf - Limpin' Susan
I'm sure that you've heard of Hoppin' John. Southern Living says that "rumor has it Limpin’ Susan was Hoppin’ John’s secret girlfriend." Well, I don't know about all that, but I can tell you for sure, it is a delicious side dish!
Where Hoppin' John is a rice central dish made with some kind of southern pea, most typically blackeyed peas, Limpin' Susan is made with bacon, rice and okra. Likely originating in the South Carolina Lowcountry, though nobody seems to know where the name Limpin' Susan came from.
Okra pilaf doesn't typically have tomatoes, though everybody tends to add other ingredients and I felt it just called for a little bit of diced tomatoes with green chilies (aka Rotel) for a little additional flavor.
I was right - it was a perfect addition!
Just a quick reminder.... as always, full recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, are a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!I've also seen it made with additional proteins - andouille, shredded cooked chicken and shrimp - and even other vegetables - here I'm using onion, sweet bell pepper and the aforesaid diced tomatoes.
What this type of recipe amounts to is an okra pilaf, sometimes referred to as a pilau or perloo/purloo, the primary requirement is that it must contain both rice and okra and almost always incudes bacon and usually at the least, onion and sweet bell pepper, for flavor.
Fresh okra has such a short shelf life and is pretty easy to grow, though you need a relatively good-sized plot to get any substantial amount of it, frozen is the route I almost always take with most of my okra recipes.
This pilaf is a simple side dish that goes well with all of those grilled foods we're consuming right now, and I've simplified it even further by making it Instant Pot friendly!
Here's how to make this Instant Pot Okra Pilaf aka Limpin' Susan Recipe!
First things first. While I refer to this recipe as written for the "Instant Pot," that actually applies to any electronic pressure cooker. Here, you'll note in my pictures that I'm actually using my Cook's Essentials branded pot, that I've had well before the Instant Pot even arrived on the scene.
Let's start off with some bacon, because everything's better with bacon, right?! Set pot to sauté and add bacon, cooking until fat has rendered slightly. You don't want it too crispy.
Drain a can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies.
Add rice to the bacon.
Cook, stirring regularly for about 2 minutes.
Add onion and bell pepper and toss. I had a red bell pepper to use up so that's what I used here but any color sweet bell pepper will work just fine.
Toss.
Add tomatoes.
Add okra.
Give it a toss.
Stir in stock. I'm using a regular salted version, so I'll season it as needed once it's finished, instead of adding any here.
Give it a stir.
Cancel sauté function on pot, seal and set on HIGH for 6 minutes. The setting for rice on this pot is for 6 minutes, though I think my Instant Pot has different timing of their preset button. Just use manual for 6 minutes.
Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then carefully quick release any remaining pressure.
Open pot and fluff with a fork. Taste and add salt, pepper and Cajun or Creole seasoning as needed and serve.
I served mine with some baked salmon and a garden salad. Enjoy y'all!
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