Background: Around the world, beans and rice are commonly consumed together as a meal. With type 2 diabetes increasing, the effect of this traditional diet pattern on glycemic response has not been studied fully. Methods: We evaluated the glycemic response of bean and rice traditional meals compared to rice alone in adults with type 2 diabetes. Seventeen men and women with type 2 diabetes controlled by metformin (n = 14) or diet/exercise (n=3) aged 35–70 years participated in the randomized 4 × 4 crossover trial. The white long grain rice control, pinto beans/rice, black beans/rice, red kidney beans/rice test meals, matched for 50 grams of available carbohydrate, were consumed at breakfast after a 12 hour fast. Capillary blood glucose concentrations at baseline and at 30 minute intervals up to 180 minutes postprandial were collected. MANOVA for repeated measures established glucose differences between treatments. Paired t tests identified differences between bean types and the rice control following a significant MANOVA. Results: Postprandial net glucose values were significantly lower for the three bean/rice treatments in contrast to the rice control at 90, 120 and 150 minutes. Incremental area under the curve values were significantly lower for the pinto and black bean/rice meals compared to rice alone, but not for kidney beans. Conclusions: Pinto, dark red kidney and black beans with rice attenuate the glycemic response compared to rice alone. Promotion of traditional foods may provide non-pharmaceutical management of type 2 diabetes and improve dietary adherence with cultural groups. Trial registration: Clinical Trials number NCT01241253