Fresh homemade pinto beans! Full of fiber and nutrients that are good for you, these are a Mexican home staple that we can’t live without.
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A fresh pot of beans is for real something we just can’t live without. It’s the base to so many bean dishes. You can make refried beans, frijoles charros, frijoles with chile pasado, frijoles con chorizo, and I can just keep going the options are endless!
What type of beans are best to use?
Pinto bean is the best choice. It’s what most Mexicans and Mexican restaurants will use. Other beans have a slightly different taste, but you definitely could do any bean of your choice.
Lighter vs darker pinto bean
Choosing a bag of pinto beans is also important. The lighter the bean in color the better. If the bean looks like a dark brown, it means that it’s been on the shelf a little longer. The lighter in color the bean the fresher or more recently picked. Choose the beans lighter in color whenever possible.
Step by step process
Start by cleaning your beans and removing any beans that looks off or discolored. Also remove any rocks, twigs and/or leaves. No one wants to bite into a rock, teeth have broken because of this.
Boil a pot of water and add some salt
Soak for about 5-10 mintues or as long as possible. I always let them soak while I wait for the water to boil.
Wash the dried beans really well about 2-3 times. Drain the water.
Add the beans, onion, and garlic to the pot of boiling water.
Cover with a lid and simmer for 2.5 hours.
The beans will rise to the top when you first start to cook them, but will settle at the bottom after a few minutes. This is completely normal.
Once fully cooked you can enjoy them as is in a bowl like bean soup or you can turn them into refried beans.
Frijoles de la Olla Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Category: Side Dishes
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
Full of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals like thiamine, iron, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus, beans will keep you full for a while!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried cleaned pinto beans
- 7 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ an onion (optional but recommended)
- 2 cloves of garlic (optional but recommended)
Instructions
- Sift through your dried beans and make sure you get all of the bad beans, rocks, twigs, and leaves out. If the bean looks off in color get rid of it.
- Add your dried beans to a bowl and add warm water and let them sit for about 5-10 minutes.
- Swish them around with your hand and shake off all of the dirt that could be stuck on them. Dump the water and fill with new clean warm water and repeat this step at least 2 more times or until the water runs clear.
- Fill a pot with approx 7 cups water and 1 tablespoon of salt or to taste and bring to a boil.
- Once the water comes to a boil, add your drained beans, onion, garlic, and cover with a lid. They will rise to the top, this is normal. They will sink while cooking.
- Simmer for approximately 2.5 hours.
- When they are soft they are done. Turn off the heat.
- Let cool before refrigerating.
Notes
Will keep will in the refrigerator for about 5-7 days. Once they look foamy or smell off, toss them.
Triple wash & soak your beans to minimize foaming
Once it’s finished cooking you can discard the onion and garlic or keep it in and eat it with the beans. Completely optional. If you are going to refry them, I like mashing them in with the beans. Gives it more flavor and you can’t tell it’s in there!
Soak your beans for a few hours or up to a day to cut down on the cooking time.
Keywords: Beans, Frijoles, Pinto Beans
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