About this recipe

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Why you’ll love it

Cook once, eat 3 ways: bowl, refried, or taco filler. 🔥

Ingredients

• 🫘 Dried pinto beans (or black beans): 500 g (2½ cups / 17.6 oz)
• 💧 Water: 2 l (8 cups / 2 qt)
• 🧅 White onion, halved: 1 medium (~120 g / 4.2 oz)
• 🧄 Garlic cloves, peeled: 3
• 🌿 Epazote or bay leaf: 1–2 sprigs (or 2 bay leaves)
• 🧂 Salt: 12 g (2 tsp / 0.4 oz) — add at the end
• 🫒 Olive oil (optional): 15 ml (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 🌶️ Fresh jalapeño or serrano (optional): 1, whole
• 🍋 Lime wedges + cilantro: to serve

Preparation

• 1 Rinse & soak (optional but better) Rinse beans well. Soak in plenty of water 6–8 h or overnight; drain. (If not soaking, just rinse and cook a bit longer.)
• 2 Start the pot In a large pot add beans, 2 l water, onion halves, garlic, epazote/bay, and the whole chili if using.
• 3 Simmer Bring to a boil, then lower to gentle simmer. Cook 60–75 min (soaked) or 90–110 min (unsoaked) until beans are tender but not falling apart. Add hot water if the level drops too much.
• 4 Season at the end When beans are soft, add salt and olive oil, stir and simmer 5 min more. (Salt too early = tough skins.)
• 5 Serve Serve in bowls with some cooking liquid, top with cilantro, lime and extra chili. Or mash lightly for tacos.

Timing details

Nutrition

Estimated values per serving.

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