How to Make Mexican Pinto Beans (Frijoles de Olla)
Making a pot of traditional Mexican beans from scratch is easy and cheaper than buying canned. Taste the real flavors of Mexico with this delicious frijoles de olla recipe.
4leavesfresh epazoteoptional but adds great flavour (use 1 teaspoon dried epazote)
8cupswateror as needed
1fresh jalapeno or serrano pepperoptional
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
Place the beans on a countertop or table and little by little inspect them. Push the good quality beans to one side and all the damaged ones and any rocks off to another side to discard. Continue until you've inspected all of the frijoles you'll be cooking.
Pour the beans onto a colander then thoroughly rinse with cool water. Drain off excess water.
Place the rinsed beans in your pot of choice. Add the onion, garlic, and chile if using. Pour in enough cups of water to cover the beans by a few inches. If you notice any beans float to the top, scoop out and remove because those are bad beans.
Turn the stove to medium-high heat and allow the water to come to a boil. Once boiling turn the heat down to medium-low, cover the pot, and let the beans cook in a slow simmer until tender. Add hot water as needed. Keep an eye on the pot lid to make sure that it allows out enough steam without causing it to boil over.
After about 60 minutes you can taste the beans to see if they have softened. If not continue to cook until they do. Once soft and tender you can mix in the salt and simmer for another 20 minutes. Carefully taste for salt and if needed add more.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans
Sort through the beans and discard any dirt, debris or small rocks. Thoroughly rinse with cool water.
Place beans in the pot of the pressure cooker. Add the garlic, onion, pepper if using, epazote and enough water to reach the 6 cups water mark.
Secure the lid on the pot. Set valve to Sealing, select High Pressure and set timer to 40 minutes.
Once the cooking time has completed, allow to naturally release for 15 minutes. Then carefully release the pressure.
Pour in the teaspoon of salt, mix well then allow to sit for another 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt if desired.
Slow Cooker Pinto Beans
Sort through beans, rinse thoroughly then place inside the slow cooker and add onion, garlic, epazote and pepper if using.
Pour in the water, cover and set to low and slow cook for about 7 hours. Check for tenderness and once cooked you can add the salt, mix and allow to cook for another 15 minutes.
Video
Notes
• Cooking time can depend on the quality of beans, drier ones will require longer simmering. Make sure to keep adding water so the pot does not dry out. If using black beans cooking time will be considerably longer.• Store the beans (once cooled) in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They will keep for about 1 week. Alternately you can also freeze them in ziplock bags for up to several months -- they freeze quite well.