How to Make Pinto Beans

Dried pinto beans are cooked low and slow until they’re tender, bringing flavor to simple ingredients. Use this recipe in the place of canned pinto beans.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 3

Servings cups

Calories 293kcal

Author Kylie Mazon-Chambers

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion, halved
1 medium jalapeño, halved
1½ cups dried pinto beans, rinsed and picked through
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Handful cilantro sprigs
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
Kosher salt, as needed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Set the onion and jalapeño over a high flame on a gas stove, rotating with metal tongs until charred, about 3 minutes. If you don’t have a gas stove, place onion and jalapeño cut side up on a baking sheet and broil in the oven until charred.
Add the beans, onion, jalapeño, olive oil, cilantro, coriander, cumin and oregano to a large pot and cover by several inches of water.
Bring the beans to a boil over medium heat then lower heat to medium-low and simmer until the beans are tender, about 3 hours. Add more water if necessary to keep the beans covered by about ½” of water.
Once the beans are tender, season with salt to taste with salt.
Serve or store.

Notes

Storing Cooked Pinto Beans

Fridge: The beans can be stored refrigerated for up to 4 to 5 days.
Freezer: The beans can be frozen and used as needed. I recommend portioning the beans out into individual servings and store in resealable bags. I always write what the food is and the date they were made on the freezer bags. They will keep for up to 6 months.

Nutrition