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Charro-Style Pinto Beans
Charro beans, frijoles a la charra, get their name from the horsemen of northern Mexico who cooked a potful trailside: dried pintos simmered soft in their own liquid, then finished with whatever tomato, chile, and onion were on hand. The traditional pot leans on bacon and its rendered fat for body. Here a whole dried chipotle, simmered in with the beans and fished out at the end, does that job instead: it perfumes the whole pot with smoke before it ever hits the tomato. Add the tomato only in the last twenty minutes, after the beans are already tender, so the acid in it doesn't toughen the skins and slow the cook. The beans should stay loose and soupy, more spoon than fork, with plenty of broth to mop up.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Pinto beans, dried, soaked overnight
- 1 Yellow onion, diced
- 5 cloves Garlic, smashed
- 2 Jalapeños, sliced into rounds
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 tsp Cumin seed, toasted and ground
- 1 tsp Dried oregano
- 1 piece Chipotle, whole dried pod
- 1 tsp Smoked paprika
- 2 cups Fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped
- 2 tbsp Lime juice
Method
- Drain the soaked pinto beans and put them in a large pot with the onion, garlic, whole chipotle pod, and bay leaves. Cover with water by 2 inches (5 cm) and bring to a boil, then drop to a low simmer, partly covered.
- Simmer for 60 to 75 minutes, checking the water level every 20 minutes and topping it up so the beans stay just submerged. The whole chipotle sitting in the liquid this whole time is what gives the pot its smokiness, standing in for the bacon a charro pot usually leans on.
- Once the beans are tender all the way through, not just soft on the outside, stir in the cumin, oregano, and smoked paprika. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes so the spices bloom in the hot liquid.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and the jalapeño rounds. Simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the tomatoes break down into the broth but still hold some shape. Adding them this late keeps their acid from toughening the bean skins earlier in the cook.
- Fish out the chipotle pod and bay leaves. Taste a spoonful of broth: it should taste of smoke, chile, and tomato with no need for salt.
- Stir in the lime juice and half the cilantro off the heat. Ladle into bowls with plenty of broth and scatter the rest of the cilantro on top.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 190 calories, 11 g protein, 12 g fiber, 10 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt.
