Black Bean Recipe

Black beans are one of those foods that are good as a side for just about anything. Just ask anyone from Central America. Black beans are phenomenal with eggs as a great source of protein for the start to any day, or in a rice and bean gallo pinto that will make you swoon, or in a taco, or as a quick pick-me-up snack that’s tasty and healthy. Plus a good black bean recipe is as easy as it is delicious.

You can buy canned black beans, but they never taste as good as the ones you make yourself, plus it’s cheaper to make your own. At the simplest level all you have to do is add water to the beans and cook them unsupervised for 2 hours. This recipe is only slightly more involved, but not by much.

Black Bean Recipe

It’s usually easiest to make a bunch of black beans at once, so this recipe will make a little over 5 cups of cooked beans. They are easy to freeze, so feel free to double the black bean recipe and preserve as much time as you can by having ready-to-eat beans at any moment.

This black bean recipe does not have any salt added to it, and only gets a hint of flavor from the onion, oregano, and garlic. It is meant to be a very basic black bean recipe to be used as a stepping off point.

These somewhat plain beans can be added to rice, tacos, burritos and made into refried beans without having to worry that there may already be too much salt in the mix.

To make these beans especially delicious for eating now:

Take 1 cup of cooked black beans and add:

1/2 Tbsp. of hot sauce- Chipotle Tabasco is my favorite for it’s smokiness
1/4 tsp. of garlic salt
1/2 tsp. of cumin
Top with cilantro and queso fresco for perfection.

Note: I also add these ingredients to canned black beans to make them taste equally delicious.

Print Recipe

Basic Black Beans

Course

Basics

Cuisine

Central American, Costa Rican, Gluten Free, Mexican

Cook Time

2-3 Hours

Servings

Cups

Ingredients

• 1 lb Black Beans (dry)
• 1.5 quarts Water
• 2 springs Oregano
• 1/2 Onion quartered
• 2-4 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 Tbsp. Ground Ancho Pepper optional

Course Basics Cuisine Central American, Costa Rican, Gluten Free, Mexican Cook Time 2-3 Hours Servings Cups Ingredients 1 lb Black Beans (dry) 1.5 quarts Water 2 springs Oregano 1/2 Onion quartered 2-4 cloves Garlic 1/2 Tbsp. Ground Ancho Pepper optional

Instructions

1. Quickly sort through the dried black beans, picking out any that may have gone bad. Place the rest in a large stockpot with the quart and a half of water. Add the quartered onion, garlic cloves and oregano (can substitute 1/2 tsp. of dried oregano for fresh oregano sprigs).
2. Bring water mixture to a boil over high heat. Lower temperature to low and allow to simmer for 1 to 2 hours, or until the beans have softened.
3. Allow beans to cool. They can now be added to any recipe or packaged up and frozen for up to 6 months!

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