Hi Guys! I am back in Seattle, and happily nestled with my little girls. I even got right back in the kitchen and made dinner (which is shocking with the lack of sleep I have had in the last few days!) And then as I sat down tonight and tried to figure out which recipe I wanted to share with you for the weekend, I came across this little beauty. If you have ever made my Homemade Black Beans, or eaten those of someone who makes and incredible batch of homemade beans, than you know how incredible they can be. Nothing like the canned stuff and better than even your favorite restaurants, homemade beans are Ah-mazing!
I make homemade black beans and pinto beans often, because my kids looove them. And they also happen to be a fantastic source of protein and fiber. Plus, you gotta love anything that you make a huge batch of and then can eat for several day. Recently, I made a batch of pinto beans and wanted to add a little something special to change the flavors a little.
Since I had a pound of bacon, fresh from my moms butcher (my mom sometimes makes deliveries to us as a treat- like a bacon fairy) I knew that I had to use that. I also had a gorgeous bowl full of jalapenos giving me the stink eye- like I better use them before they started to wilt- so into the bacon fat they went. And what an awesome combination it all was.
Of course, you could make the beans and enjoy them on their own, or alongside your favorite Mexican dishes. You could also add just the bacon or just the jalapenos- the options are all there. Enjoy!
Recipe: Homemade Pinto Beans with Bacon and Fried Jalapenos
Ingredients
- 2 pounds dried pinto beans
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ yellow onion, minced
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 5 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced (or less, depending how spicy you like your food)
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Pick through the beans (sometimes there are rocks in there!) and then rinse and drain them. Add the beans to a large heavy pot and fill the water line to double the height of the dried beans. (So cover them with water, and then add another couple inches of water.) Add 4 teaspoons of salt and put a lid on the pot and turn the heat to medium.
- Cook for 20 minutes and then add 3 cups more water (up to the same height it was before). Repeat this every 20 minutes two more times and then reduce heat to low. They should simmer about 4 hours total.
- At the 3 hour mark, fry the onion in the vegetable oil in a small pan over medium high heat until it is golden and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Then add the onion and the oil to the beans. Put the lid back on and keep simmering to the 4 hour mark when they should be loose in texture (a little “watery”) and tender. Season to taste with Kosher salt.
- Fry the bacon until crispy, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to the beans. Add the jalapenos to the bacon fat and fry until golden, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the jalapenos to the beans and season again with kosher salt if needed. Serve them hot as desired, or chill and reheat as needed. Enjoy!
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time:
Number of servings (yield): 12
This recipe sounds delicious, love the bacon!!!
thanks Gaby!
Looks good, though I usually do mine in a slow cooker. Is it supposed to be black or pinto beans?
Hi Bill- they are pinto beans, but I also have a great recipe for black beans!
Um, can your mom be my bacon fairy too? 🙂
Love the bacon and fried jalapeños in these beans!
thanks Kevin!
Love this huge bowl of comfort food!
thank you so much Naomi!
Beautiful photos! Looks delicious!!
thanks Maria- not so easy to make refried beans look ok!
I am a little bit confused. The instructions say to add 4 tsp of salt to the water and bring to a medium boil. I have read to not add salt until near the end as it will toughen the beans. I’m anxious to try this recipe. I have all the ingredients except the jalepenos.
Thanks for the recipe.
Patty
Hi Patty- after many, many years of unsatisfactory beans, I had a friend of mine who grew up in Mexico just show me the “real” way to do it. These are the real deal- please try this way of cooking them!
The recipe calls for black beans should it be pinto beans or are they interchangeable based on what you have on hand? The bowl with those fried jalapenos looks insanely good.
Hi Lisa- shoot! it should be pinto, but they are totally interchangeable!
You had me at bacon fat fried jalapenos, great recipe!
thank you Sue!
Made tonight. Ultimately the beans were flavorful, but the steps as outlined did not work for me. They cooked in 3 hours, and I had to dump a good 2 quarts of bean juice out to leave the pot with a loose consistency. Will modify for future efforts, but overall great flavor. BTW, I sauteed my onions in all bacon fat.
thanks for feedback bianca!
How would you modify this to use in a pressure cooker?
Still shows up as black beans on yummly for some reason