Pinto Beans
This recipe for pinto beans is my grandma's recipe, one she cooked every Sunday to accompany red flat enchiladas. It is hard to beat the smell of a pot of pinto beans cooking. Try it and you will know what I mean. My kids love pinto beans and I love that they are so good for them. This is a win win for everyone! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried pinto beans (about 1 pound) soaked overnight, liquid discarded
- 2 tbsp bacon grease you can substitute oil if you prefer
- 1 onion (small), finely diced
- 1/2 cup diced green chile
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp chile powder
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak beans 8-12 hours, covered by 1-2 inches of water.
- Drain soaked beans and discard soaking liquid.
- Saute onion and green chile in bacon grease until translucent. Add garlic and stir. I use the saute option on my instant pot.
- Add remaining ingredients into the pressure cooker. Cook soaked beans for 15 minutes, allowing 10 minutes of natural release of pressure when cooking time is complete. If you forgot to soak your beans, no worries - just increase the cooking time to 45 minutes.
- Note: If you don't have an instant pot, you can easily cook the beans on the stovetop, it will just take longer (1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours - start checking at the 1 1/2 hour mark for doneness).
Notes
I buy bulk organic pinto beans from Natural Grocers, Azure Standard or Rancho Gordo.
Pressure cooking is the secret behind these delicious beans (you can use a pressure cooker or instant pot). Note: When cooking beans in the Instant Pot, use 2 1/2 cups of water for every 1 cup of dry beans.
Pinto beans are as nutritious as they are affordable. Their high levels of antioxidants and protein have researchers singing their praises. A 2004 study by the USDA looked at the phytonutrient content of 100 of our most common fruits and vegetables, and found that three of the four top-ranked foods were dried legumes. The fourth was wild blueberries. According to this study, 1 cup of pinto beans has more antioxidant activity than six cups of cooked cauliflower or 12 cups of cooked carrots. (1)
While the science community is raving about the nutrition benefits of legumes - many people's bellies are rumbling about the difficulty digesting them. If that is you... you may find that soaking the beans first and then discarding the soaking liquid helps. You can also try an over-the-counter remedy, like Beano, that help breakdown the problematic oligosaccharides making them more digestible.
- Eating on the Wild Side, Jo Robinson.