Frijoles de la olla or beans in their broth in English is the most basic foods in Mexican cuisine. There are possibly thousands of different versions of this recipe, each special and unique to a person’s family. Some add chili others add tomatoes, I think I heard someone say they added brown sugar? But we are not going to get fancy with this recipe. It is a very simple and straight forward recipe that can be converted and used for many dishes and recipes. However you eat them, beans are a great source of protein and fiber.
Beans Direction Help
Frijoles de la Olla
When making beans that are not from a can, the first thing you want to do is look over the amount you are going to use. You want to look at each bean and get rid of the ones that are chipped or broken in half.
Once those who are unworthy are sacrificed, give them a quick wash to remove any dirt and rocks. Place you clean beans in a pot and fill it up with water. Leave it coved on your counter for a day. this will help speed up the cooking process
Once it sat for a day dump the water and fill it up again with new water. Now, beans suck up a lot of water so you want to fill it up as much as you can without it overflowing when it starts to boil. As soon as you fill it up, add the onion, garlic, and salt. and let it simmer for three hours. Make sure to keep an eye on the pot and refill it with water as needed to prevent burning.
You will know the beans are ready when you are able to squish it easily between your fingers. If after the three hours they are not soft to the touch continue cooking it. Do it for 20-minute increments till the softness is achieved.
Frijoles refritos
Making Refried beans in one of the easiest things you can make. Personally, for my family, we keep it very simple a few chile de árbol a slice or two of onion and that it. Frying them to for a few minutes helps bring out the flavors.
Once you have fried them for a minute or two start adding in your beans, but just the beans no liquid, for now. Something important about this step is being careful when adding the beans to the pan. Mostly because there will be a lot of oil jumping back at you due to the oil touching the beans. But once you have added the amount of beans you wanted to your pan, start smashing.
I personally like to smash the beans before I add in the bean broth. Mostly because the broth tends to evaporate pretty quickly. By doing using this method it is easier to control how soupy it ends up. Depending on what you are planning to use them for, depends on the amount of broth you add. For example for tostadas and morisqueta you want it to be pretty soupy
Beans Recipe
Frijoles de la Olla and Frijoles refritos
Equipment
- Soup Pot
- Measuring Spoon
- Perforated Spoon
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Measuring cup
- Potato Masher
- Saute Pan
Ingredients
Frijoles de la olla
- 2 Cups Pinto Beans
- Water Enough to fill up the stockpot
- 2 Tbs Salt
- ⅓ Onion
- 2 Garlic Cloves
Frijoles refritos
- 2 Cups Frijoles de la olla With liquid
- 2 Chile de Arbol
- 2 Tbs oil
Instructions
Frijoles de la Olla
- Measure and wash your dried beans. Once washed place then in a stockpot and fill u with water. Let them sit overnight
- Once the beans have sat overnight, dump the water and refill it two inches from the rim
- Add the onion, garlic, and salt to the beans and let it simmer in low heat for three hours. Being sure to keep an eye on it and add water as needed so it does not burn.
- You will now they are done when you can easily squeeze them easily between your fingers
Frijoles refritos
- In a saute pan add the oil, chili, and onion. Saute for one to two minutes or until fragrant
- Carefully add the beans to the pan and mash them with a potato masher
- Once mashed slowly add bean broth and continue to mash until desired consistency
Notes
Uses for beans
Whenever you make frijoles there are hundreds of different things you can use them for. This recipe is very basic which makes it easy to use for almost any recipe such as these vegetarian tostadas. If it comes to any Mexican cuisine this basic recipe can literally be used as a base for all of them. It goes great by itself with some onions, tortillas, and cheese. Or you can pair it with my recipe for Sopa de Arroz and make almost anything into a burrito such as my Chicharrón en Salsa Verde recipe. Or coming soon to this blog my mom’s recipe for Morisqueta a recipe that is always paired with vegetarian tostadas.
I hope you give it a try and explore the possibilities of beans. Not only are they delicious but they are a great source of protein and completely versatile.
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