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Frijoles de Olla (Homestyle Black Beans)
Updated Oct. 11, 2023
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- Total Time
- 2 hours 35 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1pound/453 grams dried black beans, rinsed and picked through
- ¼medium white onion, chopped
- 3garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2dried or fresh avocado or bay leaves
- 3fresh epazote sprigs or a combination of parsley, oregano and mint sprigs
- Fine sea salt
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large pot, combine the beans, onion, garlic, avocado leaves, epazote, 4 teaspoons salt and 16 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook at a slow simmer, uncovered, skimming and stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, 1½ to 3½ hours. Check the beans every hour to see if they need more water; the beans should always be covered by water. The cooking time will depend on how old the beans are; freshly dried beans can fully cook in 1½ hours.
- Step 2
Remove and discard the herbs. Taste and season the beans with more salt if desired. The beans and their cooking liquid can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Or, make them up to 3 months ahead and freeze in an airtight container.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
A few notes/additions from a Mexican cook. These recipe looks great and authentic. My grandmother’s secret was to fry and almost burn onion slices in a generous amount of olive oil, and pour them (including the oil) into the cooked beans, then she’d add the salt (always using coarse sea salt). She’d also soaked the beans overnight or for at least 3 hours, and hold the garlic. ¡Buen provecho!
I presoak my beans as I find they cook more evenly that way. I generally use a hot water soak - bring water to a boil, salt heavily, then pour over beans, aromatics, & herbs. Leave for an hour or two (longer is fine). When ready to cook, refresh herbs & aromatics. (Oh, and BTW, beans do not toughen from being cooked in salt water. Salting late in the cooking process, or after the beans are cooked, results in unseasoned beans in a brine, because the beans stop absorbing liquid when fully cooked.
The epazote is worth it. And a great excuse to find your local Latin grocer. Something else that's less traditional but worth it - seaweed. I always cook beans with a sheet of seaweed, kombu or kelp. It's full of naturally occurring glutamates, aka MSG, and adds that rich umami flavor without actually tasting like seaweed at all. It will be a gloppy mess by the time the beans are done, you can fish it out of the pot and ignore whatever flecks remain. Or just break it up and stir it in. Try it!
Hello! Greetings from Mexico ! Black beans can be left to soak in water overnight for faster cooking. Rinse and add to pressure cooker with plenty of water, garlic and half an onion. Pressure cooker can save time if beans not soaked (will be done in 40 min.) Half an onion (at least) well chopped fried brown separately. Once beans done add to browned chopped onions and add ALOT of Epazote, salt and no other herbs are added in original recipe. Saludos!
I’ve been making frijoles negros for almost 50 years. I honestly can’t tell the difference (never could) between soaking dried beans and cooking them, and using canned beans. I think, canned beans are generally terrific. I’d love to hear other peoples thoughts.
Refrigerated for up to 2 days? Everything (unless it’s consistency falls apart, which is not a category that beans fall into) lasts more than 2 days refrigerated! That’s funny!
This is an urban legend. Salt will not prevent your beans from softening.
Agree that a gallon of water will take a long time to cook down for these beans. Beans may be overcooked by then. Starting with a pound of dried beans and 3 quarts of water should be enough. It's easier to add boiled water later than to remove too much liquid with its flavor later to get the consistency desired.
16 cups of water makes for very watery beans! Also, for the reader asking where to get epazote, most Hispanic/Latino stores will carry it, alternatively it can be found through the internet. If you have a garden, buy seeds and plant it!
I used Anali's suggestions: I cooked unsoaked beans 35 minutes in multicooker, released naturally, and added to browned onions and lots of olive oil in enameled Dutch oven; salted, and cooked down until liquid thickened. Oh my goodness! This is what all the fuss is about!
The worst day of my life was the day my Dad died. The second worst day was 2 weeks later when I realized my Dad took all his recipes to his grave. He made the best black beans, among other dishes. He would watch the Mets while he picked through a big bowl of dried beans. I remember their aroma as they cooked, but I don’t have any idea how to cook them. Hoping this recipe will bring back happy memories!❤️
No, just another tale, never been proven
I just made this recipe for the second time, and it’s a keeper. I’m here to say that even a dirtbag version of this with onion + garlic + bay leaf + a little dried oregano is delicious. The beauty of this recipe is that it tastes great without my usual sauté of onions and garlic toward the end.
I think beans are why God created the Instapot. You can do this same recipe using the Instapot in about 1.5 hours (25 minutes cooking then the natural release of the steam). I usually just add salt, and an onion cut in half. That way, you can add spices for different dishes. I only have canned beans in case of a bean emergency...
Will any kind of avocado leaves work? Can I just grab some off my backyard tree?
The worst day of my life was the day my Dad died. The second worst day was 2 weeks later when I realized my Dad took all his recipes to his grave. He made the best black beans, among other dishes. He would watch the Mets while he picked through a big bowl of dried beans. I remember their aroma as they cooked, but I don’t have any idea how to cook them. Hoping this recipe will bring back happy memories!❤️
I add in some chopped tomatoes, and then some other spices -- cumin, oregano, chili powder, and a dash of cayenne or black pepper. I sometimes also add in some bacon pieces, & a couple tablespoons of the bacon grease for the flavour and to create a smoother texture to the beans.
Cuban decent people add a 1/2 green pepper, chopped & 1/2 Tsp. cumin to this recipe. My grandmother's recipe didn't call for epazote, parsely, oregano or mint. It's served with long grain rice. Pork can be served with this dish.
I’ve made these a couple of times. They are hands down the best beans I’ve ever had, and I live in California where we have lots of excellent Mexican food. It’s well worth hunting down the leaves. I usually use half of them and freeze the other half in a quart zipper lock bag to avoid bean fatigue with only two of us in the household.
I used Anali's suggestions: I cooked unsoaked beans 35 minutes in multicooker, released naturally, and added to browned onions and lots of olive oil in enameled Dutch oven; salted, and cooked down until liquid thickened. Oh my goodness! This is what all the fuss is about!
Electric pressure cooker. Onions and other veggies in frying pan and sauté. Dump in cooker. Pressure cook beans 6 to 8 minutes and 10 minutes for reaching and releasing pressure Mushrooms make a great beef substitute in pressure cooker veggie recipes Risotto in pressure cooker 3 minutes
I would love to try this, but have a question. I do not have access to fresh epazote. I do have dried…or I can get fresh versions of the substitute herbs. Which would you recommend?
Agree with all the comments on pre-soaking the beans, after 3h simmering, i finished them with 25 min in the pressure cooker. I would also start with 1/2 or 2/3 of the salt, and adjust at the end, they were a bit salty for my taste.
There's discussion about salt preventing beans from softening. Salt will not, but acid will. Don't add acid to beans until they are softened.
David Morris: Agreed. I prefer Goya brand canned black beans and always keep them on hand because I love black beans. But have never been disappointed by any canned black beans. Ybor City in Tampa is where I first bonded with black beans. As you no doubt know, Ybor is long-time Cuban area and the Columbia plus many other restaurants there are superb. Sometimes add chopped green pepper to them if I have one handy.
Delicious! I had makrut lime leaves, so I used those instead of avocado. I first fried the onion in lard in the same pot as the rest of the cook. Only used 12 cups of water.
Agree that a gallon of water will take a long time to cook down for these beans. Beans may be overcooked by then. Starting with a pound of dried beans and 3 quarts of water should be enough. It's easier to add boiled water later than to remove too much liquid with its flavor later to get the consistency desired.
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