I make these often and let me tell you, I always do 2 lbs because they freeze well too. Also, you can refry them with a little lard and add a cup of cheese and they are some GREAT refried beans. But, alas, I’m watching my girlish figure; so, we just kept them charro this time.
We are serious about our pinto beans here in Texas – they even have a category in every Texas cook off for Pinto beans. So, there are many, many great recipes floating around out there! I hope you like mine! My family devoured them on Mother’s Day.
What you will need:
- 2 lbs of beans
- 24 oz of bacon
- 2 yellow onions
- 5 garlic cloves
- 4 jalapeños
- 2 cans of rotel
- 6 cups of beef stock
- 2 amber or dark beers (12 oz each)
- Approximately 2 cups of water
- 1 cup of bean seasoning (I use Rustlin’ Robs out of Fredericksburg, TX)
- Pepper
- 1 bunch of cilantro for the finish
Step by step:
The first thing I do, is I degas my beans. Some folks do that by soaking overnight but this is a quick way that I do them, and it works! First, sort your beans and take out any discolored or broken beans or rocks. Rinse your beans. Place the beans in your dutch oven and cover with 2” of water. Take a 1/4 tsp of baking soda and add it to the bean and water mixture. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then turn off heat and cover. Let stand, covered for 2 hours. Then Rinse and follow directions below.
Heat a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Chop up the bacon and place in the hot dutch oven. Cook until starting to caramelize but not crispy.
While bacon is frying, chop up onion and garlic. When bacon has caramelized on some of it’s ends, add the onion and garlic. Cook until onions are soft and garlic is fragrant. Chop jalapeño and add that as well.
Next add the Rotel and give it all a stir.
Add beans, broth, beer, seasonings and water. Just make sure beans are covered by about 1/2” of water or 1” if you want more of a bean soup. They aren’t going to absorb much more water since we soaked them, so don’t overwater them.
Then just bring this big beautiful pot to a boil, turn down to simmer and cover and cook for 2 hours or until beans are tender. YUM. (And no gas 😂) Top with Cilantro!
