Restaurant-style black beans
It was my birthday yesterday, which means today I’m taking it a bit gently. No sudden movements, no bright lights, etc. I’ll be back with the real celebration tomorrow! For now, an easy and ridiculously yummy Mexican recipe – restaurant-style black beans!
If you’ve been reading Amuse Your Bouche for a while, you’ll know about my love for black beans. I can’t get enough of them – so much so that I even dedicated a whole post to them a while back (see: 60 vegetarian black bean recipes). I find some beans (think butter beans) a bit too big for my taste, with that strange squishy texture and thick, chewy skins – but not the black bean. Black beans are small and soft, and they have a gorgeous dark, rich flavour that works perfectly with a bit of spice. I’ll happily put them in just about anything, but for some reason I don’t usually serve them on their own.
So this time I decided to let my favourite bean be the star of the show. There’s a restaurant where I live that does the best black beans – slightly spicy, soft and creamy, and ridiculously moreish. I always get them on the side of a burrito, but since they’re full of protein, they make a great meal on their own too. I couldn’t resist giving them a go myself.
Turns out, they’re easy – which is good, because I rarely make things that aren’t. Cook some onions, garlic, a bit of chilli, add your black beans… voila. If you’re unsure what sort of chilli to go for, err on the side of caution – you can always add more, but you can’t take it away! I tend to use quite a mild red chilli, because I don’t like my food to be overwhelmingly hot. You can see the kind of chilli I used in the background of my Thai green curry spinach soup photos.
Make sure you serve these with a big dollop of sour cream to make them even creamier, and a good sprinkling of fresh coriander to really set them off. I served mine with some brown rice to round out the meal, but as I said, they make a good side dish too. Your choice!
- 1tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion, halved then thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small red chilli, finely diced
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 x 400g tin black beans, drained but not rinsed (240g when drained)
- 100ml vegetable stock
- Black pepper
- To serve: fresh coriander, sour cream
- Heat the oil in a pan, and add the onion, garlic and chilli. Cook for a few minutes over a medium-low heat, until soft and translucent. Add the spices and cook for one more minute, stirring regularly.
- Next, add the black beans and stock, and season with plenty of black pepper. Bring to a simmer, and cook for around 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the mixture has reduced down to your desired consistency.
- Serve topped with some fresh coriander and a dollop of sour cream.
Unfortunately, mine looks none like yours :( Your recipe says onions sliced, but in the photo yours are clearly diced. And following the recipe, I ended up with way more onion than appears in your photo. Onions come in many different sizes – perhaps you used the small dry ones?
we’ll taste it tonight. I hope it tastes good!
Hi Julie, I’m sorry you’re not happy! You’re right about the slicing / dicing – I hadn’t noticed that error before. I’m sure both ways will taste good though! I would have used half on an onion that was around fist-sized, if that’s any help? Hope it tastes good in the end :)
Hi, Becca, I made this last night, and my boyfriend and I thought it was fantastic! Thank you so much for the amazing recipes!
Hey Nicki, thanks so much! Really pleased you both enjoyed it! :)
Black beans are my favorite, too, but just like you I always put them in something else. Authentic Mexican food is the best! I am definitely trying out that slow cooker recipe!
happy birthday!! Mmmm these look great!
Happy Birthday! beans look amazing!
This is perfect, I’ve been looking for a good veggie black bean recipe! Pinning.
Make sure you check out all the others in my round-up! :) https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/60-vegetarian-black-bean-recipes/
I love beans! Especially the kind you’d get at a Mexican place. I’ve made them before and they’re definitely easy and delicious. Have you ever tried pinto beans with this recipe? I love them too! Wonder if they’d get the same creamy texture!
I haven’t – not sure I’ve ever had pinto beans actually!
The beans and the soup both sound good! Hope you feel better today. It must have been a good celebration! Happy Birthday.
I hope your birthday was SPECTACULAR!
Ah ha… the broth must be the key ingredient that I’m missing!