Charro beans (AKA Frijoles Charros) are a delicious Mexican way of serving pinto beans. Named after the Mexican charros – horseback cowboys – they’re spicy, salty, savory, and utterly delicious. Just what you need after a hard day’s cattle driving. Stick with me to find out how to make them.
What Is a Charro?
First, a bit of history! Mexican charros, historically, were horseback riders and farm workers who lived and worked on the countryside haciendas. Although the name charro was originally coined as an insult, to mean someone uneducated, like a hick, it has come to mean an extremely skilled individual with great horsemanship and talented with a lasso. These days, charros are those sportmen who practise Mexico’s national sport of charreada, a type of rodeo.
And based on how good charro beans are, I think we should be adding “superb cook” to that list of accomplishments!
What Are Charro Beans?
Charro beans are a type of bean stew made with pinto beans, pork meat, onion and garlic. A number of other ingredients can be optionally added, but pinto beans, pork, onion, and garlic are compulsory. The dish is always served hot, with the beans in the soupy broth they were cooked in.
The first step is to cook the beans along with the aromatics. Although you can use canned beans if you want, this dish is dramatically better when you buy dried pinto beans and soak them overnight yourself. The flavor of the aromatics penetrate the beans as they cook, making for a much more flavorful result.
What Pork and What Else?
Pretty much every recipe you come across uses bacon and I agree it is very important for it’s salty, smoky taste. Additionally, you can use cooked ham, pork sausage, chorizo, or even salt pork. I chose to use chorizo in addition to bacon, which adds extra spice in the form of chili and paprika – perfect for that authentic cowboy flavor.
As well as the meat, I also added celery, cumin, and pickled jalapeños. A lot of recipes call for fresh jalapeños, and I’m sure they’re very good, but a while back, I learned what a HUGE difference a splash of vinegar makes to bean stews. Pickled jalapeños just seemed to hit the right note, adding both heat and acidity at the same time.
How to Cook the Beans
Cover the dried pinto beans in plenty of fresh cold water and leave to soak overnight. I usually do this in the same pot I’m going to cook them in. The following day, drain off the soaking water and add the aromatics; I used bay leaves, onion, garlic, and oregano. Add 1 tsp salt and cover with fresh water.
Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Cook for about 1 hour or until the beans are tender. I find the cooking time can vary a lot depending on how old the beans are, and it can be as long as 2 hours sometimes. Check the pot every 15 minutes or so and top up with more water when required. Once tender, transfer the beans with their cooking liquid to a separate bowl.
Making the Charro Beans Stew
First, you want to fry off the bacon and any other pork meat or sausage until the fat renders. This usually only takes about 5 minutes. Then you add the vegetables and let them pick up a little color as they fry in the rendered fat. Finally, add the cooked beans with as much of the cooking liquid as you want, to make a nice soupy consistency. Remember, the beans are already cooked, so all you need to do is to heat them up, and adjust the seasoning.
Do I Really Need to Soak Beans?
No, if you prefer you can buy 2 15 oz cans of cooked pinto beans and substitute those. However, if you choose to do this, you’ll need a few extra ingredients. Firstly, add the oregano, garlic, and an extra onion to fry with the vegetables. Secondly you’ll need some liquid to replace the tasty cooking broth from the beans. If you go this route, I strongly suggest using a very flavorful chicken or pork stock. Otherwise your charro beans may be bland.
Storage Notes
Charro beans keep very well in the fridge for up to 3 days. In fact, it’s one of those wonderful dishes where the flavors somehow meld together better with time, and I often find it tastes even better on the following day.
You can also freeze this recipe for up to 3 months. Leave to cool to room temperature then transfer to a freezer safe container, leaving enough head room for it to expand a little.
To reheat, defrost (if frozen) then reheat in a pan on the stovetop over medium heat, or in the microwave, on full power for about 1 minute, until piping hot.
Looking for More Bean Recipes?
I love cooking with beans and have lots of other recipes for you to try as well! Give one of these a go:
Charro Beans
Ingredients
To cook the beans
- 0.5 lb dried pinto beans soaked in water overnight
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried oregano preferably Mexican
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp salt
For the charro beans
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 4 oz bacon diced
- 6 oz chorizo sausage sliced
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 3 stems celery chopped
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tbsp pickled jalapeños chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
To cook the beans
- Place the soaked beans, the bay leaves, oregano, garlic and onion in a large pot with the salt. Cover with water.
- Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for about 1 hour, until the beans are tender. Top up with more water as necessary.
- Leave the beans in the cooking liquid.
For the charro beans
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and chorizo and fry for about 5 minutes until the fat renders.
- Add the onion, celery, cumin, and jalapeños. Stir to combine and fry for 2 more minutes.
- Add the cooked beans with as much of the cooking liquid as necessary to make it as soupy (or not) as you like.
- Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes, then season to taste and serve hot.
1 Comment
Mimi Rippee
January 15, 2025 at 10:28 pmI never knew why they were called charro beans – I thought that was the varIety of the bean! Thanks!