{Frijoles De La Olla} Easy Mexican-Style Pot Beans Recipe

One of the most quintessential comfort foods in all of Mexican cooking has to be frijoles de la olla or pot-simmered beans. This {Frijoles De La Olla} Easy Mexican-Style Pot Beans recipe is our take on how to make a healthy, easy version of this classic recipe.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2 10

Resting Timie 6

Total Time 8 30

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main, Side, Snack

Cuisine Mexican

Diet Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Servings Servings

Calories 208 kcal

Equipment

Digital Kitchen Scale
Dry Measuring Cups And Spoons
Glass Bowls
5 1/2-quart Dutch Oven

Ingredients

1 pound dried black beans or another dried bean
1 medium red onion or yellow or white onion, half used for cooking the beans the other half diced if you want to season the beans
4 medium garlic cloves 1 for cooking the beans the other 3 thinly sliced
2 medium bay leaves
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano or other dried oregano
1 pinch fennel seeds or 1 sprig fresh epazote
Handful fresh Italian parsley or cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)
2 limes sliced, for garnish (optional)
Crumbled queso fresco for garnish (optional)
Crema or sour cream for garnish (optional)
Toasted tortillas for serving (optional)

Instructions

To Cook The Dried Beans: Place the dried beans in a fine mesh sieve then sort and rinse and remove any debris or broken bits. Place the beans in a bowl and cover by 2 inches of water then set aside in a cool, dry location to soak at least 6 to 24 hours.
Once the beans have soaked, rinse them off then transfer them to a deep, heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring the beans to a boil over high heat then skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat to low, add one half onion, one garlic clove, and two bay leaves then simmer. Periodically skim off any additional foam that rises to the surface.
Simmer the beans, partially covered, until they're tender (adding more water as needed to just keep the beans covered), about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The beans are just tender when you blow on the surface of a bean and the skin peels back easily. Also, they should be easy to bite into but not so soft they're mushy. You can stop as is and eat these beans like this or continue to the next step to add in more flavor.
To Season The Cooked Beans: Place a small frying pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Dice the remaining half onion and slice the remaining three cloves garlic then add both to the pan with a big pinch of salt. Stir to combine then cook until the onions are soft, at least 5 minutes. If using the avocado leaf, epazote sprig, dried Mexican oregano, add them now. Otherwise, add in the (non-Mexican) dried oregano and the pinch of fennel seeds. Add the onion mixture to the beans and continue cooking until the beans are very tender and the broth has slightly thickened, about another 10 minutes.
To Serve The Cooked Beans: Once the beans are cooked, add a large pinch of salt. You can then use the beans to make enfrijoladas, on top of nachos, or eaten in a bowl as is topped with a squeeze of lime juice, a drizzle of oil, some crumbled queso fresco, a large handful of cilantro, and a side of some tortillas.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 servingCalories: 208kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 13gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 4mgPotassium: 894mgFiber: 10gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 31IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 93mgIron: 3mg

Keyword Classic Mexican recipe