Making an amazing dish from canned black beans is very simple. The beans along with the all of the ingredients that are added to it make this an amazing meal or side dish that you can be proud of!
This mostly from scratch cuban black beans recipe is my recipe for a classic cuban black beans dish that can be made very quickly and still taste great. These are called mostly from scratch because to make cooking a little faster, we use canned black beans instead of dried.
To make sure we are respecting the traditional cuban black beans dish that is usually cooked all day from dried beans, we give these canned beans a real flavor upgrade. This recipe tastes like it came from a restaurant and has been cooking all day. You have to trust me on this. These are so delicious and so easy to make.
I love serving these Spanish black beans over a bed of basmati rice along with my cumin and lime slaw which adds freshness and some crunch. It is such a great combination of flavors. This is a dish combo that we eat on a regular basis in our house.
What I love about this Black Beans recipe:
- This recipe uses canned black beans which save so much time.
- These can be used as a main dish with a side of rice.
- It is really big on flavor and it is healthy.
If you wanted to cook your beans from scratch and used dried beans, that will work fine too. You would just want to cook your black beans until just tender and then follow the steps in this recipe once that is done.
Cooking with canned black beans:
For this canned black beans recipe, you want to make sure that you pour your beans into a colander and rinse them under cold water until the liquid turns clear coming off the beans. The reason for this is the canned beans have a thick brine on them and it is not at all what you want in your recipe.
Once you do this step, you can proceed to the recipe portion below.
Some ways to use these Cuban black beans:
- As I mentioned above, these beans are great served over rice and with my cumin and lime coleslaw!
- These beans would also make a great addition/side to pulled pork or chicken.
- They even would make a great filling for burritos!
Black beans and beans in general are a real healthy way to get your protein and iron. I make lots of dishes with all varieties of beans because of this. My pesto pasta has cannellini beans in it, my pasta fagioli is a soup made with beans as the base and my collard greens with pintos uses beans to round out the meal.
Beans are just a very economical and healthy dish to make. I love making my cuban black bean often not just because of taste but because I try to plan a certain number of meatless meals per week and this fits that bill.
This recipe also makes a great vegetarian option for when you are entertaining for someone who cannot eat meat. It will taste so good that everyone including meat eaters will love it.
More of Our Favorite Vegetarian Meals
Mostly From Scratch Amazing Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes 14 oz
- 1/2 of a red pepper finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 2 15 oz cans of black beans rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup of water
- 2 tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp of paprika
- 1 tbsp of cumin
- 1/4 tsp of oregano
- 1 tsp of salt
- 2 tbsp tomato paste I like buying tomato paste in a tube so I can refrigerate what I don't use.
- 1 tbsp kosher salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- In a medium saute pan over medium heat, add your olive oil, red pepper and garlic and saute until they begin to soften about 5 minutes.
- Now add your canned black beans, water, fresh cilantro, tomatoes, tomato paste and all of the spices and mix well.
- Bring to a simmer
- Once it comes to a simmer, turn your heat to low and cover to simmer for about 20 minutes until the tomatoes begin to soften a bit and the flavors come together
- Remove from stove and taste for seasoning.
- Add salt to taste.
- Serve over rice or alongside meat and enjoy!
Love it! I will try for my daughter. I think she will love it as she loves beans in general.
That’s great HeeJee! Let me know how she likes them 🙂