Beans Cooked in a Pot

This is the most fundamental recipe in Mexican cooking: dried beans simmered slowly in a pot with onion, lard, and salt until they’re tender and swimming in their own rich, starchy broth. No soaking, no fancy technique. Just time and patience.

The lard adds a subtle richness that oil or butter can’t replicate. It’s traditional for a reason. The onion flavors the broth as it melts away during the long simmer.

Don’t stir the beans while they cook. Stirring breaks them apart before they’re fully tender and turns the broth murky. Leave the lid on and let them do their thing.

Kitchen Tips

• Sort the beans by hand before cooking. Run them through your fingers and pick out any small stones or dirt clumps. It takes a minute and saves you from cracking a tooth.
• Add the salt in the last 30 minutes, never at the start. Salt toughens the skins early in cooking and the beans take much longer to get tender.
• Black beans need about 3 hours. Pinto, kidney, and other varieties usually finish in 2 ½ hours.
• Let the beans sit overnight after cooking. They taste dramatically better the next day as the flavors settle and deepen.

Variations

• Add a sprig of epazote during the last 30 minutes for the traditional herb flavor.
• Use bacon fat instead of lard for a smokier base.
• Mash a portion of the beans and stir them back in for a thicker, creamier pot liquor.