Wondering what to do with pinto beans, canned, with juice? This guide covers how to pick them, cook them, store them, and swap them, plus 10 recipes to put them to work.

What is pinto beans, canned, with juice?

Canned pinto beans with juice are exactly what they sound like: fully cooked pinto beans packed in their own thick, starchy canning liquid, used straight from the can without draining. The juice is the whole point of this form.

That liquid is a built-in thickener and a shot of bean flavor you would otherwise have to build from scratch.

Pintos themselves are the mottled tan-and-brown bean of the American Southwest and Mexico, creamy and mild with an earthy, almost meaty depth once cooked. In the can they have already been simmered soft, so the work is done.

This is the convenience version of a long-soaked pot of beans, ready in the time it takes to open the lid.

Cooking With the Beans and Their Liquid

The trick is to treat the liquid as an ingredient, not as waste. That cloudy juice is loosened bean starch, and it thickens any pot it goes into while deepening the savory base.

Tip the whole can, juice and all, into a chili and the sauce tightens as it simmers. Beef & Bacon Chili and Easy Ground Beef Chili both lean on that.

A brothy Grilled Chicken Taco Soup or the famously simple 8 Can Taco Soup uses the same liquid to round out a quick weeknight pot.

For refried beans, the juice is what lets you mash the beans into a smooth, spreadable paste without adding water. Cook them down with a little fat and salt while you mash, splashing the liquid back in to loosen.

When you want the beans clean and distinct, in a salad or a layered Seven Layer Tortilla Pie, drain and rinse them instead. Rinsing washes off the starchy liquid along with a good share of the sodium.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Pintos are the backbone of Tex-Mex and Southwestern cooking. They sit right at home with cumin, chili powder, garlic, onion, and a squeeze of lime.

They also soak up smoky notes from bacon or a ham hock the way few other beans do, and a spoon of the canned liquid carries that seasoning deeper into the dish.

The most common mistake is dumping in the juice when you actually wanted clean beans. If a recipe says drained, draining matters; the unrinsed liquid will cloud a crisp salad and oversalt it.

The opposite mistake is rinsing when you needed the body. Pour a rinsed can into a thin chili and you have thrown away your easiest thickener, then reach for cornstarch to fix what the bean liquid would have done for free.

What to Use Instead

The simplest swap is canned pinto beans that you drain, plus a few tablespoons of water or stock to mimic the body the juice would have added. Canned black beans or kidney beans work in most chilis and soups, though each shifts the flavor and color of the pot.

Home-cooked pintos from dried, with some of their cooking liquid, are the best version of all if you have the time. A pound of dried beans yields far more than a can and costs less.

For a smoother result, canned refried beans stand in where you wanted the beans mashed anyway.

Buying and Storing Canned Pinto Beans

A standard 15 to 16 ounce can holds about a cup and a half of drained beans, or close to two cups counting the liquid. Look for low-sodium or no-salt-added cans if you want to control the seasoning yourself, since the packing liquid is where most of the salt lives.

Unopened cans keep for years in a cool cupboard. Before using, check that the can is sound, with no bulging lid or rust around the seams.

Once opened, never store leftovers in the can. Move the beans and any liquid to a covered container in the refrigerator and use within three to four days. They freeze well for a few months, liquid included, which makes a half-used can easy to save.

Quick facts

In Chinese

斑豆，罐头，果汁

British (UK) term

Pinto beans, canned, with juice

en français

haricots pinto, en conserve, jus

en español

frijoles pintos, enlatados, con el jugo

Recipes using pinto beans, canned, with juice

There are 10 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 10 recipes