Cuban Black Beans
These quick and easy Cuban black beans are creamy and packed with flavor from onion, pepper, tomato paste, spices, brown sugar, vinegar and garlic.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 15.5 oz can black beans
- ¼ white onion finely chopped
- ¼ green or red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- ¼ cup lightly packed cilantro chopped
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1 garlic clove mashed or pressed
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
Instructions
- The first thing you'll do is add a bit of olive oil to your pot along with the onions, peppers and the chicken bouillon powder. Stir to combine and cook on medium to medium-high until the onions and peppers begin to soften (just about 5 minutes).
- Now you'll pour in your beans. I honestly do this straight from the can (so I also pour in the liquid), but if you're watching your sodium or you accidentally rinsed yours, it's totally fine. AfterI pour them in I'll fill the same can up with water and dump that in. Keep in mind that if you didn't use the bean liquid you'll want to add another half of a can of water. Nothing crazy here, but make sure the beans are covered with water by about an inch.
- Now go ahead and add the cilantro, bay leaves, oregano, cumin, coriander, black pepper, salt and tomato paste. Stir to help break up the tomato paste and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 30 minutes. Make sure you aren't losing too much water (and just dump a little in if you think you're getting to dry).
- Mash the beans by taking out about ½ cup of beans and adding it to a bowl. With a fork (or a bean masher), mash the beans until they resemble refried beans. Now pour this mixture back into your bean pot and stir.
- After you add the mashed beans back in, you'll now add the garlic, brown sugar and vinegar. Stir to combine and enjoy!