This is my quick and easy Puerto Rican Beans recipe, which uses canned pink or red beans and chopped potatoes; it’s ideal for a quick side dish.
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Puerto Rican Beans
My wife’s favorite dish is rice and beans. Especially when served with breaded pork cutlets. As a member of a multi-cultural household, I was raised on rice and beans. I spent most of my summers at my cousin’s house in Puerto Rico, where I fell in love with the cuisine. I learnt how to cook these quick and easy Puerto Rican beans, which are a staple in my household. I also enjoy these Brazilian Black Beans and Quick Cuban Black Beans.
Tommy is part Puerto Rican, therefore I learnt how to prepare a variety of Puerto Rican foods from my cousin and Tommy’s mother.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy preparing Puerto Rican beans from scratch using dried beans. But on times when I need a fast side dish, canned beans are the way to go. We serve it over white rice, but it also works well with brown rice as a side dish with chicken, pork chops, or steak. You can easily turn it a vegetarian main dish and serve it over rice with avocado (and some spicy sauce!) to complete the meal.
I typically have sofrito in my freezer, I make huge amounts of it for beans and other recipes. I scaled it down to get a precise quantity, but if you have your own handmade, use 1/4 cup instead of the sofrito below.
How To Make Puerto Rican Beans
These Puerto Rican beans are made quickly and simply with canned beans, sliced potatoes, and sofrito.
- Choose pink or red canned beans. Both work well for this dish.
- Don’t rinse or drain the beans. Why not? I only clean beans for salads, but when I make beans like this, I prefer not to rinse or drain them so that they thicken like if I had cooked them for hours.
- Sauté the sofrito in a little oil. This is where the taste originated.
- Cook the canned beans, potatoes, tomato sauce, Sazon, bay leaf, oregano, and salt in a small amount of water for 15 minutes. Cook covered for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked and the required thickness has been reached.
Puerto Rican beans ingredients
This red canned beans dish requires only a few ingredients and is delicious served over rice to make rice and beans.
- Canned red or pink beans: I like Goya and do not drain or rinse them.
- Sofrito: I use my own sofrito, which is made with garlic, cilantro, and cubanelle pepper finely diced in my chopper.
- Tomato Sauce: Adds taste.
- Diced potatoes: White, red, or Yukon are great, peeled, and diced tiny.
- Season with dried oregano, bay leaf, salt, and black pepper.
- Sazon: Adds taste.
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Recipe Card
Puerto Rican Beans
Ingredients
For the Sofrito:
- 1/2 small onion
- 1/2 cubanelle or banana pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
For The Beans
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 15.5 oz can pink or red kidney beans I like Goya
- 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1 medium potato peeled and diced 1/4-inch (4 1/2 oz)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Sazon homemade or store bought with Achiote (Badia or Goya)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/8 tsp oregano
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a tiny food processor, combine the onions, garlic, pepper, and cilantro.
- Sauté the chopped ingredients in oil in a medium skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until tender.
- Add the beans (not drained) to the saucepan, along with 3/4 cup water.
- Add tomato sauce, potato, sazon, bay leaf, oregano, salt (if needed), and a sprinkle of black pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low for approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Remove the bay leaf and serve over rice if desired.