Charro Beans is an authentic Mexican recipe that is mainly consumed in the northern part of Mexico and is commonly served alongside carne asada.
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Charro beans is basically a Mexican style soup, consisting of pinto beans submerged in a broth full of amazing flavors that come from many different types of meat like beef franks, chorizo, ham, and bacon. In some parts of Mexico they add pork rinds and beer to change the flavor up a little bit.
Even though the most popular way to make this is as a thinner soup, there are some other variations in which you can add corn starch to thicken it up a little bit. If you choose to do that, it ends up looking more like chili con carne, which is a popular dish here in the United States.
Charro beans are an excellent option to go along with any type of grilled meat and also tacos. Just like I love eating pozole on cold days (which we have a lot of here in Colorado), I also love enjoying charro beans on those days as well.
You can add some heat to it by including chipotle peppers or jalapeños together with the tomato, onion, and cilantro.
One tip that I will give you in order to make this recipe a little bit easier is to cook the pinto beans in your slow cooker. Since you are starting with uncooked beans, you have to cook them separately first before adding the rest of the ingredients.
If you do this in the slow cooker, it will still take some time (around 3 hours), but it is easier than having to cook them over the stove and making sure that the water doesn’t evaporate. It will also allow you to get started on the other parts of the recipe without worrying about the beans.
Charro beans is just one of many great authentic Mexican recipes that you can find on my site. If you are following along, here are some of my other favorites:
PRODUCTS USED TO MAKE CHARRO BEANS
Slow Cooker: You don’t have to use a slow cooker to make these, but you definitely can. I love this slow cooker – it works perfectly and I use it many times per week.
Food Chopper: When you are going to chop up a lot of vegetables like you do for the pico de gallo that you serve with these charro beans, it is helpful to have a food chopper like this one on hand. It seriously makes everything so much easier!
Pinto Beans: You are going to need a lot of pinto beans to make this recipe. You can find bags of them anywhere, including online. When I make Charro Beans, I tend to make a lot of extra beans so that I can eat them in other recipes throughout the week. Here is a 25 pound bag if you are looking to stock up.
Serving Bowls: There is something about charro beans that always makes me want to serve them in these rustic looking, wooden bowls. I don’t know if it makes them taste better, but it sure seems to! You can get some of my favorites here. They are especially great if you are serving these at a Mexican themed party.
I really hope that you will try this recipe out and be sure to let me know how it turns out in the comments below!
Charro Beans is an authentic Mexican recipe that is mainly consumed in the northern part of Mexico and is commonly served alongside carne asada.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 regular bag of uncooked pinto beans
- 5 pieces of bacon, cut into smaller pieces
- 3 beef franks, cut into cubes
- 1 cup of ham, cut into cubes
- 1 pound of Mexican chorizo
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 onion, diced
- jalapeño, if desired
- 1 or more chipotle peppers depending on how spicy you want it
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- pepper, oregano, paprika, cumin, and salt to taste.
Instructions
- Add the rinsed beans to a large pot with plenty of water, salt, and a small piece of onion.
- Let boil for about 1.5 hours, checking often to make sure that there is still enough water.
- Add the rinsed beans to a slow cooker with plenty of water, salt, and a small piece of onion.
- Turn the slow cooker on to high and heat for 3 hours.
- Add the bacon to a large pot and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the chorizo and continue cooking until cooked through.
- After about 5 minutes, add the ham, the beef franks, and the seasonings (including the garlic).
- Next, add the tomatoes, the cilantro, the onion, the jalapeno, and the chipotle pepper and cook for 5 additional minutes.
- Finally, add the cooked pinto beans and the water that they were cooked in and let boil for about 15 minutes so that all of the flavors can combine.
- If you want to thicken your charro beans, you can combine 2 tablespoons of corn starch with 1/4 cup of cold water and mix well before adding it to the pot.
- Serve hot as a side dish or on its own.
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