3 Tips for Making Better Frijoles!

So for all of you veteran firjoleras, or frijoleros también, this post is going to seem like just such a nobrainer.  In fact, you might even decide that you know what, you don’t even need these three tips, thank you very much!  But I hope you’ll read them anyway.  Now when I say frijolero(a)s  I’m referring to those of you who make the beans.  Not those of us who just like to eat them.

Until last night – and don’t laugh, eh – I was only one of the latter!

3 Tips for Making Better Frijoles
Making ‘frijoles’ from scratch.

Despite having grown up on frijoles y arroz, fideo every once in a while too, nunca in my life had I ever attempted to make real pinto beans from scratch.  Hell, even the refried beans video I made a while back was made with beans in a can!

Shh, don’t tell anybody.

But now.  But now.  But now… having made my first successful batch of beans from scratch last night, I have a couple of pointers for all of you who might just be considering making your own pot of frijoles in the near future.

I have 3 tips to be exact.

Consider this the dummies guide to making frijoles:

1.  Soak!

Apparently, how good a bean will come out tasting depends tremendously on how well you soak the darn things, and clean them.  The bag of beans I cooked had instructions for overnight soaking and one hour soaking.  I chose the one hour soaking of course.

2. Don’t Leave Your Beans Unattended!

They might seem like their never going to be done, considering the one and a half hour to two hour cooking time required, but with the quickest blink of an eye they could stink up the whole house with that burnt frijol smell.  And nobody wants that.  Nobody!  Believe it or not, I did not burn the beans.  I do, however, now understand the anxiety in my mother’s voice when she would yell ¡se me queman los frijoles!   

3. Salt!

Salt those bad boys down.  This might be more of a personal preference, but to me, beans without salt are just a waste of time.  You just wasted two to three hours of your time making those frijoles that now don’t taste like anything.  FAIL!!  ¡¡FALLO!! ¡¡FEO!! 

So there you have it.  I can’t guarantee you’ll end up with stellar beans, but if it’s your first time you’ll surely surprise somebody.

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5 thoughts on “3 Tips for Making Better Frijoles!

  1. I do all three but I clean the beans for rocks and I soak them overnight. That is the key I believe. I can put you in touch with my aunts!!

  2. Soaking over night is key. Now that you know how to make pinto beans here’s a tip for making delicious ” refritos” Add milk

  3. And for an authenticate flavor, toss in some raw bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon, right?

  4. En mi familia le hechamos un pedazito de ajo. Cause you know…a lil garlic goes a long way. And YES SOAK! once I was in a hurry and didn’t soak, and the beans took THAT much longer to cook! So yea soaking is a MUST!

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