A plant-based, vegetarian version of Mexican restaurant-style charro beans. Spicy and full of flavor, these pinto beans are delicious in tacos, nachos, tostadas or as a side to any TexMex meal.
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This recipe is not only vegetarian, but also vegan, plant-based and oil free. Don't let that list of healthy labels fool you.
These beans are GOOD.
My meat-loving friends often ask me to make these for parties.
🧄 Ingredient notes
To make these vegetarian charro beans, you'll need the following ingredients:
- dry pinto beans
- onions
- garlic
- dried Mexican oregano
- bay leaf
- celery
- jalapeños
- fresh cilantro
- tomatoes
- sea salt
Jalapeño peppers
You can de-seed your jalapeños, if you wish. In this dish, I prefer to leave the seeds in for extra spiciness. You could ramp up the spiciness by adding more jalapeño.
A word of caution when chopping jalapeño: either coat your hands with oil beforehand or wear gloves.
Jalapeño burns on your hands, or any other body part for that matter, is no joke and the only thing that soothes it is time.
Not fun.
I keep gloves on hand just for chopping jalapeño. I learned my lesson the hard way.
Mexican oregano
Whole dried mexican oregano is a key ingredient to this recipe, so please try to source it, if you can. It is plentiful here in Texas grocery stores, but you can also find Mexican oregano on Amazon.
How to make Instant Pot charro beans
There's no need to soak your beans first to make them in the pressure cooker. Just wash them thoroughly, then add them to the Instant Pot, along with enough water to reach the 6 cup mark inside the Instant Pot (there should be about 2-3 inches of water above the beans).
Then, add 1 onion, garlic, oregano and bay leaf. Lock the lid and turn the valve to "Sealing". Press the "beans" button, then increase the time to 45 minutes. It will beep several times and then begin bringing it up to pressure.
Meanwhile, pre-heat a skillet and saute remaining vegetables (except for cilantro) over medium-high heat. We want the veggies to char a little bit to bring that "charro - smoke" taste to the dish. Once the onions are done, add the tomatoes and stir to deglaze the pan. Turn off heat and set aside until beans are done.
Once beans are done, allow them to naturally release the pressure for 15 minutes. Then, with a long spoon, turn the valve to "Venting". Be careful of the hot steam!
Remove lid and add sauteed veggies to the beans, along with the chopped cilantro and salt. Allow it to simmer for another 10-15 minutes for all the flavors to combine.
How to make charro beans in Crock Pot
These beans do not require any soaking, although you can soak them ahead of time, if you like.
Throw the beans in the slow cooker in the morning with a couple things and then by afternoon toss in the rest and you're good to go.
Pretty simple and easy. Plus, it makes the house smell amazing.
What size slow cooker should I use?
Since my big slow cooker broke after many years of servitude, I've been using a medium sized 4-quart Crockpot slow cooker, similar to this one on Amazon, so you can see the size.
For this recipe, I would suggest using at least a crock pot of this size, or larger. If you use a smaller slow cooker, you will need to reduce the recipe accordingly.
You can also use the slow cook function of your Instant Pot Pressure Cooker to make these beans!
👨👩👦👦 Serving suggestions
They're delicious by the bowlful or as:
- Taco filling
- Eaten with tortilla chips as a snack
- Served over rice
- As a side dish for any TexMex meal
- Mixed with fat-free, vegetarian refried beans for a thick bean dip or spread for tostadas.
- Tip! Mixing them with refried beans is also a way to cut down the heat for kiddos or anyone who prefers their food a little more tame.
💭 Tips
Food safety cooking beans in slow cookers
Since writing this post, I have learned that SOME crockpots or slow cookers on the LOW setting (or even high) do not bring the temperature of the beans high enough to kill a toxin that is present in all beans, but most dangerous in kidney beans.
Cooking beans for 10 minutes above 212F or 100C (boiling temperature) kills the toxin. I checked my crockpot and even on low, the water boils and the temperature was above 212F. So, I was good.
How do you make sure your beans are cooked safely in a slow cooker?
If you plan on using your slow cooker, I would recommend starting the recipe using your high setting and measuring the temperature of the liquid in your cooker once it's fully cooking.
If it's above 212F, you're fine.
If it's below that, transfer the beans to a pot on the stove, boil for 10 minutes, then put them back in the slow cooker to finish them off.
If you're concerned about your slow cooker not getting hot enough, you have options for cooking beans safely. You can:
- Boil them first, then add them to the slow cooker
- Finish them off on the stove, boiling them for at least 10 minutes.
- Cook them on your stove until done
- Use an Instant Pot or pressure cooker to cook your beans
Basically, you have several options. I just want to make sure you're aware of this issue some may have!
❓ FAQ
Charro beans are pinto beans cooked Mexican-style with onion, garlic, Mexican oregano, jalapeño, cilantro, etc. Traditionally, they may be cooked in water, chicken broth or beef broth. For our vegan version, we are cooking them in water, with lots of aromatics to amp up the flavor.
Yes! Pinto beans and charro beans freeze very well. Add them to an airtight container or jar, leaving 1-2 inches of empty room at the top for the beans to expand when frozen. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
Instead of pinto beans, you can use white navy beans, white cannellini beans (white kidney beans), black beans, borlotti beans, kidney beans, chickpeas or red beans.
Pinto beans are common beans throughout North and South America. They are also called speckled beans, judías pintas, poroto frutilla and carioca bean.
Cooked pinto beans (no matter the flavor, charro, borracho, old-fashioned, texas, cowboy) last up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
🗺 Cultural influences
Charro beans are so warm and flavorful. Perfect for a winter evening. They are a staple in the Tex-Mex restaurants I've grown up eating at here in Houston.
More than just a pot of plain pinto beans, they are usually well seasoned with pork and Mexican spices and herbs like oregano and cilantro.
They were always my preferred accompaniment to Mexican rice when eating out.
Now, the only vegetarian option offered usually (if one is available at all) is black beans. Black beans are just fine and dandy, but they're not the same as the smooth and velvety charro beans I grew to love.
💜 More recipes you'll love
Plant-based TexMex recipes
Vegan recipes for beans of all sorts
Love this recipe? Please rate it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below in the recipe card. And, if you make it, please tag me on Instagram or Facebook in your posted photos! I would love to see your creations. 😄
📖 Recipe
Mexican Charro Pinto Beans in Instant Pot or Crock Pot
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Crock Pot/slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried pinto beans picked through and washed
- 2 sweet onions chopped, divided
- 10 cloves garlic minced, divided
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 2 jalapeños diced (de-seeded to reduce spice, if desired)
- 1 bunch cilantro trimmed and chopped
- 3 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
Crock Pot Instructions
- Add washed beans to crockpot and add enough water to cover the beans with at least 2-3 inches of water on top.
- Add 1 of the chopped onions, half of the garlic, the oregano and bay leaf to beans. Cover and turn the crockpot on high or low, depending on how long you want it to cook. On high, these will cook in about 4-5 hours. On low, they will cook in about 7-8 hours (please see food safety note in blog post above about cooking on low).
- Do NOT add salt at the beginning. It can prevent the beans from getting tender.
- Once the beans are tender, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rest of the onion, garlic, the celery and jalapeño to the skillet. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until the veggies start to brown and char a little. Add a tablespoon of water, as needed, if they start to stick to the pan. Turn down the heat, if they are burning.
- Once the onion is translucent, add the tomatoes and stir well to deglaze the pan. Turn off heat.
- Add sautéed vegetables to the crock pot, along with chopped cilantro, black pepper and salt and stir gently.
- Allow the flavors to combine for about 5-10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, as needed. Serve piping hot.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Add washed beans to Instant Pot (at least 6 quart size or bigger) and fill with water to the 6 cup mark inside the Instant Pot insert (there should be about 2-3 inches of water on top of the beans).
- Add 1 of the chopped onions, half of the garlic, the oregano and bay leaf. Do NOT add salt at the beginning. It can prevent the beans from getting tender. Lock Instant Pot lid on top and turn the valve to "sealing". Press the "Beans" button and increase time to 45 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot is done, leave it alone to allow it to slowly release the pressure for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rest of the onion, garlic, the celery and jalapeño to a skillet. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until the veggies start to brown and char a little. Add a tablespoon of water, as needed, if they start to stick to the pan. Turn down the heat, if they are burning.
- Once the onions are translucent, add the tomatoes and stir well to deglaze the pan. Turn off heat.
- Then, with a long spoon, turn the valve on the Instant Pot to "venting" to allow the remaining steam escape. Be careful of the very hot steam! Once steam has escaped and the lid has unlocked, remove lid.
- Add sautéed vegetables to the Instant Pot, along with cilantro, black pepper and salt and stir gently.
- Allow the flavors to combine for about 5-10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, as needed. Serve piping hot.
Cyn says
Easy to make. I will let you know how it tastes. We went to Cascabel - a vegan Mexican restaurant in Houston and they had awesome charro beans. Hope these are as good,