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    The BEST Charro Beans Recipe (Only 10 Minutes of Prep Work Needed)

    Published: Feb 20, 2023 · Modified: Aug 13, 2023 · By: Brendan Cunningham

    Jump to Recipe

    This charro beans recipe combines tender pinto beans with tons of meaty goodness and an assortment of spices & veggies. Honestly, this dish tastes like heaven on earth, and it's so quick and easy to put together. In fact, only 10 minutes of prep work is all that's needed to make these savory charro beans!

    Charro beans in a blue bowl atop a blue plate, garnished with fresh herbs.

    Table of Contents

    • The Best Charro Beans
      • Ingredients
        • Ingredient Substitutions And Suggestions
          • Experiment With Add Ons
          • Use Dried Pinto Beans
      • How To Make Charro Beans
        • Step 1: Cook The Meat
        • Step 2: Cook The Beans
        • Step 3: Serve The Beans
      • How To Store Charro Beans
        • How To Reheat Charro Beans
      • Wrapping It Up
    • More Mexican Recipes
    • The BEST Charro Beans Recipe (Only 10 Minutes of Prep Work Needed)
      • Ingredients
      • Instructions
      • Nutrition
      • Did you make this recipe?

    The Best Charro Beans

    I know beans aren't the most exciting thing, but this charro beans recipe will change that.

    Seriously, these charro beans are so much more than a basic side dish. I mean, not only are they filled with the most incredible blend of flavors, but they're also loaded with bacon, chorizo, ham, and Cabanossi sausage! That doesn't sound basic at all, does it?

    Gah, these beans are just so tasty, hearty, and easy to make. Honestly, making this recipe is about as easy as making a plain ol' canned beans. Plus, since everything comes together in one pot, cleanup is a breeze too - and you know I'm a big fan of that.

    Also, making these Mexican charro beans will only require about 10 minutes of hands-on prep work, so you'll have plenty of time to work on the main course for your Mexican feast. I love serving the charro beans with this Mexican chicken casserole, but honestly, they'll go terrific with anything you want!

    Charro beans in a blue bowl atop a blue plate, garnished with fresh herbs.

    Ingredients

    While you will need quite a few ingredients to make this charro beans recipe, almost all of them are basic kitchen/pantry staples that you probably have on hand already.

    Anyway, here's everything you'll need to make these beans:

    • 14oz. cooked pinto beans
    • 1 onion, chopped
    • 3 slices bacon, chopped
    • 0.75 lb. raw Mexican chorizo
    • 2 beef franks, chopped
    • ¾ cup ham, chopped
    • ½ cup Cabanossi, chopped, optional
    • 1 large tomato, diced
    • 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
    • 1 jalapeno pepper, sliced
    • 1 teaspoon oregano
    • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • Salt and pepper, to taste
    • Chopped cilantro, to serve with

    Pretty simple stuff, right?

    By the way, if you have any pinto beans left over, then I definitely recommend putting them to good use and making this Wendy's chili recipe next! Or you can even use them to make these Mexican pinto beans or baked beans with ground beef.

    An assortment of ingredients including bowls of diced ham, diced bacon, pinto beans, jalapeños, spices, diced tomatoes, and diced onions.

    Ingredient Substitutions And Suggestions

    While I think these Mexican charro beans turn out best when made with the ingredients listed above, there's definitely room to switch up some of the ingredients to suit your preferences or possibly save you a trip to the store. So with that said, I'll go over some different things you can do with this recipe.

    Experiment With Add Ons

    If you want to amp up the flavor of these charro beans, then you can play around with adding additional ingredients. I recommend swapping the diced tomatoes for fire-roasted tomatoes or adding a few chopped-up chipotle peppers for an added smoky flavor. With that said, if you add a chipotle pepper or two, just remember to go easy since they can be overpowering.

    By the way, if you love cowboy beans, you can add a few tablespoons of your favorite barbeque sauce to this recipe and give it more of a cowboy bean vibe.

    Use Dried Pinto Beans

    This recipe calls for cooked beans, which can be either dried pinto beans you cooked ahead of time or canned pinto beans. If using dry pinto beans for this recipe, I recommend cooking them in chicken broth to add some extra flavor.

    Large grey pot filled with sautéed diced onion and bacon.

    How To Make Charro Beans

    Now it's time for the fun part - it's time to make some charro beans!

    As I said before, it's pretty straightforward to make this recipe. You basically just add everything to a pot and let the beans cook together until the veggies are tender and the meat is cooked. Seriously, that's all there is to it.

    So, with that said, let's stop wasting time and get cooking!

    Large grey pot filled with sautéed diced onion, bacon, and sausage.

    Step 1: Cook The Meat

    First things first, you'll want to grab a large pot - big enough for all of your ingredients - and set it on the stovetop over medium heat. Then, you can cook the onions and bacon together, stirring them occasionally for about 3-4 minutes.

    Once you let the onions and bacon cook a little, you can add the Mexican chorizo to the pot and let everything cook for another 5 minutes. Follow this by adding the ham, beef franks, and Cabanossi sausage to the pot along with all of the seasonings - that would be the oregano, cumin, paprika, and garlic.

    Now let all of the ingredients in the pot keep on cookin' for another 5 minutes, stirring 'em occasionally to prevent them from burning.

    Large grey pot filled with diced jalapeños, tomatoes, sausage, diced ham, and spices.

    Step 2: Cook The Beans

    Once all of the meat has been cooked and is nicely browned, you can go ahead and add the tomatoes and jalapenos to the pot.

    Then, after you've got those in there, you'll want to add the cooked pinto beans to the pot along with enough water to cover the beans. By the way, if you have the water - or broth - you used to cook the dried beans in, then you can use that as your liquid.

    Anyway, once you've got those ingredients looking good in the pot, you'll want to bring this mixture to a boil and let the beans boil for about 15 minutes.

    Large grey pot filled with charro beans in a spiced broth with jalapeños floating in the broth.

    Step 3: Serve The Beans

    After the 15 minutes is up, you can give the charro beans a taste and season them with a little salt and pepper if you think they need a little something extra.

    Lastly, I recommend that you serve charro beans warm with a garnish of fresh cilantro.

    Enjoy!

    Overhead view of charro beans garnished with fresh herbs in a grey bowl atop a grey plate with two spoons on the plate.

    How To Store Charro Beans

    This recipe for charro beans makes about 6 servings, so it should be plenty for a big family dinner. However, if you're just making this dish for one or two people, this charro beans recipe makes for some perfect leftovers.

    Speaking of leftovers, if you store the leftover cooked charro beans in an airtight container, they'll stay good in the fridge for about 3-5 days. 

    Charro beans in a blue bowl atop a blue plate, garnished with fresh herbs.

    How To Reheat Charro Beans

    When you're ready to enjoy these charro beans again, you'll definitely want to reheat them first.

    So, to reheat your cooked beans and meat, I recommend using your stovetop. Simply transfer everything to a saucepot, set it over medium heat and - stirring occasionally - let the beans and meat simmer for a few minutes - until everything reaches your desired temperature.

    Charro beans in a blue bowl atop a blue plate, garnished with fresh herbs.

    Wrapping It Up

    Well, that's how to make charro beans!

    I know I'm biased, but I really think these Mexican pinto beans are one of the tastiest bean recipes I've ever tried. I don't know if it's the perfect balance of savory meats and tender veggies or if it's the seasonings that make this recipe so good, I just know it's always a hit at my house!

    Anyway, I hope you enjoy this charro beans recipe as much as I/we do.

    As always, if you give this recipe a try, be sure to leave a comment below and let us know how it went!

    Charro beans in a blue bowl atop a blue plate, garnished with fresh herbs.

    More Mexican Recipes

    If you're looking for more easy Mexican-inspired recipes, then we've got you covered! We have a ton more on the blog for you to check out next.

    Here are some of our most popular ones:

    • Mexican casserole
    • Beef enchilada casserole
    • Mexican corn casserole
    • Fideo soup
    • Birria tacos

    Oh, and as always, make sure to check us out on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram! We post new recipes on them every day.

    Print

    The BEST Charro Beans Recipe (Only 10 Minutes of Prep Work Needed)

    Charro beans in a blue bowl atop a blue plate, garnished with fresh herbs.
    Print Recipe

    ★★★★★

    5 from 8 reviews

    This charro beans recipe combines tender pinto beans with tons of meaty goodness and an assortment of spices & veggies. Honestly, this dish tastes like heaven on earth, and it's so quick and easy to put together. In fact, only 10 minutes of prep work is all that's needed to make these savory charro beans!

    • Author: Brendan Cunningham
    • Prep Time: 10 minutes
    • Cook Time: 30 minutes
    • Total Time: 40 minutes
    • Yield: 6 servings 1x
    • Category: Dinner
    • Method: Stovetop
    • Cuisine: Mexican

    Ingredients

    Scale

    14oz. cooked pinto beans

    1 onion, chopped

    3 slices bacon, chopped

    0.75 lb. raw Mexican chorizo

    2 beef franks, chopped

    ¾ cup ham, chopped

    ½ cup Cabanossi, chopped, optional

    1 large tomato, diced

    1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

    1 jalapeno pepper, sliced

    1 tsp oregano

    1 tsp cumin powder

    1 tsp paprika

    Salt and pepper, to taste

    Chopped cilantro, to serve with

    Instructions

    1. In a saucepot, cook the onions and bacon, stirring, for 3-4 minutes.
    2. Add Mexican chorizo and cook for 5 minutes.
    3. Add ham, beef franks, and Cabanossi. Add seasonings and garlic. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes.
    4. Add tomatoes and jalapenos. 
    5. Add pinto beans and enough water to cover the beans, or you can use the water in which you previously cooked the beans.
    6. Boil the beans for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
    7. Serve warm, garnished with chopped cilantro.

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 serving
    • Calories: 232
    • Fat: 12
    • Carbohydrates: 18
    • Protein: 12

    Keywords: charro beans, charro beans recipe, charro beans recipe with canned beans, charro beans recipe Mexican, Mexican charro beans, Mexican pinto beans, how to make charro beans, tender pinto beans, pinto beans, how to cook pinto beans, how to cook charro beans,

    Did you make this recipe?

    Share a photo and tag us @ImHungryForThat — we can't wait to see what you've made!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Wyatt

      February 20, 2023 at 2:07 pm

      Authentic and was delicious.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alyssa

        February 27, 2023 at 11:09 pm

        So yummy 😋

        ★★★★★

        Reply
    2. Chrissy

      February 20, 2023 at 3:02 pm

      5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    3. Mike

      February 22, 2023 at 9:08 am

      Lots of great flavors in these beans.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    4. Bruce

      February 22, 2023 at 12:36 pm

      Turned out great.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    5. Marco

      February 23, 2023 at 4:46 pm

      Beans cooked well and the spices in it were spot on.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    6. Richard

      February 24, 2023 at 5:15 pm

      I topped the beans off with sriracha because I love spicy and they were delicious.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    7. Aaron

      February 27, 2023 at 6:13 pm

      Flavor as ever.

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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