Cuban Black Beans

Cuban Black Beans, or Frijoles Negros Cubanos, is a popular dish in Cuban cuisine. It is made with black beans, garlic, onion, bell pepper, spices etc. The beans are cooked until tender and creamy, and the resulting dish is a flavorful and hearty stew.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Cuban

Keyword Cuban Black Beans, Frijoles Negros

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Soaking overnight 12

Total Time 1 20

Servings servings

Calories 289kcal

Author Sonila

Equipment

Ingredients

1 lb dry black beans
2 white onions
2 green bell peppers
1 jalapeño optional
2 bay leaves
8 garlic cloves
4 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
3 tbsps tomato paste
8 cups water
4 ozs roasted red pepper or cachuca peppers
1 tbsp sea salt

Instructions

Soak beans in water overnight. Next day drain and add them to the basket of the pressure cooker.
Add half white onion in big pieces over the beans, half green bell pepper and 1 sliced jalapeño without seeds. Add bay leaves and 2 cloves of garlic. Cover the pressure cooker, pressurize and cook for about 35-40 minutes. Let it naturally depressurize.
Use a deep skillet or a dutch for the rest of the recipe, any large pot with a thick bottom layer will do. Add olive oil and then add diced 1.5 white onion and minced 6 garlic cloves. Saute until translucent in medium heat. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon.
Add diced 1.5 green bell pepper and continue sauteing. Then add tomato paste and mix so tomato paste not only gets mixed with the tomatoes and peppers but also becomes aromatic from cooking in the oil.
Remove the bay leaves from the beans in the pressure cooker and transfer the beans to the pot with onion, peppers and tomato paste. Add seasonings (cumin, oregano, salt). Mix , stir to incorporate and check for consistency. Add a little bit more water if needed but you don't want the beans to become soupy.
Lower the heat to low and let the flavor mix together. Towards the end add the sliced or diced red peppers from the jar. Mix and cover. Turn heat off and finally check for taste. You can add a little bit of sugar or a little bit of vinegar or lemon/lime juice to adjust for taste and acidity. Serve with rice or your favorite meal! Buen Provecho!

Notes

While this recipe is set for 8 servings, in my family we get almost 10 servings out of this recipe.
Sugar, vinegar and/or lime juice are optional to adjust the taste at the end.
Active cooking time shouldn't include soaking time as that is just a second to dump the beans in water and let them soak on the counter somewhere.
Instead of jalapeño you can use any spicy pepper or just peppercorns.
If you're not using a pressure cooker, you can cook the beans in a Dutch Oven but it will take longer. Usually as a rule of thumb for me it's 30 minutes in the pressure cooker is give or take 2 hours in the Dutch Oven (for beans).

Nutrition