How to Cook Black Beans (Frijoles Negros)

Washing the Beans

Sort the beans. Go through your bag and remove stones, damaged beans and other unwanted foreign material. Most bags of beans don’t have any stones, but its always good to be safe. You may use canned beans or dried beans. Wash the beans in a colander,then place them in a pot on the stove over medium high heat and stir. Canned beans need only be warmed, not cooked through.

Soak dried beans in cold water. Soaking the beans reduces cooking time, and helps the beans retain nutrients. It also helps to break down complex sugars on the outside of the bean that cause people to get gas). Pour the dried beans into a large bowl. Fill with water until the beans are fully covered. Soak beans at least four hours. If possible, soak the beans overnight. This will greatly reduce cooking time.

Rinse the beans. Add the beans to a large saucepan or Dutch oven about 4 US quarts (4,000 ml) in size. If you are using a saucepan, use one that is heavy and durable.

Cooking the Beans

Add water to the pot. There should be an inch of water above the beans. Cook over medium-high heat. A tablespoon of any seaweed like kombu reduces beans' flatulence effect.Watermark wikiHow to Cook Black Beans (Frijoles Negros)

Boil beans for 2 minutes

Reduce the heat to low and let the beans simmer with or without a lid: If you are keeping your beans harder, like for use in salads or pasta dishes, leave the top off. If you are using them in soups, casseroles or burritos you want them to be softer, so cook them with the lid on but keep the lid slightly ajar.

Check the beans. After cooking for an hour, begin checking the softness of the beans. Depending on the age of the beans, it may take one or two hours to cook. Remove beans from the heat, pour into a colander, and serve.

What to Do with Your Beans

Make delicious vegan burgers. Black beans can be transformed into a tasty vegan burger.

Try something Cuban. This recipe for Cuban black bean soup will warm you on the coldest of days.

Add black beans to your salsa. Nothing adds a bit of excitement to plain salsa like the addition of delicious black beans.