Classic Seasoned Black Beans
servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb black beans, dried, picked through
- water
- 1 large onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and membranes removed and diced; can add more if desired
- 2 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 8 cups vegetable broth, or chicken (use vegetable to keep vegetarian)
Instructions
- Place black beans in a large stock pot and cover with at least two inches of water. Let soak overnight. Or, for a quick soak, bring stockpot to a boil, boil hard for one minute, then remove from heat, cover, and let soak for an hour.
- Drain and rinse the soaked beans. Return them to the pot. Add in all the remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the beans are tender. This will depend a lot on the age of your beans. Fresher beans will be ready in 45-60 minutes, older beans might take 2-3 hours. Your best bet is to start tasting around the 45 minute mark.
- Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if necessary, then remove beans using slotted spoon. Eat immediately, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Comments
I’ve heard that black beans can be cooked quickly and easily in a pressure cooker. Is there a down side to cooking them that way?
The only downside is it’s more difficult to check for tenderness. If they’re undercooked, you have to wait for the cooker to come back up to pressure, then guess how much more time to cook, then release the pressure and check again. If it’s your first time with a particular batch of beans that you suspect might be old, give yourself an extra hour to experiment with the pressure cooker. The rest of the batch will be more predictable after that.