These Smoky Stewed Beans will rock your taste buds! No soaking required. Dried black beans get tons of flavor from onion, cumin, and chipotle. Make a pot to last you the week. Delicious on their own—or add to tacos, rice bowls, soups and more. (Vegan, Gluten Free).
Saute onion and tomato paste: Warm ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil in a large pot (see note 5) over medium-high heat. Add 1 large diced white onion and cook until golden around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until brick-red in color, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat, if needed, to prevent burning.
Add spices: Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons dried oregano, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, and 1 tablespoon smoked paprika. Stir to coat spices in oil (this helps bring out their flavor), and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add 6 cloves minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add almost everything else: Add 8 cups vegetable stock, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and ½ teaspoon baking soda. Stir well to mix, using a spoon to loosen any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Stir in 2½ cups dried black beans.
Cook beans: Cover with a lid slightly ajar to bring the mixture to a boil. Then, remove lid and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer uncovered (see note 6), stirring occasionally, until beans are tender. Cook times vary significantly, about 1 to 2 hours, so check beans at regular intervals. And make sure to add water, as needed, to keep beans covered with liquid while cooking (about 1 to 4 cups of water, depending on cook time).
Finish: Once beans are cooked, stir in 1 to 2 minced chipotle peppers + 1 to 2 tablespoons adobo sauce (from a can) (to taste). If needed, season with more salt.
Video
Notes
Tomato paste: "Double Concentrated" tomato paste has more robust flavor, so use it if you can. Otherwise, regular tomato paste works fine.
Smoked paprika: Use smoked sweet paprika (not smoked hot paprika). Paprika sold in grocery stores is typically the "sweet" variety. But if in doubt give it a taste. It shouldn't be spicy.
Baking soda: A bit of baking soda helps the dried beans cook faster. In our side-by-side testing—using the same batches of dried beans—baking soda typically sped up cooking time by about 25%. See the Expert Tips section of the blog post for more details.
Dried black beans: For best results use dried beans within 1 year of harvest. But most packages have a best-before date of 2 years. In our testing, our unsoaked black beans usually took 1.5 to 1.75 hours to cook. But, yours might take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. Old dried beans take a lot longer to cook until tender (if at all). So, if they seem to be taking longer...you're likely using very old beans!
Pot size: For 1x batch, use a pot that's at least 4.3 quarts (4L) or ideally larger.
Cooking beans uncovered: Cooking beans without a lid makes it easier to maintain a gentle simmer (if covered, the mixture often bubbles too aggressively). And, it also makes it easier to see when the beans need more water added, to stir and check doneness.
Storage tips: Beans and cooking liquid can be refrigerated for up to 3 to 4 days. Or freeze for up to 6 months.
Yield: Makes about 8 cups. (Yield may vary depending on how much water is added).