These spicy citrus black beans taste like authentic Mexican black beans. They’re healthy, vegan, and my kids LOVE them with rice and all the toppings, making them a frugal family favorite that I serve on repeat!
When I first started this blog, my husband told me he HATED beans.
After he declared his hatred, I told him that if we wanted to keep our budget at $350/month, he’d have to learn to tolerate beans.
Somehow, we found the middle ground by adding them to recipes like Minestrone Soup and Tortilla Soup and Southwestern Salad.
Now he ASKS for this black beans recipe almost every week. My how times have changed!
This black bean recipe is absolutely delicious, and I know your family will agree!
OUR FAVORITE BLACK BEANS RECIPE
Not only is this recipe our family’s favorite black beans recipe, it’s also amazing because it’s:
- Super simple, easy, and delicious!
- Frugal. This black beans recipe comes straight from the pantry with no expensive ingredients!
- Vegan and Gluten-free. Works for families with mixed dietary needs!
- A perfect side dish for all our Mexican food favorites!
BLACK BEANS RECIPE INGREDIENTS
- extra virgin olive oil
- onions and garlic powder
- oregano + cumin + dried sage
- jalapeno
- chili powder (homemade chili powder)
- chipotle pepper sauce (from canned chipotle peppers)
- salt
- cooked black beans (Instant Pot beans, slow cooker beans, or [2] 15 oz cans)
- water
- frozen orange juice concentrate
- lime juice
- rice wine vinegar
Notes:
- Some people also add bay leaves when cooking beans. You can always do that when you cook the beans themselves. People tend to like the aroma and depth of flavor that bay leaves impart. Remember to remove the bay leaf before adding the black beans to this recipe.
- You might like to use Homemade Chicken Broth rather than water, which is a great option. I just prefer using water for this recipe.
Psst! Not all salts are made the same! I love Ava Jane’s Kitchen because it doesn’t have microplastics (gross, right?) and it’s SO GOOD! Plus, you can get a free 8oz. bag of sea salt (just pay shipping and handling!).
HOW TO COOK BLACK BEANS
Our favorite black beans recipe starts with cooked black beans. I’ve tried doing the entire thing, starting from scratch with dried beans in the Instant Pot, but it just didn’t have the oomph that the original method did. That’s why I’m recommending starting with cooked black beans. Black beans also have a bit of a varied cooking time to get the right texture, especially on the stovetop, depending on how old the beans themselves are. Starting this black beans recipe with cooked beans means it’ll turn out perfectly every time.
I prefer to cook my black beans in the Instant Pot. This is my original recipe for Instant Pot beans, and it’s fail-proof if you’re making just one pound of black beans.
I make two pounds of beans at one time though since I have this 8-quart DUO Instant Pot. Doubling the recipe requires one minor change: allow the pressure to release naturally and completely, instead of using the quick pressure release.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, you can follow my method for slow cooker beans, or this method for cooking beans on the stovetop (which includes a good soak too).
If you don’t have an Instant Pot or slow cooker, or you don’t want to cook black beans on the stovetop, you can start with canned black beans.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST MEXICAN BLACK BEANS RECIPE
- Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized stock pot.
- Add the onion and jalapeno and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the spices and beans and 1 ½ cups water and bring to a boil.
- Stir and turn the heat down to a simmer and let the beans cook for about 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding the remaining ½ cup of water if the mixture becomes too thick.
- Turn off the heat and add the orange juice, lime juice, and vinegar, and stir well. Serve warm.
HOW TO SERVE THESE YUMMY BLACK BEANS
Most often, we make this our go-to Mexican black beans recipe on a “beans and rice” night. I make Instant Pot Brown Rice or Cilantro Lime Rice and these black beans and then pull out ALL the taco toppings…
- Shredded cheese
- Salsa (try my Homemade Salsa)
- Olives
- Corn (try my Southwest Corn Recipe)
- Bell peppers or Fajita Veggies
- Avocado
- Diced onion
- Cherry tomatoes
- Fresh cilantro & lime
- Guacamole
- Shredded lettuce
- Tortilla chips (try my Homemade Tortilla Chips)
- Sour cream (try my Homemade Lime Crema)
I love how my family GOES TO TOWN when I make this, and to be honest, it’s such an easy and frugal meal that I make it all the time!
We’ve also had these black beans served as a side dish next to Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas, Migas, Scrambled Eggs, quesadillas, stuffed inside burritos, and pretty much any other Mexican-inspired meal.
If you have leftovers, be sure to store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
They taste even better the next day!
BLACK BEAN RECIPES FAQS
Can you freeze black beans?
Yes! This black beans recipe is freezer-friendly! The beans will thicken, so I recommend freezing them in glass jars as opposed to freezer bags. If you follow my method in this post for freezing in glass jars without breaking them, you’ll be good to go.
To thaw the beans from frozen, place them in the refrigerator on a kitchen towel (to catch any condensation) to thaw overnight. So, by the time dinner comes, you can pour them into a pot and warm them in the oven.
What can I do with a lot of black beans?
Make these yummy spicy citrus black beans! If that’s not on the menu, try one of my other black bean recipes, like Tortilla Soup, Tacos, or even make Black Bean Brownies!
MORE EASY MEXICAN-STYLE RECIPES
- Slow Cooker Mexican Potato Soup
- Homemade Tortilla Soup Recipe
- The Best Ground Beef Taco Meat
- Crockpot Refried Beans
- Easy Salsa Verde Spinach and Chicken Enchiladas
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas
- Black Bean and Corn Salsa Tacos
- Homemade Corn Tortillas
- Homemade Flour Tortillas
- Gluten-Free Tortillas
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These spicy citrus black beans taste like authentic Mexican black beans. They’re healthy, vegan, and my kids LOVE them with rice and all the toppings, making them a frugal family favorite that I serve on repeat!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (28g)
- 1 onion, diced finely (94g)
- 1 jalapeno, diced finely (14g)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder (8g)
- 1 Tbsp chipotle pepper sauce (from canned chipotle peppers) (15g)
- 1 ½ tsp dried oregano (3g)
- 1 ½ tsp cumin (8g)
- 1 ½ tsp garlic powder (9g)
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp salt (6g)
- 3 cups cooked black beans (516g) (or (2) 15 oz cans, drained and rinsed three times) (*how to cook beans in the instant pot HERE, and how to cook beans in the slow cooker HERE).
- 1 ½ – 2 cups water (474
- 2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate (32g)
- 1 Tbsp lime juice (or ½ lime, juiced) (15g)
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (15g)
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a medium sized stock pot.
- Add the onion and jalapeno and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the spices and beans and 1 ½ cups water and bring to a boil.
- Stir and turn the heat down to a simmer and let the beans cook for about 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding the remaining ½ cup of water if the mixture becomes too thick.
- Turn off the heat and add the orange juice, lime juice and vinegar and stir well.
- Serve warm.
I’m confused because your pictures look like small red beans, not like any black beans I’ve ever seen. Is this a certain brand or maybe a mix? Interested to try, just wanted to be sure I use the right beans.
Hi Laura,
They are black beans. Enjoy!
We love these beans! I don’t make it quite as spicy and we love to eat it with kimchi, tortilla chips and on top of spaghetti squash 😀
We enjoyed these beans! I used 1/2 a small jalapeno and that had just enough kick for us. My beans were a little soupier than your photo (I did only use 1.5 c water; it might be because my IP beans were a tad overcooked), but that was fine. I didn’t really when I was making these they would be saucy (like baked beans out of a can). We were having rice with dinner anyway, so I put my beans over the rice.
P.S. I didn’t have “just” chili powder (never seen that – could you link to one) so I used the chili powder that’s a blend.
P.P.S. 🙂 The onion I used was kinda large and I was concerned when I was sauteing it that it was going to be too much. There was lots in the pot! But it all melded together and the onion pieces weren’t noticeable to my kids.
I made this for my family, but cut the jalapeno because my kids are little and subbed chipotle powder for the sauce. It’s great. Best way to eat black beans at home. My husband’s previous favorite beans were canned baked beans, preferably with hot dogs, mustard and ketchup. These are his new favorites. I’m keeping this in regular rotation!
I’m curious, can you put all the stuff in the instant pot with the dried beans? I cook for two (kids have moved out) and so we would probably cut the recipe in half. Freezing doesn’t make sense for us either. Can you cook this in the instant pot with canned beans? I find that everything has more flavor when I use the instant pot, due to the nature of pressure cooking. Thoughts? Thanks.
Hi Susan! I wouldn’t put all the ingredients together with dried beans. You have to drain the beans of excess liquid, and then you’ll miss out on a lot of the flavor. You can probably do this in the Instant Pot, but I haven’t tried that myself!
Pardon my ignorance, but why do these need to cook so long if the beans are already cooked?
It helps the flavors to blend together really well. You can certainly warm everything together, but we think it tastes better after a good simmer. 🙂
It’s also because as the beans cook in the water their starch helps to make a nice thick sauce and the beans really hold together more after cooking.
Our family really enjoyed these beans. I’l like to know what you do with the leftover chipotle peppers. I thought about just blending the whole can in my small chopper (making it all “sauce”) and then freezing it in tablespoon-sized portions. I’m wondering if using the actual peppers may make the beans too spicy. Thoughts?
Hi Jill! I haven’t found that the peppers make the beans too spicy – yet! I keep the peppers in a small glass tupperware container in the fridge and they’ve been fine for a few weeks. Alternatively, you could add them to a variety of foods… hummus (chipotle hummus), blended into marinades (slow cooker chipotle chicken?), diced into soup, diced into enchiladas… anything that’s in the Mexican food family would be great!
You mention using garlic in the blog post but in the actual recipe I do not see garlic listed as an ingredient. How much garlic did you use?
Oh my goodness! I use 1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic. I’ll get that updated ASAP – thank you so much for letting me know!