Brazilian Pinto Beans
AMAZING Brazilian style pinto beans. Deep smokey flavor, creamy beans and the most flavorful broth! This recipe does not require a pressure cooker.
Servings: 8 servings
Equipment
- Dutch Oven/ Heavy Pot
Ingredients
- 16 oz dried pinto beans, rinsed
- 8 cups water
- 4 oz pork belly (fat), (alt: pancetta or bacon) cubed (small)
- 1 small white onion, diced (small)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
Seasoning & Spices
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp each, paprika and coriander
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Quick Soaking Instructions
- SHOULD YOU DECIDE LAST MINUTE TO MAKE THIS RECIPE AND YOU NO LONGER HAVE 18-24 HOURS TO PRE-SOAK THE BEANS, USE THIS METHOD. IT WORKS REALLY WELL!
- Wash and drain the beans. Transfer to a large pot (you can use the same pot that you will be cooking the beans). Add 4 cups of water, cover and bring to a boil.
- When the water is boiling, turn off the heat and let the beans soak for an hour.
- When the time is up, drain and rinse the beans. Set aside
Brazilian Pinto Beans (Recipe)
- Place your dutch oven or heavy pot on stove and turn heat to medium-high. Add in the small bits of cut up pork belly. Alternativerly you can use pancetta, bacon or even bacon grease for flavoring. The key is to use some type of animal fat. Sauté for about 5-7 minutes, stirring often until the pork belly bits are golden brown and crispy.
- Add in onion. Lower the heat to medium-low. Saute the onions until translucent. Add garlic, tomato paste, and all the seasonings beside the salt and bay leaves. Give it a good mix.
- Add pinto beans to the pot and 8 cups of water. Stir everything up and add in bay leaves.
- Cover the pot about 95% of the way, leaving a small opening for the steam to be release. Cook for 1 hour and half to 2 hours, stirring occasionally more often towards the end.
- Beans are done when soft upon squeezing and broth is creamy and has thicken a bit. Most of the liquid will have reduced by now. Add in salt and mix well. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Notes
NOTE: Depending on how old your beans are they may cook within an 1 h and 1/2 but they may take up two 2 hours. Keep on checking toward the last half hour to make sure it has reached a good consistency where the beans are soft and most importantly the broth isn't very liquidy anymore but rather creamy and slightly thick (it will thicken more later on or the next day). Most of the liquid will be reduced to a creamy broth that is leveled with the beans (as per photos).