Frijoles de Olla

Pot beans simmered with onion and epazote-scented aromatics. Cooked from scratch, so you control the salt.

45 min4 servingsMexican
Frijoles de Olla — Mexican recipe, finished and plated

Discover smart recipes

Sign up on Homecooked to cook this recipe as the chef intended, with parallel steps and built-in timers guiding you along the way. Stock your pantry to discover more recipes you can cook with the ingredients you have at home.

Join Homecooked

Ingredients

  • 400 g Pinto beans
  • 1 Onion
  • 4 cloves Garlic
  • 2 Tomato
  • 2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp Ground cumin
  • 0.6 tsp Salt
  • 1 Bay leaves (optional)
  • 4 tbsp Cilantro (optional)
  • 1 Jalapeno (optional)

Method

  1. Halve the onion; smash the garlic. Simmer the beans with half the onion, the garlic, and the bay leaf in plenty of unsalted water until very tender, about 30 minutes.
  2. Finely dice the remaining onion and the tomato; slice the jalapeño.
  3. Fry the diced onion in the oil with the cumin until soft, then add the tomato and cook to a rough sauce.
  4. Ladle in a cup of the beans with their liquid, mash lightly, then stir the sofrito back into the pot with the salt and simmer 5 minutes to marry.
  5. Fish out the bay leaf and onion halves, then serve scattered with cilantro.

About Frijoles de Olla

Frijoles de Olla is a Mexican lunch or dinner that comes together in about 45 minutes and serves 4.

Frijoles de Olla: frequently asked questions

Is Frijoles de Olla gluten-free?

Based on its ingredients, Frijoles de Olla has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.

How long does Frijoles de Olla take to make?

About 45 minutes start to finish, but only around 11 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.

Do I need every ingredient to make Frijoles de Olla?

The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out bay leaves, cilantro, jalapeno — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.

How many servings does Frijoles de Olla make?

This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.