Puerto Rican Style Pinto Beans
April 11, 2022 • Beans & Grains, Side Dishes
Nearly a decade ago I wrote a post declaring the very best way to cook dried beans. At the time, I truly believed that was the best technique. But that was before my son gave me an Instant Pot for Christmas and before I discovered how great it is to cook beans using a pressure cooker. That was also long before I started dating a man whose entire family is from Puerto Rico. So with my new knowledge of using the pressure cooker and his family’s recipe for pinto beans, I created this dish.
To cook dried beans in the Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker), remove any cracked beans or stones that made their way into the mix, then combine 1 pound dried pinto beans with 8 cups of water in the Instant Pot. Add a half of an onion and a few bay leaves, then cook on pressure cooker high setting for 25 minutes. Let the steam release naturally if you like your beans very soft, or release the pressure manually if you prefer them a bit more firm. Discard the bay leaves and onion. This will yield 6 cups of cooked beans, so save what you don’t use in this recipe by putting the cooked beans along with cooking liquid into a covered container and freezing.
- 3 cups cooked pinto beans
- ½ cup of the bean cooking liquid
- ¼ cup sofrito
- 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
- Salt and pepper
- Cooked white rice
- Combine the beans with the cooking liquid and tomato sauce and bring to a slow simmer. Add the potato pieces and simmer for about 45 minutes until the potato is also tender, adding a bit more water as needed. The mixture should be saucy.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve over white rice. This recipe is a perfect side dish for pernil!