What Are Pinto beans and How Can I Use Them?
If pinto beans have turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use them with confidence and how to choose them, cook them, store them, what to substitute, and 289 recipes to try them in.
What are pinto beans?
Pinto and pink beans, although related and used interchangeably in recipes, do not look alike. The Pintos are pale pink, speckled with brown. The pink beans are smoother and more brownish red than the name implies, and are sometimes called “red Mexican” or “red miners”. Both varieties turn red-brown during cooking.
When called for in a recipe, unless otherwise specified, the ingredient is normally canned prepared pinto beans. You may wish to prepare them from dried beans yourself, which is much more cost effective.
Dried Bean Purchasing Guide
Dried beans should be clean, uniform in size and quality. Today dried beans are usually sold pre-packaged and a reliable brand will guarentee clean, uniformly sized beans.
1 pound, raw = approximately 2 1/3 cups
1 pound, cooked = approximately 6 cups
Storage
After opening the package place the unused beans in a clean, tightly covered container and store on the pantry shelf.
Kitchen shelf: 1 year
Refrigerator shelf, cooked, covered: 3 to 4 days
Refrigerator freezer, cooked beans and cooked bean dishes, prepare for freezing: 1 month
Deep Freezer, cooked beans and cooked bean dishes, prepared for freezing: 4 to 6 months
Basic Preparation
Packaged beans are usually sorted and washed before packaging, so need only be rinsed.
Bean bought in bulk should be sorted carefully, discarding broken and defective beans, and washed until the water runs clear.
It's a good idea to soak the beans to replace some of the water lost during the drying process.
In general, if directions are not given on the package, use the amount of water called for in the recipe; save the nutritious soaking water to use in cooking the beans.
There are two ways of soaking dried beans:
Quick method: Measure the soaking water into a large, heavy pot. Add the washed beans and bring to the boil. Cover the pot and cook for 2 minutes; remove from heat and let stand for one hour, then cook according to recipe directions.
Overnight method: Measure the soaking water into a large pot; add washed beans; cover pot, and let stand for 6 to 8 hours. To prevent souring and hard skins the two minute boil above is recommended even when the beans are soaked overnight.
Add one teaspoon of salt per cup of soaked beans. If ham, bacon or salt pork is to be added use a smaller amount of salt.
Always try to cook in the soaking water. Cover the pot and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer according to the recipe.
Stir carefully but not too often to avoid breaking apart the beans. When done they should hold their shape as well as be tender. Cooking time can range from 20 minutes to 1 ½ hours depending on the type of bean and how long they have been stored.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size cup (240g)Where found
Pinto beans are usually found in the canned goods section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.
Food group
Pinto beans are a member of the Legumes and Legume Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.
How much do pinto beans weigh?
| Amount | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | 240 grams |
Related
Legumes and Legume Products
| In Chinese: | 斑豆 | |
| British (UK) term: | ||
| en français: | haricots pinto | |
| en español: | frijoles pinto |
Recipes using pinto beans
There are 289 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Chasing Chili
Chasing chili builds a slow-simmered base with ground beef chuck, lean pork, soaked pinto beans, and whole cumin seeds. A two-meat, scratch-bean chili built for a crowd.
Brownsville Chili
Texas-style Brownsville chili with ground beef, dried pinto beans, jalapeños, and a hint of cinnamon. A border-town big-batch chili serving up to 32 with that distinctive sweet-savory backbone.
Chili Super Bowl
Big-batch Super Bowl chili with ground beef, pinto beans, and tomato juice base, simmered low for hours with a deep spice blend of cumin, cayenne, and paprika. Feeds a crowd.
Alamo Chili
A simple but savory chili made with succulent stewing beef, pinto beans and jalapeno peppers.
Bullard's Best Yet Chili
Bullard's chili pairs lean venison with pork in a hearty bowl of pinto beans, tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro, seasoned with chili powder and cumin. A from-scratch wild game chili worth cracking a beer for.
Beef & Beans
Slow cooker beef and beans with cubed chuck, salt pork, and pinto beans simmered in tomato paste, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Old-school cowboy comfort food, low and slow until the beef pulls apart.
Pinto Bean & Feta Cheese Quesadillas
Pinto bean and feta cheese quesadillas with a chunky bean puree seasoned with jalapeno, cumin, chili powder, and red onion. A hearty vegetarian quesadilla with a Mediterranean-Mexican mash-up.
Modified Chili Con Carne
A from-scratch chili con carne made with dried pinto beans, lean ground beef, and a smoky blend of cumin, oregano, and chili powder. Simmers into a thick, soul-warming bowl that's lower in sodium than most.
Cowboy Pintos Vegan
Cowboy pintos are a hearty vegan bean pot: dried pintos slow-simmered with tomatoes, onion, carrot, celery, thyme and cilantro until creamy. Spoon it over rice or barley for a stick-to-your-ribs meatless bowl.
Arcadian Eight Bean Chili
Arcadian eight bean chili packs six bean varieties, ground beef, bacon, and dried poblanos into a smoky simmered crowd-feeder. Cinnamon and coriander give this chili an unexpected depth.
Franks' Chili Beans
Old-fashioned chili beans from scratch with dried pinto beans, ground beef, red chili sauce, and a splash of vinegar. A six-hour slow simmer for deep, rich, no-shortcuts flavor.
Chunky Vegetarian Chili
Chunky vegetarian chili packed with kidney beans, pinto beans, corn, and rice cooked right in the pot. Mexican-style tomatoes plus chili powder and cumin make a hearty one-pot meal in 45 minutes.
Amy's Chili with Hominy (Vegan)
Amy's vegan chili with hominy, pinto beans, chickpeas, zucchini, and a hint of molasses for depth. The dump-and-simmer one-pot weeknight chili that's hearty enough to skip the meat entirely.
Bandera Chili
Texas Bandera chili with ground chuck, tomato sauce, lite beer, and jalapeño pinto beans. Bold chili powder and a long simmer build the kind of deep, beefy stew that gets better the next day.
Aaron's Hillbilly Chili
Hillbilly chili made the back-porch way: ground beef, pinto beans, crushed tomatoes, and a splash of jalapeño pickling liquid for kick. A no-fuss Appalachian-style chili finished with vinegar.
Best Texas Chili
An easy slow-cooker beef chili loaded with pinto beans, tomatoes, and chili powder. Quick-saute the aromatics, then let the crockpot do the rest for a hearty, crowd-sized pot, finished with shredded cheddar.
Cheese Enchiladas with New Mexican Chile Sauce
This is a cheese enchilada casserole. Beans, cheese, onions, Mexican chile sauce (not very spicy) and corn tortillas are layered in a casserole and then it's baked in the oven until bubbly.
Cheese Enchiladas with New Mexican Chile Sauce
This is a cheese enchilada casserole. Beans, cheese, onions, Mexican chile sauce (not very spicy) and corn tortillas are layered in a casserole and then it's baked in the oven until bubbly.
Toasted Pita & Pinto Bean Salad
Crispy toasted pita bread with seasoned pinto beans, diced cucumber, tomato and fresh lettuce, easy and tasty.
Amarillo Chili
Texas-style green chile chili with bacon, beef, pork, and whole green chiles. Simmers for 2 hours until thick and smoky, finished with pinto beans.
Abilene Texas Chili
Abilene Texas chili simmers ground beef and beans in a tomato vegetable juice base with paprika, cumin, cayenne, and Mexican oregano. Hearty bean-style Texas chili that feeds a crowd of 16.
Bean Patties
Crispy pinto bean patties with cheddar and Worcestershire on whole wheat buns, topped with a tangy yogurt-horseradish sauce. Vegetarian burgers in 20 minutes.
Taco Bean Salad
Quite tasty and filling. I used black bean instead of pinto beans, I also squeezed half of the lime juice into the dressing, and I omitted the tomatoes that I didn't have on hand. I did think a ripe yet juice tomatoes would add more great flavor. Served it on a bed of lettuce and home-baked tortilla chips.
