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Ready in 15 minutes, this Cafe Rio black beans recipe is perfect for tacos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, or a protein-packed side dish.
What You’ll Love About This Cafe Rio Black Beans Recipe:
- Simple Ingredients: This recipe uses basic ingredients to create a delicious side dish. You’ll take plain black beans to the next level with this recipe.
- Quick and Easy: The total time to make this recipe is just fifteen minutes. With our hack of using canned beans, there is no need to pre-soak the beans. It is an ideal recipe for busy weeknights.
- Versatile Recipe: These black beans are the perfect addition to your tacos, burritos, and salads. Or they make the perfect side dish to complement your Mexican-inspired meals.
Ingredients:
Here’s what you’ll need to make these copycat Cafe Rio black beans.
- Canned black beans – If you’d like, you can use homemade cooked black beans.
- Cumin – Cumin has a subtle nutty undertone that contrasts nicely with the black beans’ natural richness.
- Garlic – Instead of garlic cloves, you can use ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Olive oil – Instead of olive oil, you can use avocado oil.
- Tomato juice – If you don’t have tomato juice, you can use tomato sauce.
- Salt & pepper – These seasonings are essential to the flavor of the beans. Please don’t leave them out.
- Baking soda – The baking soda will keep the black beans vibrant and prevent them from turning mushy.
- Cilantro – This adds a nice bright flavor to the beans.
How To Make Cafe Rio Black Beans:
***This is just a teaser! To see the complete ingredient list and step-by-step instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Heat cumin, garlic, and olive oil in a pot for 1 minute on medium heat.
- Add black beans, tomato juice, salt, pepper, and baking soda. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped fresh cilantro.
- Serve.
Make It A Meal:
Our favorite way to enjoy this great side dish is by adding the beans to our Copycat Cafe Rio Salad. We have everything you need for the salad with our Copycat Cafe Rio recipes.
- Cafe Rio sweet pork
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Guacamole
- Cafe Rio Dressing
Serving & Storage:
SERVE: These beans are best when served fresh immediately after cooking them. Serve them with tortilla chips, in burritos, or alongside other Mexican dishes.
STORE: Store the leftover beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
FREEZE: You can freeze these beans. Keep them in an airtight container for up to three months. Take them out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge overnight, the day before you want to use them.
Recipe FAQs:
Do black beans have to be soaked before cooking?
Typically, you do need to soak dry beans. However, with our recipe, there is no need to soak beans before cooking them. We use canned beans to make this a super quick and easy recipe.
Are canned black beans cooked?
Yes, canned black beans are already cooked. Cooking them again with this recipe makes them taste just like they make them at Cafe Rio in less time and at a fraction of the cost.
Should I rinse canned black beans?
We use the liquid from one of the cans for this recipe. With the second can, you will want to drain and rinse the beans before adding them to the pot.
More Copycat Recipes:
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Hawaiian Shrimp
- Movie Theater Popcorn
Cafe Rio Black Beans Recipe
Equipment
- cooking pot
- Mixing spoon
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drain and rinse only one can
- 2 teaspoons of cumin
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 Tablespoons of olive oil
- ½ cup tomato juice
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ teaspoon of pepper
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Instructions
MAKE BLACK BEANS:
- Add the cumin, minced garlic, and olive oil into a cooking pot and cook on medium heat for 1 minute.
- Add the black beans, tomato juice, salt and pepper and baking soda and cook down for 5 minutes. Adding the baking soda will keep the vibrant color of the black beans.
GARNISH, AND SERVE:
- Stir in the chopped cilantro.
- Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
