Charro Beans

Also known as Frijoles Charros (which translates to “cowboy beans” in Spanish), these beans are a classic Mexican dish that are well loved. They are like Texas-style BBQ baked beans but without BBQ sauce and sugar, making it a more savory bean dish.

The flavorful beans work so well with different flavors and meals. While it’s popular to enjoy the beans with a fresh, warm tortilla, you can also eat them with grilled meat from beef to chicken and even shrimp. Because they add such a hearty and savory element to the plate, they work well as a side to enchiladas and fajitas as well. Imagine things you would normally put refried beans on the side of, you can also use charro beans. They give a different, spicy, more savory flavor that you’re going to love!

What Are Charro Beans?

A traditional Mexican dish named after Mexican cowboys, charro beans are a classic side dish made up of pinto beans that are cooked with garlic, onion, and bacon, as well as a handful of spices. These beans are cooked to more of a thin, soupy consistency, meaning that the beans are left whole and floating in a little bit of liquid.

Charro beans are similar to the dish ‘borracho beans’ but also different. Although they have many of they same ingredients, the main difference of the two is that the liquid of the borracho beans comes from pouring in beer, hence where the name “borracho” comes from, “drunk” in Spanish.

How to Make Charro Beans

Soak the beans – Before you begin cooking, soak your beans. Start this process the night before. Soak the beans 8 hours. Alternate option is a quick soak, do this by bringing water to a boil, add beans. Take off the heat and cover with the lid for 1 hour.

Cook bacon – Once you’ve soaked the beans, cook the bacon, crumble, and set aside.

Add remaining ingredients – Sauté the onion and add the rest of the ingredients except the cilantro and cooked bacon. Simmer until done.

Serve – Stir in the bacon and top with cilantro, then serve!

Finish it off – As an optional step, top with fresh jalapeño slices, cheese, pico, salsa, sour cream, and/or cilantro.

Tips and Suggestions

Add the bacon at the end: Most charro beans recipes will have you cook the bacon and have it simmer in the beans. This makes the bacon lose its crispness. I like to cook the bacon in the same pot so you still get the bacon flavor, but I remove the bacon while the beans are cooking and then cut them up and add them back in later. I am a fan of crispy bacon so I add it at the very end.

Add ham or chorizo: I am happy with just adding bacon on the beans but you can also add ham cubes or chorizo to beef it up even more.

Kick up the heat: feel free to add an entire can of jalapeños to the recipe to spice it up.

Try it in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot

This can also be made in the IP or Crock Pot: Crock Pot: add rinsed, dried beans (no need to soak) and all ingredients except for the cooked bacon pieces and cilantro to the crock pot and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until beans are completely tender. Stir occasionally and add more beef broth if necessary. Stir in bacon and cilantro at the end.

For the instant pot, use the sauté setting and cook the bacon until crisp, then remove and chop. Add onion and sauté until onions are clear (about 5 minutes). Add remaining ingredients except cooked bacon and cilantro and cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. Slow release 20 minutes, then quick release. Stir in bacon and cilantro at the end.