Cinco de Mayo Charro, or “Borracho” Beans

Charro, or Borracho Beans

I spent a good amount of time the other night cooking almost five pounds of burger and over a pound of ground turkey to make the taco filling for my employer’s Cinco de Mayo Taco Bar Potluck. For some insane reason, I also signed up to make some Charro beans for the potluck portion. The team I’m on pitches in all the taco makings (such as the taco meats I cooked), and since I’m on the organizing team I really didn’t have to do that. But I did. So there I was, all in a sweat after work, with four to five pots and pans cooking a variety of ingredients at the same time.  I posted this recipe over a year ago embedded within my Grilled Tri-Tip Steak recipe, so thought I’d dredge it back up for you so you can take a gander at it and see if this is something you would like to make for your own Cinco de Mayo fest! I tried to clarify my directions from a year ago, so I hope that helps.

This is a tried and true Tex-Mex recipe. These beans are served all over the Austin area, but I’ve found nary a restaurant serving this in my dinky Pacific Northwest town. In a nutshell, they are dried pinto beans cooked for a long time with a spicy tomato-chile mixture, along with bacon or some kind of pork. My version reduces the cooking time greatly by using a pressure cooker. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, increase the cooking time by several hours, adding water as needed. The difference between Charro beans and Borracho beans is that you add a bottle of Mexican beer to the the Charro beans. Borracho means “drunk” in Mexican, lol. Enjoy!

Cinco de Mayo Charro, or “Borracho” Beans

2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight and rinsed
2 cups homemade or low salt chicken broth (or sub all water)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 slices cooked bacon, chopped (or 2 tablespoons bacon bits)
1 can Ro*Tel tomatoes (or diced tomatoes and green chiles)
Black pepper to taste
1 bottle or can of beer (preferably Mexican)
Large handful of cilantro, chopped, and more for garnish

Dried Pinto Beans (Soaked and Rinsed)

After soaking and rinsing the beans overnight, add them to a pressure cooker with the chicken broth and enough water to cover the beans by an inch or so. Cover the pot with its lid tightly with the pressure regulator on top, and heat over medium high heat until the regulator begins to rock. Turn the heat down until regulator is rocking gently, then cook for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the oil, garlic, and bacon to a heated skillet and saute until the onion starts to get translucent. Add the can of Ro*Tel tomatoes and grind a bunch of  black pepper over it, cook for about five minutes longer, then set aside.

After the beans have cooked 25 minutes, take the pot off the heat and let the pressure reduce on its own. Do  not cool it by running under water, as you will have to let the pressure come down naturally or you will have a foaming mess on your hands. This will take about 15 or 20 minutes. When you can open the lid easily, stir in the tomato mixture, and beer (if using). Take a potato masher or the back of a spoon and smoosh some of the beans to help thicken up the broth. Cook  for another half hour or so.

Garnish with additional cilantro,  if you prefer. This makes a mess of beans, but they are so yummy you’ll find they will disappear quickly. Eat them in a taco or burrito, or sop them up with tortilla chips. These taste even better the next day, too.  Olé!