Charro Beans Soup & Carne Asada ( frijoles Charros) will show up together most of the time at an evening outdoor party in the Northeast region of the country where I am from. I know some call them "Cowboy beans" on this side of the border, but believe me, the Mexican recipe is a little different.
Authentic Mexican Charro Beans Soup Recipe
In Mexico, a Carne Asada party just takes a couple of phone calls from relatives, friends or “compadres” to organize a plan to see who will bring in the steaks, drinks, salsas, guacamole, tortillas, onion, and the charro beans soup pot.
Charro beans soup cooked with beer
And if you add a cup or two of beer to the pot of charro beans soup they become “frijoles borrachos” (drunken beans). Steakhouse restaurants in Mexico will bring this soup to your table before your meat dish without you even asking for it. The soup by itself is a hearty dish to have on a cold winter day.
I love to make extra to store in the freezer. They taste even better when you reheat it. Plus, it's really handy for those cold days when you don't feel like cooking, just defrost it, and serve with warm tortillas. Charro beans soup is made with pintos beans, bacon, chorizo, ham and a rich tomato-based sauce.
Here is a basic recipe the way I prepare Frijoles Charros in my kitchen, you can add other meats to the soup, that is what most cooks do, right? Personalize and adjust to your taste. Sometimes I add pork rinds or sliced hot dogs sausages, too.
How to Make Charro Beans Recipe
Notes
- Some cooks also add pork rinds in small pieces to their Charro Bean soup.
- ** Cooking the beans:
- To cook the beans place 2 cups of dry beans, ¼ of a medium white onion, 2 peeled garlic cloves and 8 cups of water in a large pot. To cook for about 2 hours or a little bit longer until they are tender. Soaking the beans overnight will speed up this process. I usually use my pressure cooker and they are done in 30 minutes.
- You can also use canned Pinto beans
Charro Bean Soup Instructions:
- Place the beans and its broth in a large stockpot and set aside.
- Fry the bacon and chorizo in a skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes. If you prefer to cook the bacon first until it gets crispy and remove the fat, then add the chorizo to cook with the bacon. I just like to cook them together. At this time add the ham or other meats like ½ a cup of diced hotdog sausages and 1 cup of pork cracklings, if using them.
- After 5 minutes add the onion, garlic, and pepper and fry for 2 more minutes.
- Stir in the Chopped tomato and cook, stirring occasionally for an additional 8 minutes.
- Once the tomato has released its juices stir in this mixture to the pot with the beans. And simmer for about 15 minutes, to blend the flavors. Add water if necessary. The consistency shouldn’t be thick.
- Add salt — to adjust taste — and chopped cilantro right before serving.
Charro Beans Recipe
Serve the Charro Bean soup in large bowls and warm tortillas.
HOW TO MAKE CHARRO BEANS SOUP
Ingredients
- 6 cups of already cooked pinto beans with their broth **
- ¼ onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 ½ oz. chorizo
- 3 ½ oz. bacon chopped
- 2 large tomatoes chopped about 2 ½ cups
- 2 serrano peppers chopped
- 1 cup of cilantro chopped
Optional:
- 3 ½ oz. cooked ham chopped & 1 cup pork cracklings
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the beans and its broth in a large stockpot and set aside.
- Fry the bacon and chorizo in a skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes. If you prefer to cook the bacon first until it gets crispy and remove the fat, then add the chorizo to cook with the bacon. I just like to cook them together. At this time add ham and other meats like one ½ of diced hotdog sausages and 1 cup of pork cracklings, if using them.
- After 5 minutes add the onion, garlic, and pepper and fry for 2 more minutes.
- Stir in the Chopped tomato and cook, stirring occasionally for an additional 8 minutes.
- Once the tomato has released its juices stir in this mixture to the pot with the beans. Add ham and pork crackling is using at this time. And simmer for about 15 minutes, to blend the flavors. Add water if necessary. The consistency shouldn’t be thick.
- Add salt — to adjust taste — and chopped cilantro right before serving.
Serve in large bowls and warm tortillas.
Notes
Nutrition
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
Share on your social networks; it only takes 5 seconds. Thanks!
More recipes:
Mexican Steak Tartare
Steak Quesadilla
En español Frijoles Charros Receta.
Martha E. Trevino
my mom, her mother and her grandma made delicious frijoles a la charra. They did not include chorizo, but cueritos (the raw pork rinds) were always part of their recipe, and now mine as well. They also added 1/2 cup of pork lard and the beans and broth tasted incredibly-delicious. The last 15 minutes of cooking, they also added 4 serrano peppers-whole-because the children did not like the hot beans. That way, the adults who liked the spicy beans, simply got one of the serrano peppers and mashed it with a fork, making their beans hot. Seeing your recipe brought back so many memories of my beloved family cooking the huge jarro of beans on a daily basis. In my family, we have always used the fresh garlic cloves, the cumin seed, the molcajete, variety of peppers, coriander,... Congratulations on your magnificent blog, Mely. You are sincerely a trailblazer with all those Mexican dishes you highlight. Thank you for not allowing those culinary gems to be lost and forgotten.
mmartinez
Hello Martha,
Thanks a lot for sharing all those valuable tips. I'm sure many people will benefit from them and apply them to their dishes. Again, thank you for your kind words.
QIANA
Very authentic recipe. I wish Mely you kept this site a secret- half of these recipes are are what I learned to cook from scratch from my mother in law over 15 years of cooking but there is a catch practice makes perfect.
mmartinez
Hello Qiana,
Thank you for visiting, I'm glad to know you enjoy the recipes. Enjoy cooking them.
Mitchell Leatherman
Me and my wife are (Dominicana) went to a Mexican restaurant and they served charros before the meal and we fell in love with it. So I looked up how to make it and came across this recipe and we think it's better than the one at the restaurant! So much flavor and perfect kick from the Serrano peppers not overwhelming. I did add more bacon and Cajun andouille sausage because that's just a personal preference but this has incredible flavor! Always excited to eat thank you for the great recipe!
Mitchell Leatherman
My wife is not me
Candace
The best Frijoles Charros recipe I've ever tried! Thank you for sharing!
Dianne
Where does the chile serrano go though?
Delicious and super easy!
Mely Martínez
Hello Dianne,
If you check the recipe box, in step 3, it indicates about the pepper.
Elyce
This recipe is awesome, everyone loved it