Cuban Style Red Beans

Cuban red beans are called frijoles colorados in Spanish. They are typically served with white rice as a side dish or as a standalone thick bean soup.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Cuban

Keyword frijoles colorados, red beans

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2 20

Quick soak the beans 1 10

Total Time 3 40

Servings

Calories 623kcal

Author Elizabeth

Ingredients

12 ounces Dried Red Beans we used small red beans
10 cups of Water plus water for soaking the beans
1-1½ pounds Smoked Sliced Ham Shanks or use ham hocks, or a meaty ham bone rinsed to remove excess salt
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion finely diced
3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
2 tablespoon Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon Salt plus extra if needed at the end
½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
½ teaspoon Ground Cumin
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
1½ tablespoons Chicken Base like Better than Bouillon

Instructions

Prepare the beans for cooking

Sort through the beans and remove any misshaped or off-color beans and any foreign objects like small stones and twigs.
Rinse the beans with cold water. Soak them using the quick soak or the overnight method (refer to post above section “prepare the beans for cooking”).

Prepare a sofrito

Heat the olive oil in a 10 inch (preferably non-stick) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Next, Add the garlic, tomato paste, salt, dried oregano, ground cumin, and black pepper, stir to combine.
Cook the sofrito for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Make the beans

Add the beans, 10 cups of water, ham shanks, the prepared sofrito, and the chicken base to a large pot, stir well to combine.
Set the pot over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Stir occasionally and keep it at a simmer, raise or lower the heat as needed.
Uncover the beans, remove the smoked ham, and set them on a plate or cutting board to cool.
Cover the beans and continue cooking while you chop the ham.
When the smoked pork is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bone. Discard the bones and any fatty pieces. Chop the meat into bite sized pieces and return it to the pot.
Continue cooking the beans (covered) for another 15-20 minutes. Try a couple of beans to determine how close to done they are. If the beans are still quite firm, cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes. Then, try them again.
When the beans are soft, uncover the pot to allow the liquid to thicken. This process can take from 35-55 minutes, depending on how much liquid is in the pot and how thick you want them.
Keep the beans at a simmer. Raise or lower the heat as needed. Stir occasionally at first then as they thicken stir more often to keep from burning on the bottom.
Taste the beans and add salt if needed as a reference we added ¼ teaspoon to ours. Serve with white rice or crusty bread, if desired.

Notes

The cooking time for the beans will vary depending on their freshness. When cooking beans, follow the recipe cooking times, check the beans by tasting one or two, and then add half an hour at a time until they’re done.
The beans will thicken as they cook. They will thicken further as they cool so try not to take them too far.
If they are not thickening as quick as you’d like, remove roughly 1 cup of beans with a strainer and mash them with a fork. Then, add them back to the pot. Stir and continue cooking them until they reach the desired consistency.

Nutrition