These Quick and Easy Black Beans, which start with a shortcut of canned beans, don’t require the long soaking or cooking time of dry beans and can be on the table in under 15 minutes. They’re perfect for a quick addition to any Latin-inspired meal- alone as a side dish, served over rice, or in fajitas or tacos. Try them on top of taco chicken, topped with slices of creamy avocado and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Enjoy!
Ingredient Notes:
Onion – I like yellow onion, but white or even purple would be just fine.
Broth – You’ll use a little broth for the liquid in this recipe. I prefer the flavor component of chicken broth, but you could substitute beef broth, vegetable broth, or even just use water in a pinch.
How to make Quick and Easy Black Beans
- The first thing we’ll do is sauté some aromatics that will provide the flavor base for this recipe. Cook some onions and garlic in olive oil for just a few minutes, until they’re slightly translucent.
2. We’ll then add 2 cans of black beans that have been drained and rinsed. Any brand of black beans will work well here. At this point you’ll also add some broth for the beans to simmer in, along with some dry spices: cumin, coriander, oregano, salt, and pepper. They only simmer for a few minutes for all the flavors to come together and that’s it!
3. When the beans come off the heat, add a squeeze of fresh lime juice. It adds a fresh brightness. The flavor here is rich and complex and it’s hard to believe they’ve come together in about 10 minutes! If you like your beans more deconstructed like I do, just take the back of a spoon and smash them up a little bit. The smashed beans thicken the entire pot and you can add more broth as needed to get to your desired consistency.
There you have it– Quick and Easy Black Beans that are on the table in a matter of minutes, the perfect addition to any Latin-insipred meal!
Serving Suggestions
Here are some of my favorite recipes that pair well with this recipe: Brazilian Style White Rice
Fajitas
Tortillas
Taco Chicken
Guacamole
Lime-cilantro rice
FAQs
- Can these beans be made ahead of time? Absolutely! Beans reheat beautifully on the stovetop or in the microwave. If you’re short on time, feel free to make them a day ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- How long do they keep in the fridge? Eat leftovers within 5-7 days.
Did you make this?
Try this recipe and come back to give it a rating. I also love it when you share pictures on Instagram and tag me so I can see!
Quick and Easy Black Beans
Ingredients
- 2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon oil olive or avocado recommended
- 2/3 cup finely diced onion
- 2-3 garlic cloves pressed or finely minced
- 1 cup chicken broth can sub beef/veg broth or even water, more if desired
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 lime
Instructions
- In a saucepan on the stove, heat the olive oil to med-high heat. Sauté onions for about 3 minutes or until they just start to become translucent. Add garlic and sauté abut 30 seconds more.
- Add beans, broth, and remaining seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover, cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and add in a few squeezes of fresh lime juice. If desired for thicken consistency, use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to smash some of the beans. They will continue to thicken more upon standing, feel free to add more liquid as desired.
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
This is simply delicious. My husband didn’t care for black beans. Now he craves them!
I had to come back and tell you that I did 6x’s the regular recipe and they were a HUGE hit! I gave the recipe to multiple people, they couldn’t wait to make them themselves. Thank you for all of your amazing recipes!
awesome! thanks for coming back and letting me know!
Have you ever made this for a crowd? Would tripling the recipe be ok? This is my FAVE recipe for black beans and I’m going to do a taco bar with your taco chicken for my daughter’s missionary homecoming in a few weeks. Just wondering if you’ve ever made it in large batches and then put in a crockpot to keep warm? I know you have a slow cooker recipe on here for beans but non-canned beans scare me. 😉
Oh ya you can multiply this by like 1000 haha. go for it!
Thanks! I may put up a little sign at the bar that says “Brought to you by Our Best Bites”, since all of my recipes are coming from your site. You’re the best! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Can I add cilantro to recipe? And do I add at the end?
You can ALWAYS add cilantro to our recipes, haha. JK but seriously we love our cilantro! You can definitely add it, and yep- just stir it in at the very end off the heat!
How would you convert this recipe to use dry beans in an instant pot? This is our favorite recipe for black beans — we love it, and we’re not normally bean fans.
Wonderful! I’ve been looking for a black bean recipe that tasted like this for a long time. I’ve finally found it. Thank you! The mix of spices are perfectly subtle, yet savory and yummy.
I did make a few changes. I can’t eat onions. Reflux, ugh! So I replaced the onions with a carrot and a rib of celery, very finely chopped. Then I put a bit of onion powder which seems to be okay for me.
Delicious. A new staple in our house.
This looks delicious! Do you think it’s possible to make this recipe in the crockpot still using canned beans? If so, how would you do it? Thanks!!
Thank you for this easy and delicious recipe! It was a big hit with a vegetarian teenager and with a child who thought he hated beans.
OMG Thank you! I know this is a “simple” recipe but it was perfect and soooo good! I made myself an open face broiled tuna sandwich for dinner and wasn’t sure what I wanted for a side…I had a can of black beans and wasn’t sure what to do. I did a pinterest search, this came up and I made it. It is absolutely delicious! And, I believe, will be perfect for the 21 day fix! 😀
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them!
Do you have a recipe for Brazilian rice?
I don’t have a recipe per-say, but to cook rice like a Brazilian, saute some onion and garlic in a little olive oil in a pan and then add your dry rice and saute everything until the rice starts to turn golden. Add boiling water after that and continue to cook like normal 🙂
What a great recipe! Fast, easy, healthy, and so tasty! My family loved it. We tried making Brazilian cheese bread, but yeah, we’ll need to work on that recipe. But I’m glad we had these black beans to make the dinner good. 🙂
You can see my post about it here: http://busymomrecipes.com/dinner/quick-and-easy-black-beans/
Aww man! I just made and served this along with your cilantro-lime rice. (And some killer enchiladas) Amid all the raves, I had to come clean and tell everyone it was not, in fact, my own recipe. I was famous for 2 minutes anyway.
I love these black beans! I love eating them all on their own, but now we’ve discovered they make a really good hot black bean dip if I pulse the finished beans a couple of times in the food processor some cheddar cheese. Then I top with more cheese and warm it in the oven to melt the cheese. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m a bean-aholic and these look great. I can’t wait to try them! I would love it if you posted the pressure cooker/crock pot version as well. I like to make a large quantity of beans at once and I also find it easier to just do them in the crock pot in the morning. One less thing to do in the pre-dinner rush. Thanks for the recipe!
Made these black beans tonight as a bbq side dish and they were amazing!!!! Added one can Rotel (Mexican variety) and fresh cilantro….best black beans ever!!!
I just had to let you know that these are by far the greatest beans I’ve ever eaten in my life. Everyone I make them for is in HEAVEN!!!! thank you for the fabulous recipe!!
DELICIOUS! I added some cilantro and voila! Thanks for some great black beans
OMG!!! So good. Just made these a few hours ago and I’m so pleased! I’m Brazilian-American and my mother used to have a Brazilian restaurant – so I know good black beans! 😉 I’m just sad that I only discovered this now. It would have been helpful to have had this recipe on hand during the last two years of grad school. Thank you and keep up the great recipes!
Such a compliment! I’m so glad you love them as much as I do!