Borracho Beans

Savory, saucy pinto beans cooked low and slow with pork, spices and beer. THE PERFECT side dish recipe for your next Mexican feast!

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The development of this recipe was sponsored by Hurst's Beans. As always, all opinions are my own.

What in the WORLD are borracho beans?? That’s what I asked myself one night when I was scrolling through Pinterest and came across a photo of a pot of beans that caught my eye. A few internet searches later and I discovered three things:

1. ‘Borracho’ is Spanish for ‘drunk’.
2. Borracho Beans are pinto beans cooked low and slow with pork, Mexican spices and… BEER!
3. I had to make some. Immediately.

Y’all know how much I love dried beans but you may not know that I also really, seriously, absolutely, dearly love beer. With all the microbreweries and IPAs popping up all over the place, beer has become the new “it” thing in libations but I loved beer long before it was cool.

It’s 8:32 on a cool October morning and my mouth is watering just thinking about how crisp and refreshing an ice-cold beer is on a hot afternoon!

I am absolutely in love with this recipe! I served these with yellow rice and 3-Ingredient Chicken Tacos then froze a big container of the leftovers to pull out the next time we have a crowd over for Crock Pot Carnitas.

I can’t get over the layers of flavor in these beans. SERIOUSLY.

I looked at a dozen or so recipes to orient myself with the basics (pintos, tomatoes, chilies, jalapenos, onion, some sort of cured pork, Mexican spices and BEER) then crafted my recipe.

The two most important ingredients being the beans and the beer, I, of course, grabbed my Hurst’s Pinto Beans with the smoky ham seasoning packet because Hurst’s beans never, ever disappoint and I picked up a 6-pack of dark Mexican beer.

If you can’t find Hurst’s Pinto Beans with Ham Flavor in your local grocery store, ask for them! My grocery store now carries all sorts of products they didn’t have before simply because I asked for them. https://hurstbeans.com/products/hursts-pinto-ham-beens

Just ask the cashier who to talk to to request a product and s/he will point you in the right direction. My store has a list at the Customer Service desk where they notate products their customers' request. 

Easy peasy!

NOTES ABOUT MAKING BORRACHO BEANS

• Serve these with fresh diced onion, cilantro and/or jalapenos. I like to set out a few bowls with each for folks to add what they like.
• If you can’t find the Hurst’s Pinto Beans order them online or substitute with 2 cups dried pinto beans then use 1 ½ teaspoons salt plus 1 teaspoon liquid smoke in place of the seasoning packet.
• Use a good Mexican beer in this if you can. I used Dos Equis Ambar beer in this batch.
• You could use bacon instead of ham hocks in this recipe too. Just dice and fry bacon until crisp before adding to the pot.

Recipe for Borracho Beans

WHAT TO SERVE WITH BORRACHO BEANS

• Mexican Restaurant-Style Rice -A simple recipe with just a few ingredients just like the rice at our favorite Mexican restaurant!
• Crock Pot Carnitas - Delicious tender, crispy pork roast or boston butt slow cooked then chopped perfect for tacos, burritos, quesadillas or just eating on its own!
• 3-Ingredient Crock Pot Chicken Tacos - A super simple slow cooker recipe with chicken breasts, taco seasoning and butter (no salsa!)
• Taco Rice with Queso - A one-pan skillet meal with ground beef and Mexican style rice drenched in an easy queso sauce.
• Mexican Street Corn - An easy recipe for Esquites served off the cob as a side dish or warm salad with Mexican crumbling cheese, a creamy spread, fresh cilantro and chili powder. 

Borracho Beans

Yield: 16 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 2 H & 40 M

Mexican Borracho Beans cooked low and slow with pinto beans, pork, spices and beer. THE PERFECT side dish recipe for your next Mexican feast!

Ingredients

• 1 20-oz. bag Hurst’s Pinto Beans with Ham Flavor Packet
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 12-oz bottle of beer
• 1 10-oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies (such as Rotel)
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced (or more to taste)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 ham hocks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

Instructions

1. Remove seasoning packet from beans; set aside. Add beans and next seven ingredients (through ham hocks) to large pot or Dutch oven, stir well then heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer beans for one hour.
2. Add seasoning packet from beans, cumin and chili powder to pot, stir well, cover pot then continue cooking for one hour or until beans are tender.
3. Remove ham hocks from pot and set aside to cool. Increase temperature of beans to medium/medium-low and continue cooking UNCOVERED for 30-45 minutes or until sauce is thick and reduced.
4. Meanwhile, remove meat from ham hocks, shred or cut into small pieces then stir into beans.

Notes

• Serve these with fresh diced onion, cilantro and/or jalapenos. I like to set out a few bowls with each for folks to add what they like.
• If you can’t find the Hurst’s Pinto Beans order them online or substitute with 2 cups dried pinto beans then use 1 ½ teaspoons salt plus 1 teaspoon liquid smoke in place of the seasoning packet.
• Use a good Mexican beer in this if you can. I used Dos Equis Ambar beer in this batch.
• You could use bacon instead of ham hocks in this recipe too. Just dice and fry bacon until crisp before adding to the pot.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2017/10/borracho-beans.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2017

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side dish

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