Beginner Beans

April 19, 2022 9:01 AM

Goya did me dirty and changed their Pink Beans in Sauce recipe. I want to just make these beans myself. What do I do?

My husband and I love Mexican food and rely on Goya's Pink Beans in Sauce for all our bean needs. It's the perfect compliment to enchiladas, breakfast burritos, eggs, whatever, and superior to the other Goya varieties we've tried for the same purpose.

Anyway, Goya changed the recipe and now I just want to try making them myself. Rancho Gordo seems to be having a moment and it seems like a fun way to start, but what do I need/what do I do to recreate these beans?

We aren't usually big on beans, like I think they're fine and all that but white bean soup or a bean salad or whatever has never been the kind of thing that really captures our imagination. I'm really just looking for advice for how to make some awesome beans to compliment our Mexican food (at least for now). Also while black beans are good, we would prefer something that really will remind of us our beloved Goya pink beans.

I've never made beans from scratch, but I'm a good cook and am confident I could make some tasty beans if I knew what to buy and how to cook it. I don't own an Instant Pot and I am not prioritizing speed here, it's fine if I have to spend a few hours cooking up a mess of delicious beans. Teach me your ways!

posted by cakelite to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Best answer: *pulls up chair and sits down*

So I can tell you how to turn a bunch of dried beans from raw to cooked; that is half the battle. Here's the way that Rancho Gordo recommends:

1. Take a quick look at your dried beans to make sure there isn't anything non-bean in there (icky-looking beans, pebbles, etc.), and rinse in several changes of water.

2. Chop up some aromatic vegetables (like onions, celery, etc.) in olive oil in a pot. The exact vegetables you use will depend on the recipe and your own taste.

3. Add the dried beans and enough liquid to the pot to cover the beans by about 2 inches.

4. Bring the pot to a rapid boil for 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer until the beans are done, between 1 hour and 3 hours. The best way to tell whether they are "done" is to periodically sample them and see if the texture is to your liking. If the bean-cooking water starts to get low, add hot water.

6. Add salt when the beans are just starting to turn soft.

The problem there, though, is that that only tells you how to cook the beans - it doesn't tell you how to flavor the beans the way Goya did. And that is going to be the bigger challenge.

Fortunately there are several recipes for "pink beans" that may be similar to what you are thinking of. Here's two:

Caribbean pink beans
Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

I would use "Rosadas Guisadas" as your search term when looking for recipes.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:15 AM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Not sure how spendy you're willing to go, but Rancho Gordo has super nice beans, and they also have some decent instructions for cooking basic beans in broth. If you're not up for fancy mail order beans, small red beans from the supermarket would probably work just fine.

More specifically, these sound like they're a canned version of beans with smoked pork. A smoked hock is probably the most easily available and authentic thing you could add, but if you want them to be vegetarian, you could try adding some MSG and liquid smoke to the Rancho Gordo instructions.
posted by pullayup at 10:17 AM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Goya's pink beans in sauce is a Caribbean recipe, you can look for appealing recipes for "Habichuelas Guisadas" or Puerto Rican and Dominican beans. This one looks promising.
posted by vunder at 10:26 AM on April 19, 2022

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! Two quick things: I had never realized the pink beans have any pork in them, but I looked at the can and one top ingredients is and I quote: "ham and ham-type flavoring." You learn something new every day!

When I google recipes for "habichuelas guisadas" and "rosadas guisadas" I am getting results that call for canned or pre-cooked beans. I was hoping to cook the beans and infuse all the flavor I need during that initial process. Is that a thing?
posted by cakelite at 10:43 AM on April 19, 2022

Best answer: Infusing while cooking is the best thing, with the caveat that acid, sugar, and calcium will make the beans tougher so if you want your beans softer or quicker you leave those till the end.

You can simmer any scraps you like into a pot of beans, it’s like making stock but you get to dinner immediately.
posted by clew at 10:59 AM on April 19, 2022

Best answer: If you have an Instant Pot you can use dry beans and it takes like half an hour to an hour on manual high pressure and you don't have to soak them overnight.

I'm sure there's great recipes out there that will help. Usually, I just throw spices in with a bay leaf, butter and vegetable broth and let it do its thing. Beans are delicious and I fully support you in your bean journey.
posted by VyanSelei at 11:16 AM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

(Sorry, double post, just saw you don't have an Instant Pot.)
posted by VyanSelei at 11:18 AM on April 19, 2022

Best answer: This recipe is promising for habichuelas guisadas from dry beans (though I wouldn't use black beans personally). This also looks promising as a technique, except it's vegan so won't have the ham flavoring.
posted by vunder at 11:18 AM on April 19, 2022

I was hoping to cook the beans and infuse all the flavor I need during that initial process. Is that a thing?

Yes, that is exactly what Step 2 in my comment above is doing. I just didn't know what specific things you would be sauteing and was hoping another recipe would tell you.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:20 AM on April 19, 2022

I would soak the beans, cook them off in a pressure cooker, then cook with the flavourings. Sure you could cut corners, but why? I don't cook pink beans but I do cook pinto beans a lot - similar size and texture. But also: I live at high altitude near Santa Fe. Simmering all day just won't ever cook the beans and adding salt makes it worse.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 11:34 AM on April 19, 2022

Response by poster: Final question! VyanSelei's comment got me thinking. I could boil the beans in chicken or veg broth instead of water without having to to change anything else, yes?
posted by cakelite at 12:42 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yes you can, if it's low-salt. Salt will make the beans take longer to cook.

Soaking the beans in plain water for at least 6 hours beforehand, then giving them a final rinse before cooking, will make them less gassy and help them cook faster.
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:31 PM on April 19, 2022

Best answer: Salt will not make beans take longer to cook, this is a myth that has been perpetuated forever but it's not true. They've done experiments. I find if I brine my beans while soaking them the finished bean is more evenly seasoned throughout and they cook up more evenly. Some people even soak in salt and a pinch of baking soda, then change the water for the cooking. Finally, you can get ham soup base (ham stock...paste?) from some places if you were to want to cook them in ham stock quickly, one brand is Minor's, I'm sure there are others.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 3:38 PM on April 19, 2022 [14 favorites]