Chef Lupita
Arroz a la Oaxaqueña
Oaxaca's red rice, stained with tomato and fried in lard, steamed with carrots, ejotes, black beans, and epazote. The side that anchors a Oaxacan family meal and earns its place beside the main.
Culinary Explorer
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Frijoles Charros Norteños
Created by
The brothy bean pot of Mexico's north, built on pintos, bacon, chorizo, ham, and tomato, simmered until the broth turns the color of brick dust and served alongside every carne asada from Hermosillo to Saltillo.
Side Dishes
Mexican
BBQ
Outdoor Dining
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
2 hr 30 min cook•2 hr 50 min total
Yield8 to 10 servings
These beans belong to the north. Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, the cattle states, the wheat states, the parrilla states. This is wheat country, not corn country, which is why the tortilla on the table is flour and not maiz. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and the north has its own.
The name comes from the charros, the horsemen who worked the cattle ranches and ate from a communal pot at the end of a long day. Pinto beans, whatever pork was in the smokehouse, tomato from the kitchen garden, chile serrano or chiltepin pulled fresh off the bush. Nothing fancy. Nothing precious. A pot built to feed working people from the same ladle.
The technique is straightforward but the order matters. Cook the beans first, no salt, until they are tender. Build a sofrito of bacon, chorizo, ham, and tomato in a separate pan. Marry the two and simmer until the broth carries the smoke and the spice and the fat of all three meats. La manteca es el sabor, and in this dish you get three kinds of it.
I spent two summers cooking my way through the Noroeste, from the marisquerias of Bahia Kino to the asado pits of Monterrey. Every cook had her own pot of charros on the back burner, ready for whoever showed up. One senora in Hermosillo told me her secret was a single chiltepin crushed into the broth at the end. Another in Sabinas Hidalgo swore by half a beer. They were both right. No me vengas con atajos: this is a slow pot, but every step is honest work.
Frijoles charros take their name from the charrería tradition of northern Mexico, the equestrian culture that grew out of the Spanish hacienda system in the 17th and 18th centuries and was codified as Mexico's national sport in 1933. The dish itself is a working ranch food, evolved from the simple frijoles de la olla cooked over open mesquite fires by vaqueros who added whatever cured pork was available from the rancho's smokehouse. The pinto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is native to Mesoamerica and was domesticated in central Mexico over 7,000 years ago, but the variety became commercially dominant in the north because of its tolerance for the dry, alkaline soils of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts. The brothy presentation distinguishes charros from the thicker, mashed frijoles refritos and from the bean-and-pork stew known as frijoles puercos common in Sinaloa.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried pinto beans
Quantity
1 pound
picked over and rinsed
cold water
Quantity
10 cups, plus more as needed
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
half left whole, half finely diced
head of garlic
Quantity
1
halved crosswise, plus 4 cloves finely chopped
bay leaves
Quantity
2
kosher salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more to taste
thick-cut bacon
Quantity
8 ounces
cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
Mexican pork chorizo
Quantity
8 ounces
casings removed
thick-cut smoked ham
Quantity
8 ounces
diced into 1/2-inch cubes
roma tomatoes
Quantity
3 medium
finely diced
fresh chile serrano
Quantity
2 to 3
finely chopped, seeds in for heat
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1 teaspoon
crumbled between your fingers
ground cumin
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
fresh cilantro
Quantity
1/2 cup
leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped, plus more for serving
Mexican lager such as Tecate or Carta Blanca (optional)
Quantity
1 bottle (12 ounces)
hand-pressed flour tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warmed
lime wedges (optional)
Quantity
for serving
pickled chiltepin or chiltepin in vinegar (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried pinto beanspicked over and rinsed | 1 pound |
| cold water | 10 cups, plus more as needed |
| white onionhalf left whole, half finely diced | 1 medium |
| head of garlichalved crosswise, plus 4 cloves finely chopped | 1 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| kosher salt | 1 tablespoon, plus more to taste |
| thick-cut baconcut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces | 8 ounces |
| Mexican pork chorizocasings removed | 8 ounces |
| thick-cut smoked hamdiced into 1/2-inch cubes | 8 ounces |
| roma tomatoesfinely diced | 3 medium |
| fresh chile serranofinely chopped, seeds in for heat | 2 to 3 |
| dried Mexican oreganocrumbled between your fingers | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cumin | 1/2 teaspoon |
| fresh cilantroleaves and tender stems, roughly chopped, plus more for serving | 1/2 cup |
| Mexican lager such as Tecate or Carta Blanca (optional) | 1 bottle (12 ounces) |
| hand-pressed flour tortillas (optional)warmed | for serving |
| lime wedges (optional) | for serving |
| pickled chiltepin or chiltepin in vinegar (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 6-quart pot or wide clay olla
- •Wide heavy skillet or 10-inch cast iron for the sofrito
- •Wooden spoon
- •Slotted spoon or skimmer for the bean foam
Instructions
- 1
Cook the beans first
Place the pinto beans in a heavy 6-quart pot. Cover with the cold water. Add the half onion left whole, the halved head of garlic, and the bay leaves. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam in the first ten minutes. Lower the heat until the bubbles are lazy. Cover partially and cook for 90 minutes to 2 hours, until the beans are tender all the way through but still hold their shape. Add hot water as needed to keep them covered by an inch.
Do not salt the beans until they are tender. Salt added too early tightens the skins and your beans will fight you for another hour. Asi se hace y punto. - 2
Salt the beans
Once the beans are tender, fish out and discard the whole onion half, the spent garlic head, and the bay leaves. Add the tablespoon of salt to the bean broth. Stir, taste, and let it sit on low while you build the meats. The broth should taste assertively seasoned now. The pintos absorb salt as they finish, and the broth needs to push back.
- 3
Render the bacon
In a wide heavy skillet or a small cast iron, cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat has rendered and the pieces are golden but still chewy, about 8 minutes. You want fat in the pan, not crisp shards. The rendered bacon fat is the base of the sofrito and it carries the smoke into the pot.
- 4
Brown the chorizo and ham
Add the chorizo to the bacon and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until it darkens and the fat turns brick red. Add the diced ham and cook another 3 minutes, just enough to crisp the edges. The pan should smell like a Sonoran ranch kitchen on a Sunday morning.
- 5
Build the sofrito
Add the diced onion to the pan with the meats. Cook for 4 minutes, until translucent. Add the chopped garlic and chile serrano and cook one minute more. Add the diced tomato, the oregano, and the cumin. Lower the heat and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until the tomato breaks down and the mixture looks jammy. This sofrito is the second seasoning of the broth. Skip it and you have plain frijoles de la olla, which is a different dish for a different day.
- 6
Marry the meats and the beans
Scrape every bit of the meat-and-tomato mixture into the pot of beans, including the rendered fat at the bottom of the skillet. La manteca es el sabor and that goes for bacon and chorizo fat too. Pour in the beer if using and let it bubble off for a minute. Stir gently to combine without crushing the beans.
- 7
Simmer to wed the flavors
Bring the pot back to a low simmer and cook uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes. The broth will tighten slightly and turn the color of brick dust at sunset. Taste for salt one more time. The chorizo, bacon, and ham all bring their own salt, so adjust carefully now, not in advance.
- 8
Finish with cilantro and serve
Just before serving, stir in the chopped cilantro. Ladle into deep bowls or set the whole pot on the table next to the parrilla. Charros are a spoon dish, served alongside the carne asada, not under it. Pass warm flour tortillas, lime wedges, and pickled chiltepin at the table. Each guest builds their bowl. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chef Tips
- •The bean variety matters. Pinto is the northern bean. Black beans are from the south and they are not a substitute. If you cannot find dried pintos, the canned pintos from a reliable Mexican brand will get you there in a pinch, but cut the simmer to 30 minutes and watch your salt because canned beans come pre-seasoned.
- •Use real Mexican chorizo, the soft raw kind sold in casings, not Spanish chorizo. They are different products. Mexican chorizo melts into the fat and stains everything brick red. Spanish chorizo stays in firm coins and tastes of paprika and smoke, which is wrong for this pot.
- •If you can get your hands on chiltepin, the tiny wild chile that grows in Sonora and southern Arizona, crush three or four into the pot during the last simmer. It is the regional chile of the Noroeste and it brings a sharp, fast heat that serrano cannot match. Pickled chiltepin in vinegar at the table is the proper finish.
- •These beans are better the second day. Make them the morning of the carne asada, not the moment guests arrive. The fat needs time to settle and the meats need time to give up their salt to the broth.
Advance Preparation
- •Frijoles charros can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat gently over low heat with a splash of water to loosen the broth. The flavor deepens overnight as the meats and beans settle.
- •The dried beans can be sorted and rinsed the night before. Soaking is not required for pintos cooked low and slow, but a four-hour soak shaves 30 minutes off the simmer if you are short on time.
- •Charros freeze well for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 280g)
Calories
465 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
62 mg
Sodium
1355 mg
Total Carbohydrates
37 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
26 g
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