Puerto Rican Style Stewed Black Beans (Habichuelas Negras)
These Puerto Rican style stewed black beans (Habichuelas Negras) served with white rice are a staple to island cuisine. Made with sofrito and adobo seasoning, they are infused with Puerto Rican flavor and make a fabulous meal. Keep reading for instructions on how to make this recipe with dried or canned black beans.
If you’ve ever had Puerto Rican cuisine, you know just how important rice and beans are to our culture.
My mom used to joke that all she ate growing up on the island was rice and beans.
Thankfully, there is plenty of variety from one rice & beans dish to another, like with arroz con gandules and habichuelas guisadas.
Even in a seemingly simple recipe like this one for black beans, there is variety in the preparation and ingredients within Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean (hello, Cuba and frijoles negros!)
And if you’re looking for a pop of color to add to this dish, try serving topped with these guineos en escabeche. Or serve alongside some freshly baked pan de agua for a cozy meal.
Instructions
(Optional) add ham hocks: add a smoked ham hock to the pot with everything and stew together for added flavor.
For a thicker consistency: continue to stew the beans over a slightly higher temperature for a thicker broth.
Using Canned Beans
If you’re looking for a way to make this recipe in a fraction of the time, canned beans are the way to go!
The recipe is pretty much the same: Add 3 cans of beans (and their canning liquid) at the same time as instructed in the original recipe. Skip the water and simmer for just 20 minutes, or until they’ve thickened to your desired consistency!
Substitutions
Here are some easy substitutes you can use if you’re missing any of the Puerto Rican staples:
- Sofrito – don’t have time to make your own sofrito? You can subsitute this traditional Puerto Rican ingredient with a diced onion, diced bell pepper, minced cilantro and garlic.
- Adobo Seasoning – if you don’t have your own adobo seasoning, you can use a blend of cumin, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of paprika.
- Canned Black Beans – this recipe can be made in half the time using canned black beans. See recipe notes for directions!
More Puerto Rican Beans!
Buen Provecho,
Puerto Rican Style Stewed Black Beans with Rice (Habichuelas Negras)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Main Dish
- Method: stewed
- Cuisine: Caribbean, Puerto Rican
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Puerto Rican style stewed black beans (habichuelas negras) served with white rice are a staple to island cuisine. Made with sofrito and adobo seasoning, they are infused with Puerto Rican flavor and make a fabulous meal.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup sofrito
- 2 tsp adobo seasoning
- 2 tsp sazon seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cups dried black beans *see note for instructions on how to use canned beans
- 8 cups water
- garnish: lime juice, cilantro
Instructions
- Rinse thoroughly and remove any rocks or scraps from the dry beans. *See note if using canned beans.
- Warm the oil in a pot before adding in the sofrito. Simmer until fragrant then add the adobo, sazon, salt, bay leaves and tomato sauce. Stir to combine, letting the spices bloom for a couple minutes. Finally add the beans and water. Stir everything together and bring to a boil, before lowering the heat to a simmer.
- Stew the beans for an hour (see note if using canned beans) or until they are cooked through (can take up to 2 hours depending on how fresh your beans are), stirring every 20 minutes or so, to make sure they don’t stick.
- Remove the bay leaves and serve the beans with rice and garnish with a squeeze of lime juice and sprig of cilantro.
Notes
- If using canned beans: add 3 (15oz) cans of black beans to the pot with their canning liquid, where instructed above. Do not add the 8 cups of water. Stew for just 20-30 minutes.
This recipe is how I remember my titi making her special pot of black beans in PR. I used canned beans. So easy and so good. Thank you! It’s a keeper 5 stars
It makes me so happy that this family recipe brings back those memories for you Mimmy! Thank you so much for your comment and review.
I used canned black beans and they were great!
If using canned black beans, how many cans should be used? & does the amount of water still stay the same?
Hi Tatiana! Use 4 (15oz) cans of black beans and 4 cups of water.
Would you reduce the water if using canned beans?
Yes, reduce the water by half. 8 cups water for dried beans, 4 cups water for canned.!
How much water do you use so it doesn’t come out like water?
8 cups if using dried beans and 4 if using canned.
If I’m using canned beans, do I still use 8 cups of water? Seems like too much.
Hi Rhonda, definitely use less water if using canned beans. I recommend cutting the water in half, so about 4 cups instead of 8.
Hola, como se hace el “sofrito “ que contiene? O se compra así como sofrito?
Puedes encontrar sofrito en muchas tiendas de comestibles o en línea. Prefiero hacer la mía propia; aquí está la receta: https://salimaskitchen.com/puerto-rican-sofrito/
No garlic? I’m making this and Lechon Asado for Christmas Eve.
There’s garlic in the sofrito and adobo seasoning, but you can always add more fresh garlic if you’d like! I recommend doing so at the same time that you add the sofrito. Merry Christmas!
No wonder. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I saw Sofrito, so I just went to your Sofrito recipe. You gave the link to another person and there’s the garlic. Happy Holiday.
My new favorite black bean recipe! I use dried black beans, soaked. I make the sofrito w/ cilantro. It’s fantastic – much better than the Goya recipe on the dried bean package, in my opinion.