Description
If there’s one Puerto Rican dish you have to try, it’s my mom’s habichuelas guisadas (also known as habichuelas rojas or stewed beans). Made with sofrito, sazon and lots of love, these hearty beans are the definition of comfort when served over a bed of warm rice.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 tbsp olive oil (or achiote oil)
- 3 tbsp sofrito
- 1 tsp sazon seasoning
- 1 tsp adobo seasoning
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 cup tomato puree
- 3 cans (16oz) red or pink beans (DO NOT DRAIN)
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or water)
- cilantro to garnish
- salt and pepper to taste (I usually use about 1/2 teaspoon of each)
Instructions
- Simmer the oil & sofrito. In a large soup pot heat your oil over medium heat until it begins to shimmer. Toss in sofrito and sautee for a few minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients. Next, add in sazon, adobo, and bay leaves. Mix for another minute to allow the spices to bloom. Pour in the tomato puree, beans (with their liquid), and water or broth before bringing liquid to a boil.
- Simmer until reduced. At this point, lower the beans to a simmer and cook over low heat for at least a half hour. Make sure to stir every 10-15 minutes. The longer they cook, the better the flavor!
- Season to taste & serve. Taste to see if they need any salt and pepper before serving over rice and garnishing with cilantro.
Notes
If you’d like to make this recipe using dried red beans instead of from a can, here are my recommendations:
-
- Rinse the beans and add to a pot of water (using a 1:4 ratio, 1 cup of beans to 4 cups of water)
-
- Add a sprinkle of salt and some bay leaves to the pot for flavor
-
- Bring everything to a boil before lowering and simmering for an hour, or until tender
- From there you can follow the recipe as instructed, adding a few cups of the water the beans simmered in (to substitute for the canning liquid)