ch…cha…charro at home

Are you a refried bean or charro bean person?  Me, I am a charro bean person.  I just love the hint of heat in each bite…and now I can make them at home!

It all starts with bacon

Yep…you read that right.  These Charro Beans start with bacon.  You can use your favorite bacon but I highly recommend either bacon ends or thick cut bacon.  These beans are going to be cooking for a while and the chunks of bacon will cook down better and in the end add in some great flavor.  

I mean just look at that big hunk of bacon in the middle of the beans in the picture above…does it get any better??

If you don’t have bacon ends or thick cut bacon on hand, thats ok, just know it will cook down and you may not have as many bits of bacon running through your beans, but the flavor will still be there!

OK…it really starts with the beans

Dry beans have always been a little intimidating to me.  The idea of having to plan out, to let them soak and then let them cook for hours…it seemed like quite the commitment.  That was until I made my first round of pinto beans and then I was sold.  

You can season them however you want, taste them as they cook and when they are done they are AMAZING!

For these Charro Beans I used the traditional choice of pinto beans, but you could use black beans or kidney beans if you wanted.  Any of the above will be so good!

Get to soakin’

[mpprecipe-recipe:326]

A little extra heat

I like a little heat, but not a ton of heat.  For this recipe I used some chili powder & green chilies to add in just a little heat.  If you wanted to amp up the spice you could add in chopped jalapeños, hot sauce, cayenne pepper or more green chilies.  

The beauty of this recipe is you really can make it perfect for your and your family.  Just make sure to get the beans soaking ASAP, because this is a recipe you didn’t want to pass up.

Serve them up

I served them with fajitas (like these) but they would also be delicious with cornbread, with rice or with your favorite tacos or enchiladas.  Truly the possibilities are endless.  

I may have even put them on eggs the next morning…maybe.