This quick, easy, and creamy Cuban Black Beans dish will wow your taste buds with the first delicious bite. Aromatic Cuban spices, zesty onions, spicy jalapeños, earthy garlic, sweet tomatoes, tasty bell peppers, and hearty black beans come together in the most delightful way. This humble bean dish is sure to please the whole family with its tasty and flavorful twist. Serve it with chewy brown rice for a comforting meal you’ll want to snuggle up with – yum!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
Beans, beans, beans! I haven’t found a bean that I don’t love! I pretty much love them just about any way you can make them. I particularly love black beans, they are so creamy, earthy, and utterly delicious.
Humble Beans
In doing some extra research for Cuban Black Beans, I found that recipes vary greatly, some have meat products while others are vegan. It really seems all over the board on how they are prepared, varying from region to region.
This Cuban Black Bean dish is a nod to the traditional Cuban Black Beans. It is geared toward taking the best of the Cuban cuisine and blending it slight to suit the American palate. Plus, it does have a kick of heat, which is my own touch as I love some heat. It is a delicious twist; we ate it all up!
Mincing Veggies
It does take a few extra minutes to mince the onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, and garlic, but it is totally worth it. Do not use a food processor to speed up the process. A food processor will turn your veggies into a soup as it causes them to release too much water. A fine dice will work well too.
Canned Beans
“Sooooo, if I am taking time to mince the veggies, then how is this a fast recipe?” Great question, I am so glad you asked.
Traditionally, Cuban Black Beans are made from dried black beans and cooked on low heat for long periods of time. Using canned black beans (or precooked black beans) really speeds up the process significantly. Relatively speaking, it is faster from that aspect! The end result is super tasty; we absolutely devoured them over chewy brown rice!
We just love this dish, I’ll let Mom tell you more.
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Hi! Robin here!
YUMMM! That is all I have to say, other than, this dish is delicious, and we would love for you to try this recipe!
If you try this comforting dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products Used:
- Ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven, nonstick deep skillet, or similar large stock pot with a tight-fitting lid
Cuban Black Beans
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 35 Minutes
- Total Time: 50 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Cuban
Description
This quick, easy, and creamy Cuban Black Beans dish will wow your taste buds with the first delicious bite. Aromatic Cuban spices, zesty onions, spicy jalapeños, earthy garlic, sweet tomatoes, tasty bell peppers, and hearty black beans come together in the most delightful way. This humble bean dish is sure to please the whole family with its tasty and flavorful twist. Serve it with chewy brown rice for a comforting meal you’ll want to snuggle up with – yum!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow onions, minced *
- ½ cup green bell pepper, minced *
- ½ cup red bell pepper, minced *
- 1 small jalapeno pepper, minced *
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, finely minced *
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
- ½ cup water (or broth)
- ½ cup vegetable broth *
- 1 [ 14.5 oz. can ] petite diced tomatoes
- 2 [ 15.5 oz. cans ] black beans, drained and rinsed
Herb/Spices Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoon dried minced onion flakes
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/8 to ¼ cayenne pepper (optional)
Other Optional Ingredients:
- Cooked brown rice (or rice of choice)
- Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add all the Herb/Spices Ingredients except cayenne pepper and bay leaves. Mix and set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, add the minced onions, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and jalapenos, sauté over medium heat until they are tender, approximately 7 to 10 minutes.Add a tablespoon or so of water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
- Add the minced garlic and tomato paste, sauté for 30 seconds, add the Herb/Spice mix, sauté for about 30 seconds, just to release their fragrance then add the vegetable broth, water, petite diced tomatoes, sherry vinegar, bay leaves and black beans. Stir well to combine, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the cover and taste test for flavor, add the cayenne pepper, ramp up any other spices as needed at this time. Then take a potato masher or a fork and mash some of the beans to create a creamy texture, stir well. Don’t mash all of the beans, just about a 1/3 of them. Simmer for a few minutes.
- Remove and discard the bay leaves, serve immediately with rice, and topped with fresh cilantro or parsley.
Notes
*Minced Vegetables: The onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and garlic are typically minced in most Cuban Black Bean dishes. This does take some extra time. A very fine dice will work equally well, but you may have to sauté the veggies a little longer as you want them tender. We do not suggest using a food processor as it tends to pulverize the veggies causing them to release too much water and they become soupy.
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 7 days.
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
What if you wanted to use dry beans that are not canned? What would the time frame be? And would it be a similar process?
Hi there Brooke 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. This recipe was specifically created for canned beans. Unfortunately, dried beans would not work as they would require different amounts of liquid, seasoning, etc. to accommodate the longer cooking/rehydrating time.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
We soak beans on Saturdays and cook beans on Sundays and then add to recipes during the week. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks! We love beans and black beans are the best!!
Hi there Sarah 🙂
Awesome! We are so thrilled you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing with us! We appreciate your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I’ll be making this tomorrow and was wondering if I have to use sherry vinegar and dried onion flakes as I do not have but wondering if red wine vinegar would do?
Btw, I just love how you plate your food. It makes my mouth drool just looking at it 🙂
Dunia
Hi there Dunia 🙂 Thank you so much for reaching out to us and for your kind words about our food. We are so glad that you’ll be giving this dish a try! We have not tried substituting red wine vinegar in this dish, we think that it would work. Keep in mind that the vinegar flavors are different and will slightly change the flavors of this dish. Additionally, we use the dried onions to help balance flavors as there is no oil in this dish. You can try omitting the dried minced onions, but you may need to adjust… Read more »
This is DELICIOUS! I intended to serve it one night and freeze the rest in individual portions, but we just ate it every night until it was gone! I love it when something is healthy and great tasting. I am vegan and trying to slowly win my husband over. Recipes like this are winners for everyone. I also love the feature on your recipes that allows you to increase or decrease the number of servings! I am so happy I found your site! Thank you!
Hi there Holly 🙂
Yaaaaay! We are so glad that you and your family loved this dish. We are so glad that you are enjoying our blog. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This would be lovely in a brisket breakfast taco, for example, but this is nowhere near Cuban. Tomatoes, and especially jalapeños, have no place in Cuban black beans. I will gladly share with you my Abuela Maria’s recipe if you’d like it, though. She was an amazing cook. It’s also vegan. Not to say that your version is any less tasty, but the flavor profile is more Mexican/Tex-mex than Cuban. Sent with love and appreciation for your delicious recipes.
Hi there Deborah ?
We totally get it as this isn’t an authentic Cuban Black Beans recipe. We created an oil free WFPB recipe inspired by Cuban Black Beans. Thank you so much for your feedback and kind words about our recipes!
-Ameera and Robin ?
Authentic Cuban Black Beans are vegan and can be made without the olive oil to be WFPB.
Hi there Debbie,
This recipe is oil-free and WFPB.
We ate this up so quick we didn’t have time to take a picture. Instead of serving with rice we used farro with cilantro. This will be in our regular rotation.
Hi there Jessica 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We are so thrilled you enjoyed this recipe and plan to add it to your regular rotation. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback with us.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Just made this recipe and loved it! I’m a fan of Dr. Joel Fuhrmans Eat To Live plan and this is a perfect dish for this. No fats, just all great healthful ingredients that taste great! We kept out the jalapeños and added in at dinner as a seasoning as desired. I can’t wait for seconds! Thanks for a great meal addition!
Hi there Sarah 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you loved this recipe. Got to love a nourishing bowl of plant based goodness. Thank you so much for sharing your fantastic feedback with us. We appreciate it!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
When you say mince then veg, I’m being a little dim what exactly do you mean? Using What kitchen equipment?
Hi there Karen 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. Mincing is simply very finely chopping with a sharp knife. I hope this helps.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Yum! Made this yesterday, for dinner tonight. (I like to let the spices have time to meld) It was so good with brown rice and mixed veggies. Another recipe that I am looking forward to the leftovers!
Hey there Sandra 🙂
YAYYYY!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! We appreciate you taking time to write and give an awesome review of this recipe!
-Ameera and Robin
My whole family loves this recipe! I have wondered about your tomato salad on the side though. Is it just tomatoes, spinach, and red onion or is there a recipe for that also?
Hi there And 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. As far as the tomato salad, it is just simple fresh veggies, tomatoes, red onions with a splash of apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this last yesterday and it was sooo good and filling. I had an orange bell pepper so I used that instead of green and red. Also, had a can of Rotel with cilantro and lime, so I used that for the tomatoes. This will be a staple meal for me. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Hi there Heidi,
WOOOT!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try! We appreciate you taking time to leave us an awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
Hello can I use black beans that are pressure cooked .your receipe looks really good. I have a lot of beans to use up. Thank you. And I have used several of your receipes in past. Loved them all!
Hi there Debi,
You can absolutely use black beans that are pressure cooked for this recipe. This recipe is a fast version using canned beans. Simply pressure cook your black beans, then measure out the amount you would typically find in canned beans, which is approximately 3 to 3 1/2 cups. I hope this helps.
-Ameera and Robin