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These copycat Chipotle Black Beans are easy to make, inexpensive, and healthy! Add to burritos and salads or serve with rice for a tasty vegetarian meal.
I love the complex, smoky flavor or Chipotle’s black beans. Unlike my first black beans recipe, this version has no bacon and no bell peppers, but it’s just as hearty and delicious.
Black beans are great on burritos and bowls, but they’re also a great side dish with Mexican rice and corn tortillas or even scrambled eggs. I love beans for breakfast!
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Olive oil: Chipotle uses rice bran oil, but olive oil is more widely available (and probably already in your pantry).
- Black beans: To soak dried beans overnight, pick through and sort 1 pound of dried black beans. In a large bowl, add beans and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Soak at least 8 hours overnight. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
- Oregano: Chipotle uses Mexican oregano, but you can use Italian oregano if that’s all that you have. They have different flavors (Mexican oregano tastes more like marjoram) but both taste great in this recipe.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add beans, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf. Add enough water to cover and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Remove from heat. Remove chipotle chilies if desired and bay leaf. Stir in lemon and lime juices, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 cups Chipotle black beans, enough for 16 (½ cup) servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: The beans can be cooled and packed in freezer-safe containers, labeled, and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Quick soak: If you forgot to soak your beans the night before, use this method to get a jump-start on cooking them.
- Pick through and rinse 1 pound beans. To a large saucepan, add beans and enough liquid to cover them by 1 inch.
- Bring beans to boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, cover, and let beans sit for 1 hour. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
- Slow cooker Chipotle black beans:
- Heat oil until shimmering and cook onions until softened. Stir in garlic until fragrant, then add beans, spices, and enough water to cover.
- Bring to a boil, then transfer to a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Remove bay leaves and chipotle chilies if desired. Add lemon juice, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Substituting kidney beans: Kidney beans contain phytohemagglutinin, a type of lectin that is very toxic at high levels. To substitute dried kidney beans in this recipe, you MUST pre-soak dried kidney beans AND hold them at boiling point (212 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 10 minutes. This means you should never cook kidney beans in a slow cooker. You won’t know for sure if the slow cooker reached 212 degrees and held it for 10 minutes. Better to be safe than sorry!
Recipe FAQs
To substitute canned beans for the dried beans, use 4 cans of black beans. Rinse and drain before adding to the pot in step 2, adding enough water to cover (you may only need 1 to 2 cups), and cook until heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes.
No, you don’t have to pre-soak your beans. Un-soaked beans take about 30 minutes longer to cook than soaked beans, so just keep an eye on your beans and be prepared to add more water and/or cook them longer if they go in un-soaked.
Yes, you should. If you keep and use the soaking liquid in your recipe, it might add a sour taste. But, some people think it’s wasteful to discard the soaking water, so ultimately the choice is yours.
Chipotle Burrito Bowl
Tonight, stay in and build your own Chipotle Burrito Bowl with the copycat recipes you know and love. Fluffy rice, black beans, tender chicken, sweet corn salsa, tomato salsa, and lots of guacamole. It’s great…
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Chipotle Black Beans (Copycat)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or rice bran oil (see note 1)
- 2 medium yellow onions chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound dried black beans rinsed, sorted, and soaked overnight (see note 2)
- 2 chipotle chilies plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (see note 3)
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups water (enough to cover beans)
- fresh lemon juice to taste
- fresh lime juice to taste
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add beans, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf. Add enough water to cover and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Remove from heat. Remove chipotle chilies if desired and bay leaf. Stir in lemon and lime juices, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Olive oil: Chipotle uses rice bran oil, but olive oil is more widely available (and probably already in your pantry).
- Black beans: To soak dried beans overnight, pick through and sort 1 pound of dried black beans. In a large bowl, add beans and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Soak at least 8 hours overnight. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
- Oregano: Chipotle uses Mexican oregano, but you can use Italian oregano if that’s all that you have. They have different flavors (Mexican oregano tastes more like marjoram) but both taste great in this recipe.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 cups Chipotle black beans, enough for 16 (½ cup) servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: The beans can be cooled and packed in freezer-safe containers, labeled, and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Quick soak: If you forgot to soak your beans the night before, use this method to get a jump-start on cooking them.
- Pick through and rinse 1 pound beans. To a large saucepan, add beans and enough liquid to cover them by 1 inch.
- Bring beans to boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, cover, and let beans sit for 1 hour. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Can you tell me how much salt you usually use (starting with dried beans) I need a starting point
Hi Alie, I usually start with 1/2 teaspoon salt and add more to taste. If you are sensitive to saltiness in recipes, I would start with 1/4 teaspoon to the cooked beans, and add more to your liking. Please write back with any more questions. Happy cooking!
I have now made these twice for my family and my teens who love chipotle Mexican grill think my homemade burrito bowls are better! I use canned beans to save time, and I always seem to be missing aome ingredient, but they still turn out so tasty compared to my boring ones I used to serve when I just sautéed onions and cumin seed. I leave out the chipotle peppers because i don’t like the flavor, but I made adobo sauce to add to the beans. I’ve substituted Italian seasoning when I didn’t have oregano, and garlic powder when I didn’t have fresh garlic. Yesterday I was away from home and didn’t have chili powder so that was a real bummer, but I put in a little more adobo sauce (not much) and they were still yummy. Can only imagine they will be better next time when I have that critical ingredient! Thank you Meggan for this recipe!
I am dying to make this tonight for my family. But i don’t have a shopping run in me and have no chipotle peppers or adobo sauce. I have a fresh Serrano pepper and I have jarred nacho jalepeno slices. Could I somehow manage to substitute something like that?
Hi RKZ, thank you so much for the question. My apologies for not writing sooner. If you haven’t made them yet, you can add one or two of the Serrano peppers (minced or finely chopped) to the pot in step 2 with the beans. The flavor will be different. Sorry again! – Meggan
Approximately how much lime and lemon juice did you use?
Hi Shirlene, usually I start with half a lime and half a lemon, and add more to taste. (I love the taste of fresh citrus.) If you are sensitive to those flavors, I would start with a tablespoon of each and add more, tasting in between, until it’s to your liking. I hope you love them! – Meggan
My black beans never softened! I’ve cooked beans many times and never had this happen before. I used the quick soak method, and let them sit about 2 hours, then cooked them using the slow cooker method, 8 hours on low. I had to dump them out. What a shame. I wonder if the chipotle peppers had something to do with them not softening?
Hi Kathy, I’m so sorry your beans never softened. If it’s never happened before, it’s likely not because your water too hard or has a very high mineral content. The age of the beans could be the cause if they are older than a year or were not stored in an airtight container. Otherwise, acidity could be the reason. The chipotle chilis haven’t caused my beans not to cook, but I could see it being a contributing factor. Also, making sure the lemon juice, lime juice, and salt are added after cooking the beans, not before or during. I’m so sorry again. I hope they turn out perfectly next time. – Meggan
Can I substitute canned beans?
Hi DustyMare, yes! To substitute canned beans for the dried beans, use 4 cans of black beans. Rinse and drain before adding to the pot in step 2, adding enough water to cover (you may only need 1 to 2 cups), and cook until heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy! – Meggan
These are good, but man are they spicy! And I say that as someone that likes heat. I’m wondering if something went wrong here.. for the chilis I used two chilis from a Goya can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. That’s also where I took the adobo sauce from.. I though I was following the recipe but since no one else mentions how hot they are, I’m thinking this was wrong. Please clarify what you mean by two chipotle chilis and adobo sauce, is it not what I did? Definitely these are delicious, I just need to reduce the heat a bit going forward. Thanks
Hi Margarita, I am not sure why the beans came out extra spicy. They should have just the flavor and smokiness, not necessarily the heat. Is it possible you used 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce instead of 2 teaspoons? 2 chilies is just two of the chilies from the can or jar. Sorry about that! – Meggan
Perfect black beans! I will be making these weekly. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Hi Margaret, happy you loved them! Take care! – Meggan
This came out quite sweet.
I am wondering if I mistakenly used sweet onions instead of yellow.
Do you know anything I can do to try to tame the sweetness?
Thank you
Hi Peter, so sorry! It’s possible the onions were sweet, or maybe sugar was used instead of salt? (I’ve made that mistake!) I would drain some of the cooking liquid and add more water, or even add more lemon or lime juice to taste. I’m sorry again! – Meggan