Weeknight Red Chile Beans

Name: Weeknight Red Chile Beans
Total time: 55 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight; 3 tbsp red chile powder; 1 onion, diced; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tsp cumin; Salt to taste

Carlos A. Perez—A family recipe — serves four—2026

Grandma's, and the easiest thing in the whole box.

Some nights you want the long project. Most nights you want this. It reheats better than it has any right to, and it is the thing I make when there is nothing in the house.

Hands-on

15 min

Cook

40 min

Makes

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
3 tbsp red chile powder
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
Salt to taste

Method

Simmer the soaked beans until tender, about an hour, keeping them just covered with water.
Bloom the chile powder, onion, garlic, and cumin in a little fat until fragrant.
Stir the chile base into the beans and simmer twenty minutes more. Salt only at the end.

Made from scratch, and a little from memory.

Bend, Oregon — June 2026

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