Beans, lentils & pulses · Beans
Pinto beans (canned)
Beige beans speckled with brown, here canned and ready-cooked; the classic bean for refried beans and charro beans.
Also called: frijoles pintos
A kind of beans
Photo: Sanjay Acharya, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
What it is
Pinto beans are medium, oval beans with beige skins splashed with reddish-brown, a pattern that fades to pinkish-brown on cooking. This record is the canned form. They cook up very creamy, which makes them ideal for mashing. Borlotti (cranberry) beans look similar but are rounder with red streaks and a slightly richer flavour.
Phaseolus vulgaris
How it’s used
- Mashed and fried into refried beans
- Simmered as frijoles charros with bacon and chilli
- Added to chilli and burritos
- Used as Brazilian feijão carioca
Characteristics
- Texture
- Very creamy and soft when cooked.
- Sold as
- canned, dried
- Cooking uses
- Commonly cooked, Suitable for boiling
- Common in
- Mexican, Tex-Mex, American, Southern US, Brazilian
Kinds in our pantry
Storage
Pantry-stable. Keep cans in the pantry; refrigerate opened beans covered and use within a few days.
Diet, allergens and safety
No major allergens in typical versions.
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- Soy-free
- Caffeine-free
Nutrition per 100 g
- Energy
- 117 kcal
- Protein
- 7.04 g
- Carbohydrate
- 20.77 g
- Fat
- 0.97 g
- Fibre
- — g
- Sugars
- — g
USDA FoodData Central: Beans, pinto, mature seeds, canned, drained solids, rinsed in tap water.
Substitutes
Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.
- Kidney beans (canned) — In chilli; firmer and less creamy when mashed.
- Black beans (cooked or canned) — In refried beans and burritos; earthier and darker.
Related ingredients
Recipes with pinto beans (canned)
Feijão carioca
Brazilian · 1 h · 256 kcalJota (sauerkraut and bean stew)
Slovenian · 1 h 35 min · 346 kcal
Molletes
Mexican · 25 min · 494 kcal · Vegetarian
Three-Bean Vegetable Chili
International · 55 min · 266 kcal · Vegetarian
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