How To Thicken Pinto Beans

How To Thicken Pinto Beans

Pinto beans are a staple of tables across America and the world. They are a beloved side dish at barbecues, picnics, and potlucks, and for good reason!

However, no one wants a plate of thin, watery pintos — everybody wants their pinto beans to be served in a deliciously thick, rich sauce.

So, what are some ways to thicken pinto beans? There are a variety of methods for thickening pinto beans, so you can easily find a technique that suits your dish. Try using less liquid and/or already thicker ingredients, letting the beans simmer for longer, mashing the beans, or using a thickening additive.

Continue reading this article for more details on these bean-thickening tips!

Tips For Thickening Pinto Beans

There are a few different things that you can do to ensure that your pinto beans come out with a perfectly thick liquid— we’ll cover them in more detail below.

First, let’s make sure that you’re soaking your pinto beans correctly so that you have a strong starting point from which to compare the results of these different methods.

If you are using dried beans, soak your beans before cooking them! Soaking dried beans for at least six hours or overnight is the most commonly given soaking time.

Soak your beans in enough water to cover them three times over, with a generous pinch of salt. Then drain, and continue with your recipe.

1. Get Your Bean-To-Liquid Ratio Right

If you are reading this guide, you are likely cooking your beans in some type of liquid. The first place to start for a thicker sauce is to determine the amount of liquid to use in your recipe.

Creating a thick sauce starts at the beginning — using less liquid to cook your pintos. Depending on what you are making, you may want to use water, chicken or beef stock, or maybe a simple vegetable broth.

When you put the beans in the pot, start with enough cooking liquid to cover the beans. If your beans appear to be getting drier than you want as they simmer, add more water as needed. It is always easier to add liquid than it is to remove it.

If you prefer to measure out a bean-to-liquid ratio rather than eyeballing it as suggested above, try using 3 cups of liquid (water, broth, stock, etc.) for every 1 cup of beans. Then add more liquid as needed.

2. Use Thicker Ingredients

Thick ingredients will naturally make a thick sauce. It is unlikely that you want to cook your beans in water or stock and nothing else, so look to your pantry for ingredients that lend thickening properties in addition to flavor.

Tomato paste, maple syrup, honey, and brown sugar are all longstanding additions to pinto bean recipes.

Need to make do in a pinch? Ketchup or barbecue sauce can provide sweetness, salt, umami, and thickening properties to beans and are almost always on hand.

If you are feeling adventurous, or maybe want to cut down on processed ingredients or sodium, try adding some okra to your beans.

Okra is a vegetable with natural thickening properties, acting similarly to cornstarch, and is traditionally used to thicken gumbo and some West Indian stews and soups.

Make sure you do not cook okra for too long, as overcooked pods can form a gluey substance. To avoid that and get the best results when using okra to thicken your pinto beans, add about 10-15 minutes from the end of your set cooking time.

3. Simmer For Longer

Once you have decided on your flavors, choose your ingredients and put them in the pot — then turn on the heat and get those beans simmering!

Now comes the easiest method of thickening beans: time. Let your beans simmer low and slow, and the liquid will leave your dish as steam. Cook with your pot uncovered for the fastest loss of moisture.

You can use a pot on the stovetop or try your hand at using a slow cooker/crock pot.

Since this tip suggests simmering your beans for a longer period of time, you can simply toss your ingredients in a crock pot, turn it on low, cover and let it simmer for 7-8 hours while you are at work or going about your day.

Then you can finish the recipe as needed and cut down on cooking time in the evening, and consider transferring the pinto beans to a sauce pot for the final thickening process.

If you are cooking your beans in the oven using a casserole dish or a Dutch oven, you are in luck. Halfway through your cook time, remove the dish’s lid and put the dish back in the oven.

Not only will moisture escape faster, but the heat of the oven will also caramelize the top of your pintos, deepening the flavor and thickening the sauce once the beans are stirred.

4. Mash The Beans

This technique is an integral part of many pinto bean recipes. The process is simple enough.

Wait till your beans are fully cooked and soft. Using a slotted spoon, remove a portion of beans from the pot and put them in a bowl.

The amount you remove is proportional to your desired thickness. More beans mashed means a thicker dish. Remove anywhere between a cup or two and one third of your pintos.

Once your beans are in the bowl, mash them with a spoon or potato masher. Be careful, as hot beans will release a lot of hot steam.

Then, once the beans have been thoroughly mashed, return them to the pot and stir. Pinto beans are naturally waxy and starchy, so the mash will thicken your sauce quickly.

Finally, let the pot simmer until your beans have reached their desired consistency.

This method can also be done with the bean mixture right inside the crock pot, and is especially useful if you have tossed in meat or other vegetables that have cooked up and fallen apart, and you’d like them to be mashed and mixed as well.

5. Use Thickening Additives

Don’t be scared by the title — no one is asking you to put artificial ingredients or chemicals in your pintos. This is merely a guide to using flavor-neutral thickening agents!

Cornstarch

The gold standard of thickening agents, cornstarch is used for little else but thickening sauces. Its fine, powdery nature creates a silky and smooth sauce, more like the sauce in a can of commercial baked beans.

Corn starch cannot be added straight to the pot of beans, it will form into clumps and will not thicken the sauce. You must prepare a cornstarch slurry.

How To Prepare A Cornstarch Slurry

1. Scoop 1-2 tablespoons into a small bowl or ramekin.
2. To the ramekin, add 2-4 tablespoons of cold water. The water must be cold — warm or room temperature water will result in clumps.
3. Use a small whisk or fork to thoroughly mix the cold water and cornstarch into a slurry with no clumps.
4. Add the slurry to the beans and let them continue to simmer while stirring occasionally. The cooking liquid for the beans will start to thicken in a matter of minutes.
5. Simmer the pinto beans to your desired consistency.

Flour

Flour is a ubiquitous thickener throughout the world. A flour slurry can be prepared in the same manner as a cornstarch slurry. The resulting sauce will be different in texture than a sauce prepared with a cornstarch slurry.

While a sauce prepared with a cornstarch slurry will be smooth and silky, a sauce prepared with flour will be thicker and less refined, like a stew or homestyle gravy. This is not a value judgment!

Although a cornstarch thickener might be better for a dish of pintos cooked in the style of barbecue beans from a can, a flour thickener might be better for a more rustic dish of cowboy pintos. The choice is up to you and your needs.

How To Make A Beurre Manié (French Thickening Method)

1. Knead together equal parts soft butter and flour.
2. Once the mixture has formed a cohesive dough/paste, whisk the beurre manié into your pinto beans.
3. Then simmer until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

Other Thickening Additives

There are a variety of other thickeners available, too! Potato starch and arrowroot starch can be substituted for cornstarch.

Other thickeners include tapioca flour and xanthan gum, both natural ingredients available at health food stores.

Once you understand the principle of making a slurry, the world is your oyster. However, flour and cornstarch are the most widely available in grocery stores!

How To Make Jalapeno Bacon Pinto Beans

Equipment

• Knife
• Spoon
• Cutting board
• Oven-safe sauce pot or Dutch oven (or a frying pan or casserole dish with a lid or aluminum foil)

Ingredients

• 1 lb pinto beans, soaked overnight with a large pinch of salt
• 1 medium onion, diced fine
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno
• ¼ lb bacon, chopped
• ½ small can of tomato paste
• 4 cups chicken stock or water
• Chili powder (to taste)
• Paprika (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Drain and rinse pre-soaked beans.

2. Dice your onion, jalapeno, and garlic, then set them aside.

3. Chop your bacon (a rough chop or a fine chop are both fine, depending on your preference).

4. Render the bacon in the Dutch oven, remove and set aside when crisp.

5. Sauté the onion and jalapenos in the drippings for 3 minutes, then add garlic and sauté for an additional minute.

6. Add tomato paste and continue to sauté for two minutes.

7. Add beans and bacon to Dutch oven. Cover with stock or water, season, and stir (if using a frying pan and a casserole dish, transfer the contents of the pan to the casserole dish along with beans and bacon).

8. Let cook for 3 hours. After 3 hours, uncover the dish, stir, and return to the oven uncovered for an additional 2-3 hours.

9. Stir occasionally and check moisture levels for desired thickness.

10. Serve with your favorite dish, or as an entrée!

Jalapeno Bacon Pinto Beans

Pinto beans are a staple of tables across America and the world. They are a beloved side dish at barbecues, picnics, and potlucks — these jalapeno bacon pinto beans are no exception!

Ingredients

Equipment

• Knife
• Spoon
• Cutting board
• Oven-safe sauce pot or Dutch oven (or a frying pan or casserole dish with a lid or aluminum foil)

Ingredients

• 1 lb pinto beans, soaked overnight with a large pinch of salt
• 1 medium onion, diced fine
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno
• ¼ lb bacon, chopped
• ½ small can of tomato paste
• 4 cups chicken stock or water
• Chili powder (to taste)
• Paprika (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Drain and rinse pre-soaked beans.

2. Dice your onion, jalapeno, and garlic, then set them aside.

3. Chop your bacon (a rough chop or a fine chop are both fine, depending on your preference).

4. Render the bacon in the Dutch oven, remove and set aside when crisp.

5. Sauté the onion and jalapenos in the drippings for 3 minutes, then add garlic and sauté for an additional minute.

6. Add tomato paste and continue to sauté for two minutes.

7. Add beans and bacon to Dutch oven. Cover with stock or water, season, and stir.

* If using a frying pan and a casserole dish, transfer the contents of the pan to the casserole dish along with beans and bacon.

8. Let cook for 3 hours. After 3 hours, uncover the dish, stir, and return to the oven uncovered for an additional 2-3 hours.

9. Stir occasionally and check moisture levels for desired thickness.

10. Serve with your favorite dish, or as an entrée!