16 pinto bean recipes

Creamy pinto bean soup pureed smooth with chile, onion, and light cream, garnished with toasted pine nuts, cilantro, and chives. From-scratch beans cooked until velvety.

Frijoles de la olla are Mexican pot beans cooked from dried pintos with just water and salt. Partially mashed for a thick, creamy sauce and served with warm flour tortillas and salsa.

Anasazi and pinto beans with hominy and roasted green chile, a slow-simmered Southwestern bean pot built on heritage legumes and fire-roasted Anaheims. Vegan, frugal, and deeply Pueblo-rooted.

Old-time country stew of pinto beans and white hominy simmered low and slow with salt pork and a whisper of marjoram. Frontier comfort food that fills the kitchen with smoky depth.

Massive fire camp chili recipe scaled to feed 1,200 people. Pinto beans, ground beef, bacon, jalapenos, and chili powder simmered for 6 hours over an open fire. A true crowd feeder.

Frijoles a la charra (Mexican ranch-style beans) with bacon, jalapenos, tomato, and cilantro simmered in their own broth. A smoky, spicy pinto bean side dish ready in 35 minutes.

If you want to try something new for dinner, then you'll enjoy this delicious dish made with bacon slices, jalapeno peppers and pinto beans.

Beau's notes: * There are no "jalapeno beans;" there are jalapeno peppers and pinto beans. I have two recipes, both of which are quite tref, but a Catholic should worry? But if you are hosting a Jewish person, smoked turkey will substitute most agreeably for the chazer called for in either recipe.]

Easy prep and a slow simmer bring this thrifty chili recipe together.

Crispy corn tortilla strips layered with seasoned ground beef, Anaheim chiles, pinto beans, red sauce, and melted cheddar. This Tex-Mex casserole feeds eight and bakes in 30 minutes.

The grilled chicken adds the "pop" to this traditional tex-mex recipe. I made this on game day for my boyfriend and me, and it was a hit!

Vegetarian party pate made from pinto beans, TVP, and shiitake mushrooms with mirin and mace, baked in a water bath and served cold on crackers.

Bacon and bean soup simmers slivered bacon with kidney beans, carrots, celery and turnip in a thyme-scented beef broth. A hearty winter soup that tastes even better the next day.

Uncomplicated and satisfying, this recipe for anasazi beans is from savory.

Slow-simmered Mexican pinto beans cooked with salt pork, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. A four-hour, from-scratch bean pot that gets thick and rich without any mashing.

Bean connoisseurs will appreciate the characteristic taste and texture talents of pinto and kidney combined within this ancient Indian entrant. Versatility of this variety is limited only by your imagination: take them for a dip: enlist them for creative Mexican food construction: they even taste good straight!