What Are Borracho Beans?
I love saucy beans with lots of robust flavor and if you fall into that group, you’re going to love these juicy borracho beans. Borracho translates to “drunk” in Spanish and these beans could be referred to as drunken beans and that’s because they’re cooked in beer. Although you won’t actually get drunk from the relatively low quantity of beer compared to the volume of beans this recipe makes, the beer adds such wonderful depth of flavor. The explosion of flavor however doesn’t stop with just the beer. There’s also bacon, sausage or chorizo, and a mixture of other aromatic ingredients such as onions, garlic, jalapenos, and various spices. My borracho beans recipe can be made in either your slow cooker or an Instant Pot. You can make the beans from scratch with either option, or simply use canned pinto beans.
Ingredients for Borracho Beans
To make these juicy and flavorful Mexican-style beans that everyone adores, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Dry pinto beans OR canned pinto beans Water Salt Bacon Sausage OR chorizo Garlic Jalapenos Roma tomato Beer Mexican oregano or oregano Cumin Salt Cilantro Lime
How to Make Borracho Beans in a Slow Cooker
Making slow cooker drunken beans is incredibly easy, as there’s minimal prep work on your part! Tip: You can omit the 6- to 8-hour cooking process in step #3 and just use canned beans if desired.
How to Make Instant Pot Borracho Beans
Making drunken beans in the Instant Pot is just as easy as the slow cooker version, but the cook time is significantly reduced. Here’s how Mexican borracho beans are made in an Instant Pot: Tip: As was the case with the slow cooker, you can omit the first 40-minute cooking process and use canned beans instead to save time.
What’s the Best Beer for Borracho Beans?
I definitely recommend a darker beer for this recipe. I used Negro Modelo. Although I’m sure you could use a paler beer however for my personal preferences the beans taste better when simmered in a darker beer.
Can the Beer Be Omitted?
No, definitely not! The beer is what makes this a true borracho beans recipe. If you don’t drink beer or prefer not to cook with it, I suggest finding another Mexican beans recipe.
What’s the Best Sausage for Borracho Beans?
I tend to use precooked smoked sausage, usually sold in a horseshoe or ring shape that I slice thin. This lends to bigger bites of sausage in the finished dish although you can use uncooked sausage. If that’s the option you’re using, it’s easiest to use sausage that’s not in the casings, although you still could if that’s all you have. This type of sausage will be much more crumbled or ground in the finished dish, similar to how chorizo will be. Use anything from mild to spicy or smoked, it’s totally up to you based on your preference.
Can I Get Drunk From Drunken Beans?
The answer is definitely not! There’s only 12 ounces of beer in a recipe that makes about 12 servings, so that’s less than one ounce per serving. Plus, the alcohol burns off in the cooking process. These Mexican-style beans in my opinion are perfectly safe for everyone, including kids. Of course, do what’s right for you.
How to Serve Drunken Beans
These drunken borracho beans are excellent served with avocado, cheese, tortillas, or cornbread, and make a wonderful side to almost any Mexican-inspired meal.
Tips for the Best Borracho Beans
For the absolute best-tasting beans, I do recommend starting with dry, uncooked beans and cook them yourself rather than using canned beans. That said, you still can use canned beans, but they just taste that much better if you make scratch beans rather than cracking a can. However, from a time-management or workload perspective, use canned beans if you need to!
More Mexican Bean Recipes:
Mexican Bean Salad — Such a fast and easy recipe to make! Plus, it’s loaded with flavor and textures galore. Two kinds of beans, juicy corn and tomatoes, crisp peppers, and green onions are tossed in a lime-chili-cumin vinaigrette that’s perfectly light!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad – An EASY corn salad with black beans, zucchini, red onions, cilantro, lime juice, and more!! So much Mexican-inspired FLAVOR in every bite of this family favorite recipe that’s sure to be a hit!!
Avocado, Black Bean and Corn Salad with Lime-Cumin Vinaigrette – Everything tastes better with avocado! Easy, healthy and tons of flavor!
Chicken Black Bean Avocado Salad — A Mexican-inspired salad with tender chicken, black beans, creamy avocado, juicy tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and more!
Very Veggie Rice and Beans — EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and amps up rice and beans with an abundance of vegetables!! Healthy, Mexican-inspired food that tastes like comfort food and keeps you satisfied for hours!!
Lime Cilantro Shrimp and Black Bean Salad – Tender juicy shrimp, black beans, avocado, cilantro, and more coated in a lime sauce that’s a FIESTA in your mouth!! An EASY and HEALTHY Mexican-inspired salad that’s ready in 10 minutes!!
Mexican Rice, Beans, and Quinoa Medley – Hearty enough to be a meal or makes a FANTASTIC side dish with loads of textures in every bite!! A super FLEXIBLE recipe that’s HEALTHY and makes a big batch for planned leftovers!!
