Instant Pot Vegan Borracho Beans

📋 Ingredients Notes

Here is a quick look at the ingredients in the recipe – it’s handy to use at the grocery store or as a summary of what you need. Skip to the recipe for quantities.

• coconut or vegetable oil
• onion – Red, yellow, white, or sweet are all fine!
• garlic
• ground cumin
• chile peppers – I specify jalapeños, but you can substitute serranos or some chopped green chile (like Hatch green chile).
• dried pinto beans – Pinto beans are traditional for borracho beans, but mayocoba/canary beans are a great substitute.
• broth – Choose a good vegetable broth. If you don’t follow a plant-based diet, chicken broth is fine.
• beer- I specify a Mexican lager beer like Corona, but another lager will be fine. Avoid any beers with a strong hops or malty profile.
• miso paste – I use either shiro or shinshu miso.
• tomatoes – I use a regular sized can of diced tomatoes or 2 cups of fresh tomatoes.
• oregano – I keep Mexican oregano on hand, but Mediterranean oregano will work fine.
• garnishes – We like avocado, jalapeño, lime wedges, and cilantro. Crumbled cotija is another good option.

Don’t look at the long ingredients list and get worried! Several ingredients are garnishes that you can prep while the beans cook.

The “secret” to these flavorful beans lies in the “fifth” taste – umami. As I mentioned above, my vegetable broth recipe includes kombu and dried shiitake (and other mushroom bits). The vegetables are roasted first, and the maillard reaction adds additional umami. The pot of beans includes a generous scoop of miso paste (umami!), so even if you use store bought vegetable broth, you will get the additional depth of flavor from the miso.

🔪 Step by Step Instructions

• Sauté the aromatics – With the pot on sauté mode, add the oil, onion, garlic, and cumin. Sauté until fragrant and onions start to show some color. Add the jalapeños, and cook an additional minute.
• The pinto beans – Add the pinto beans and vegetable broth. Whisk the beer and the miso paste together. Add to the pot along with the tomatoes and Mexican oregano.
• Start the Instant Pot – Lock the lid, and set to 40 minutes high pressure (I use “beans” setting and adjust the time). When the cycle is complete, wait 10 minutes before releasing pressure. While the beans cook, prepare desired garnishes.
• Season the borracho beans – Add sea salt (I start with 1/2 teaspoon), but you may want to taste first. Miso is salty. Add fresh ground pepper as desired.
• Serve – Ladle into bowls, and garnish with avocado, jalapeños, cilantro, lime wedges as desired. Enjoy!

💭 Tips

• Make sure you start with good dried pinto beans. If your beans have been hiding in the back of the pantry for years, it’s more difficult to properly cook them!
• I cannot stress the importance of using a good vegetable broth enough. If you’re not into making your own vegetable broth, use a good commercial vegetable broth like Kitchen Basics. That is my preferred brand!
• I specify canned tomatoes, but fresh will work well too.
• Borracho beans are typically soupy, but if you don’t want all that liquid, use a slotted spoon to serve them. We spoon up every bit of that delicious broth!
• While the beans cook, I cut up some fresh garnishes – avocado, cilantro, lime wedges.

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Serve your Instant Pot Vegan Borracho Beans with your favorite Hatch green chile enchiladas, alongside Lengua Tacos With Salsa Verde and Caramelized Onions or for a strictly vegan #meatlessMonday meal, try them with Mexican Cilantro Rice. Don’t forget to pour yourself a cold one!