Using Pinto Beans

As you know, we're trying to use up the beans in our food storage. I felt like cooking some up today, but couldn't decide how to serve them. There are so many options! Let's put the ideas all in one place so next time at least the research part might be easier.

Of course there are the old stand-bys of chili or refried beans, but here are some other options. Here's a recipe for refried beans which has some good ratios (3 cups of mashed pinto beans with 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1/2 cup water/bean broth, and Mexican seasonings).

According to this cook, one way to make ordinary chili better is to pour it over french fries and top with cheese. That does sound delicious!

Add some macaroni to chili and create Chili-Mac.

Frito Pie combines ground beef and enchilada sauce with the pinto beans, along with corn chips. Don't forget the cheese!

Instead of the corn chips, top the pinto bean concoction with cornbread batter and you have Hamburger Cornbread Casserole.

This Pinto Bean Casserole combines ground beef, pinto beans, tomato sauce, salsa, chili powder and Jack cheese.

Patio Pinto Beans looks like a type of baked beans. Add bacon, onions, brown sugar, and chilies to the pinto beans.

To create a Pinto Bean Burrito Bowl combine the beans with rice, corn, and other garnishes (tomatoes, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, avocado, olives, etc.) We added some chipotle-seasoned chicken to ours.

This Pinto Bean Mole looks very interesting. Technically it combines three different types of beans, which I imagine are interchangeable, with onions, sweet peppers, chorizo and interesting seasonings including cinnamon, honey, chocolate and salsa.

Because we also had a quite a bit of broth leftover, I decided to try Pinto Bean Soup, otherwise known as Frijoles Charros, which just sounds nicer. That recipe provided inspiration, but I also added some leftover corn, carrots and sausage to the bean and tomato base.