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These copycat Chipotle Pinto Beans are easy to make, inexpensive, and healthy! Add to burritos and salads or serve with rice for a tasty vegetarian meal.
Pinto beans are versatile and healthy, inexpensive and delicious. I remember when Chipotle used to put bacon in their beans, but they took it out because you don’t need it!
These beans flavorful on their own and perfect for adding to burritos and tostadas. Or, serve them on the side of scrambled eggs and corn tortillas for a hearty Mexican breakfast.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Olive oil: Chipotle uses rice bran oil, but olive oil is more widely available (and probably already in your pantry).
- Pinto beans: To soak dried beans overnight, pick through and sort 1 pound of dried pinto beans. In a large bowl, add beans and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Soak at least 8 hours overnight. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
- Oregano: Chipotle uses Mexican oregano, but you can use Italian oregano if that’s all that you have. They have different flavors (Mexican oregano tastes more like marjoram) but both taste great in this recipe.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add beans, chipotle pepeprs and adobo sauce, garlic, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Remove from heat.
- Remove chipotle chilies if desired and bay leaf. Stir in lemon and lime juices, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 cups Chipotle pinto beans, enough for 16 (½ cup) servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: The beans can be cooled and packed in freezer-safe containers, labeled, and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Quick soak: If you forgot to soak your beans the night before, use this method to get a jump-start on cooking them.
- Pick through and rinse 1 pound beans. To a large saucepan, add beans and enough liquid to cover them by 1 inch.
- Bring beans to boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, cover, and let beans sit for 1 hour. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
- Slow cooker Chipotle pinto beans:
- Heat oil until shimmering and cook onions until softened. Stir in garlic until fragrant, then add beans, spices, and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then transfer to a slow cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Remove bay leaves and chipotle chilies if desired. Add lemon juice, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Substituting kidney beans: Kidney beans contain phytohemagglutinin, a type of lectin that is very toxic at high levels. To substitute dried kidney beans in this recipe, you MUST pre-soak dried kidney beans AND hold them at boiling point (212 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 10 minutes. This means you should never cook kidney beans in a slow cooker. You won’t know for sure if the slow cooker reached 212 degrees and held it for 10 minutes. Better to be safe than sorry!
Recipe FAQs
To substitute canned beans for the dried beans, use 4 cans of pinto beans. Rinse and drain before adding to the pot in step 2, adding enough water to cover (you may only need 1 to 2 cups), and cook until heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes.
No, you don’t have to pre-soak your beans. Un-soaked beans take about 30 minutes longer to cook than soaked beans, so just keep an eye on your beans and be prepared to add more water and/or cook them longer if they go in un-soaked.
Yes, you should. If you keep and use the soaking liquid in your recipe, it might add a sour taste. But, some people think it’s wasteful to discard the soaking water, so ultimately the choice is yours.
Chipotle Bowl
Tonight, stay in and build your own Chipotle Burrito Bowl with the copycat recipes you know and love. Fluffy rice, black beans, tender chicken, sweet corn salsa, tomato salsa, and lots of guacamole. It’s great…
View Recipe
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Chipotle Pinto Beans (Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or rice bran oil (see note 1)
- 1 medium yellow onion minced
- 16 ounces dried pinto beans rinsed, sorted, and soaked overnight (see note 2)
- 2 chipotle peppers plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (see note 3)
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cups water (enough to cover beans)
- lemon juice
- lime juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add beans, chipotle pepeprs and adobo sauce, garlic, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Remove from heat. Remove chipotle chilies if desired and bay leaf. Stir in lemon and lime juices, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Olive oil: Chipotle uses rice bran oil, but olive oil is more widely available (and probably already in your pantry).
- Pinto beans: To soak dried beans overnight, pick through and sort 1 pound of dried pinto beans. In a large bowl, add beans and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Soak at least 8 hours overnight. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
- Oregano: Chipotle uses Mexican oregano, but you can use Italian oregano if that’s all that you have. They have different flavors (Mexican oregano tastes more like marjoram) but both taste great in this recipe.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 c. Chipotle pinto beans, enough for 16 (½ c.) servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: The beans can be cooled and packed in freezer-safe containers, labeled, and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Quick soak: If you forgot to soak your beans the night before, use this method to get a jump-start on cooking them.
- Pick through and rinse 1 pound beans. To a large saucepan, add beans and enough liquid to cover them by 1 inch.
- Bring beans to boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, cover, and let beans sit for 1 hour. Drain and discard soaking liquid.
These turned out amazing! Great Copycat. I soaked my beans overnight and cooked them in a pressure cooker for 45mins. They were perfect!
I’m so glad you loved them, Melissa! Take care! – Meggan
Can I use canned pinto beans?
Hi Michelle! Yes! To substitute canned beans for dried beans, use 4 cans of pinto beans. Rinse and drain before adding to the pot in step 2, adding enough water to cover (you may only need 1 to 2 cups), and cook until heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Hope you love them! – Meggan
These beans sound great. However, before I buy the ingredients, I’d like to know, how much lemon juice and lime juice go into them?
Hi Jane, I hope you love them! They should be added to taste, which is however much you like, I would start with 1 tablespoon of each and see if you think it needs more. Thanks! – Meggan
Nailed it! These were delicious! I also cooked mine in the IP like Tammy T mentioned below, but I sautéed the onions in the oil and then added everything but the beans and water, to get the flavors really soaked through. I then added the beans and water and cooked them for 35 minutes and did a natural release. Kids actually thought I’d cheated and bought beans at Chipotle. The other copycat recipes are just as great! The steak recipe is at the top of my list for the next bbq. Really spot on!
Hi Monica, thank you so much for the comment! I am so glad you loved everything you have tried because I worked so hard on these recipes. Thank you again and I’m glad it was a hit, and I LOL’d that your kids thought you bought the beans! Thanks again! -Meggan
Made these beans along with the Meggan’s chipotle rice and it was perfect! I used the Instant Pot on high pressure for 40 minutes with 30 minute release as Meggan recommended. I diced the onion small and just threw them in with everything else all at once without cooking them first and they were perfect. I juiced half of a large lemon and lime which came to about 2 tbsp each. I used 6 cups of water and would definitely use less next time. When I transfered the beans to my storage container, I added enough liquid to cover the beans by a half inch and had 2 cups of liquid left over.
Can’t wait to try the black beans next!! Thanks Meggan!
Thank you again Christian, two comments, wow! I appreciate your support and I hope the black beans work out for you too. 🙂 Happy New Year! -Meggan
I’m excited to try this recipe! I was wondering if you need to soak the beans before using them in a crackpot?
Thank you!
Hi Paige, you don’t need to soak the beans. They may take a little longer to cook if they are not soaked. Take care! – Meggan
I tried this recipe and it’s really good.
Loved these! I changed the recipe by cooking them in the Instant Pot and eliminating the oil. I used the saute function for the diced onion (no oil needed), then added all other ingredients and cooked on high pressure for 32 minutes. They were a little “soupy” with 6 cups of water so I’ll reduce that next time. Thank you for the inspiration!
Hi Tammy, you’re welcome! I’m so happy they came out deliciously! I would recommend doing a natural release as well (if you didn’t do it this round). Thank you and take care! – Meggan
So good! My family loved these, I smashed some of the beans up and that thickened it up a little more. Needs 1 tsp salt.
Thanks Andrea, glad you enjoyed! – Meggan
Thank you very much! After visiting US a few years back, I have wanted to try these beans again, as it is not a style of food typically found in my part of the world.
Purchased everything necessary to follow the recipe 100%, and the result was absolutely amazing. Unbelievable that such simple (and few) ingredients results in such a great taste. But they sure do :).
Thanks Anders, I’m so glad you liked them! – Meggan
After gaining confidence from having success with the copycat black beans recipe, I tried this one as well. I made it as written, except for the fact that I forgot to add the lemon and lime juice at the end. Delicious regardless! I’ve always been afraid to cook dried beans (I tried once before and they never softened), but these were perfect. I’m happy to have these in my freezer.