• Home
  • Press
  • Meet Sweet Life
  • Work with me
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Sweet Life

Cooking, Eating, Living My Sweet Life in Texas

  • Home
  • New Cookbook!
  • Videos
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Entrees
    • Salsas & Dips
    • Soups & Stews
    • Sides
    • Sweet Treats
    • Drinks
    • Holidays
  • Cocktails
    • Margaritas
    • Tequila
    • Pisco
    • Rum
    • Vodka
    • Bourbon
    • Brandy
    • Whiskey
    • Champagne
    • Gin
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Rum
    • Campari
    • Infusions
    • Holiday Cocktails
  • Entertaining
  • DIY Projects
  • The Tex-Mex Queen
  • En Español
Dressings » Creamy Black Beans

Creamy Black Beans

1.8K shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Two months ago we took a weekend trip to Houston, Texas to catch a basketball game.  We spent the day before the game at the aquarium, museum and visiting friends.  Tired and ready for a nap we headed to our hotel to unwind and play in the pool.  Time flew by, it was late and we were all pretty hungry.  Hubby suggested we pass on room service, jump in the vehicle and head out for some local eats.

Five minutes later we pulled into a place that claimed they had the world’s best pupusas.  Truthfully I was a bit scared. The place was dark, empty and secluded.  We stood at the doorway for almost 5 minutes trying to figure out if there was even anyone in the building. As we turned to leave the waitress finally appeared from behind the kitchen window and directed us to seat ourselves.  We found a spot, sat down and hoped for the best.  The waitress handed us our menu, explained that they were only a few items available since she was running the front and the kitchen.  Hubby smiled, turned to her and said

“bring us what you have, whatever is the easiest for you, we know it’s late and we don’t want to keep you.” 

She smiled.   As we waited for our food we chatted with the girls about the aquarium, laughed at the pictures we had snapped on our phone and sang.  I guess to keep her sanity the waitress had her favorite Spanish song on replay, so in the span from walking in, waiting and eating we heard the same song almost 50 times.

My little girl to this day can still sing every lyric to that song. 

 

 

When I spotted the waitress approaching our table I was taken back a bit. She was carrying a HUGE tray of food.

“Uno de todo,”  (one of everything)

Tamale de pollo( chicken)~Tamale de elote (corn)~Tamale de rajas~ Pupusas con queso (cheese)~ Tacos de carne asada~  Flautas. Every plate had a heaping pile of rice and black beans.  There was a lot of food.

“We’re open all night, stay as long as you like,”  she said

“Buen provecho,” and walked away.

We dug in sampling each plate.

The food was a mix of Mexican/Salvadoran/Cuban flavors combined together in a way that really worked.  The tamales were packed with flavor and moist.  The tacos were seasoned perfectly and the pupusas were pretty high on the awesome scale, but the beans were hands down everyone’s favorite.  They were rich, thick, meaty, creamy and salty (in a good way).  Thick like breakfast oatmeal the black beans had specks of cilantro, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos.  Out of the six plates on the table, the beans were the first to go, my 7yr old polishing off 3 sides alone with a pupusa.

We arrived at 10pm and stayed until almost midnight.  One tasty night!

This is the closest I have come to recreating them.  Homemade black beans are preferred, but you can use canned along with chicken broth. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Print
Creamy Black Beans
Author: Vianney Rodriguez
Ingredients
  • 2 cups homemade black beans strained - plus ¼ cup broth from beans or chicken
  • Handful of cilantro with stems
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ onion
  • 2 to matoes
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 1 garlic clove
  • Salt
Instructions
  1. Remove root ends of cilantro, tear in half and add to food processor along with broth.
  2. Pulse a few times.
  3. In a large skillet over high heat add oil.
  4. Roughly chop the onion, tomato and jalapeno.
  5. When the oil is heated add onions, tomatoes and jalapeno and cook for 2 minutes.
  6. Add garlic, stir to combine and cook additional 1 minute.
  7. Add beans, allow to heat through and remove from heat.
  8. Place in food processor or blender and blend until creamy. Add additional broth in needed.
  9. Season with salt.
  10. Return to skillet on low until ready to serve.

Dressings// Mexican// Side Dishes17 Comments

Related Posts

Slow Cooker Black Beans
Easy Enfrijoladas
recipe from sweetlifebake.com
Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce

 

 

« Strawberry Lime Margarita
Tlayuda {Giveaway} with @IMUSAUSA »

Comments

  1. Rachel says

    June 11, 2012 at 6:33 am

    I’m drooling! What a wonderful treat you and your family experienced. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m a black bean fiend and here’s nothing better than an awesome recipe. Wish I could run to y kitchen and try this right now. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Magic of Spice says

    May 18, 2012 at 9:00 am

    What a great time that sounds like, and these beans are fantastic! A must try 🙂

    Reply
  3. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says

    May 8, 2012 at 9:05 am

    Delicious creamy black bean recipe. And so easy too!! I love black beans too much. Made a black bean hummus the other day 😀

    Reply
  4. Nami | Just One Cookbook says

    May 4, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    This is a wonderful black beans recipe, especially after we heard of the story! You never know what to expect and glad you found this place! 2 hours of happy eating time…hmm what a great night it must have been! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Susan says

    May 4, 2012 at 8:01 am

    What a great place! Love the creamy black beans and all of the flavors in them.

    Reply
  6. rebecca says

    May 2, 2012 at 1:13 pm

    wow looks great and want to go there

    Reply
  7. yummychunklet says

    May 1, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    Yum! This looks perfect as a side and as a dip! Very versatile!

    Reply
  8. 5 Star Foodie says

    May 1, 2012 at 7:44 am

    Great foodie experience and the creamy beans sound excellent!

    Reply
  9. mjskit says

    May 1, 2012 at 5:16 am

    LOVE the story! Kindness is always returned with kindness. Good for your husband! I would love to have seen that plate of food. These beans look awesome!

    Reply
  10. Lea Ann says

    May 1, 2012 at 2:04 am

    What a great story and experience. Wish I could have been with you those two hours of sampling. It all sounds really good. I really appreciate you trying to recreate those beans, and will try this very soon. Especially since I found about 6 cans of black beans while organizing the unruly pantry this weekend.

    Reply
  11. Joanne says

    May 1, 2012 at 2:03 am

    wow that sounds amazing!! You basically got your own tasting platter of deliciousness! I’ll have to try these black beans…they sound fabulous.

    Reply
  12. grace says

    April 30, 2012 at 11:53 pm

    i’ll take black beans just about any way i can get ’em, but these look particularly amazing!

    Reply
  13. Baker Street says

    April 30, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    Woah! You did well. This really looks so good V! I’d love to kick back with a bowl of your beans and good movie right about now. 🙂

    Reply
  14. tigerfish says

    April 30, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    The last time I made a black bean soup-and-stew-like dish, I added roasted garlic and the results was quite good. The next time I shall make it a creamy version. Good idea!

    Reply
  15. Belinda @zomppa says

    April 30, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    A two hour dinner at closing time with the world’s best. Now THAT is what I call a meal!

    Reply
  16. Rosa says

    April 30, 2012 at 12:31 pm

    Scrumptious and healthy! My kind of food.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to Sweet Life.

I'm Vianney, an Award-Winning Food Blogger, Recipe Developer and the Author of The Tex-Mex Slow Cooker and Latin Twist. Here in South Texas, we love to entertain and spend time in the company of good people. Sweet Life is a celebration of that connection and the vibrant, unique culture of South Texas.

Featured Cocktails

El Muerto Cocktail recipe

El Muerto Cocktail

October 30, 2023 | Leave a Comment

how to make the donkey lady cocktail

The Donkey Lady Cocktail

October 28, 2023 | Leave a Comment

cazuela tequila cocktail

Hibiscus Mint Tequila Punch

August 11, 2023 | Leave a Comment

Cocktail Catering

cocktail catering services, texas, south texas, aransas pass, port aransas, corpus christi texas, south padre island, harlingen, brownsville, mcallen, edinburg, san antonio, houston

Sweet Life on Google +

Follow me on Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · Sweet Life · Privacy Policy