Habichuelas Guisadas is an amazingly tasty Puerto Rican bean dish. It uses the magic combination of sofrito + sazon + adobo to take humble beans to new heights.
They’re a popular side dish, but can be eaten as a main for an easy weeknight dinner.
Once you try your beans the Puerto Rican way, you may never eat them any other way again…
We absolutely love Puerto Rican food, as you may have noticed by now. Some of our earliest posts were their Picadillo and Tostones.
Since then, we’ve cooked plenty more, including their famous Christmas combination, Pernil and Arroz con Gandules.
This time, we’re going with a simple side dish that’s often served along with rice, but still packs in a ton a flavor.
What are Habichuelas Guisadas?
Simply translated as “stewed beans”, habichuelas guisadas are pink beans that have been cooked with plenty of Latin flavor enhancers.
Some versions have meat, such as ham. Some have veggies like potatoes.
On our recent trip to Puerto Rico, we found these beans on just about every menu, along with rice, as a side dish.
Check out our Puerto Rico Travel Guide!
We found them so hearty and satisfying, that when we cooked our own we enjoyed a big pile of habichuelas and rice as our main course.
Why Is Puerto Rican Food So Tasty?
The secret to these beans, as well as any of their stews or rice dishes, comes down to three ingredients: sofrito, adobo and sazon.
Sofrito is a cooking base made by blending green bell pepper, sweet peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro and culantro (an herb with a similar taste and aroma to cilantro).
You can buy jarred sofrito in the Latin aisle of your grocery store, but there is nothing like fresh, vibrant homemade sofrito. Check out our detailed post for homemade Sofrito, and keep it ready in your freezer. It’s so good, you’ll find yourself using it in everything.
Adobo is a Latin seasoning salt. It is a blend that typically includes kosher salt, black pepper, dried oregano, garlic powder, and ground turmeric.
This is another staple easily found in your grocery store. We like our Goya brand adobo seasoning.
Sazon seasoning is a Latin favorite for flavoring rice, soups, and stews. Additionally, with its ground annatto seeds, it adds beautiful color to many dishes. Look for Goya brand Sazon Con Culantro Y Achio (with Coriander & Annatto) in your grocery store.
Ingredients for Habichuelas Guisadas
- Pink beans – AKA, habichuelas rosadas
- Ham – optional, but goes great
- Garlic
- Tomato sauce
- Chicken broth
- Seasonings – sofrito, adobo, sazon, oregano, bay leaves
- Veggies – potatoes and carrots
- Olives – another staple of Puerto Rican stews.
How to Make Habichuelas Guisadas
Though good stewed beans take some time to simmer, the hands on time is minimal…
Heat some olive oil in a pot, then sauté the ham and garlic for a few minutes, just till the ham starts to brown up a little.
Add in the sofrito and cook it a couple of minutes. It should start smelling nice and aromatic.
Stir in all of the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer at least 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust for adobo salt.
Serve with freshly cooked white rice.
Variations
- You can make a vegetarian version by omitting the ham and replacing chicken stock with vegetable stock.
- Try different veggies. Some versions have pumpkin or other hard squashes instead of, or in addition to, potatoes and carrots.
- Follow the same recipe, but with a different variety of beans, for a little flavor variation.
Leftovers
These Puerto Rican stewed beans make great leftovers. Refrigerate them in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Reheat on stovetop, or in the microwave, with a splash of additional water.
They also freeze great in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Just thaw overnight in the fridge the day before eating them.
The next time you want a simple, easy beans and rice night, give these habichuelas guisadas a try.
Or, cook them up along with some Bistec Encebollado and Tostones for an all out Latin feast night.
You just may find yourself cooking these again and again. After we tried them the first time, we were cooking up another pot in less than a week!
Habichuelas Guisadas, on our Gypsy Plate… enjoy!
Try these other great Latin American dishes!
Carne Guisada
Chile Verde
Albondigas Soup
Ropa Vieja
Pollo Guisado
Pastel de Choclo
Barbacoa Pork
Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Stewed Beans)
Habichuelas Guisadas is an amazingly tasty Puerto Rican bean dish. It's a popular side dish, but can be eaten as a main for an easy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced ham
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup sofrito
- 1 packet sazon con culantro y achiote
- 1/2 tsp adobo
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 2 14oz cans pink beans (not drained)
- 1 8oz can tomato sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 pound potatoes and/or carrots, cut into bit sized pieces
- 1/4 cup green olives
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium high heat.
- Add ham and garlic, sauté 2-3 minutes.
- Add sofrito. Cook 2-3 minutes, till sofrito gets aromatic.
- Add all remaining ingredients and mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer till potatoes are tender, at least 30 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 320Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 9mgSodium 1177mgCarbohydrates 49gFiber 9gSugar 3gProtein 18g
Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.
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