The Most Delicious Mexican Black Beans Ever

Black beans taken to the next level with bold Mexican flavors all from ingredients you have around the house! Sometimes black beans become a forgettable side dish, but not these! They will be the highlight of your meal!

Easy Black Bean Side Dish

We just barely survived an extremely stressful summer. Before I get into the details, let me just say that these Mexican black beans from scratch came from some friends who had us over for dinner one tonight. They were the best black beans we have ever had!

All you need are a few simple ingredients and you’ll be in the middle of a Mexican black bean fiesta! Ole! Serve these alongside our pork carnitas or either one of our chicken or beef fajitas!

Okay, so this summer we made a major mistake. Well, not a mistake, but we went through an incredibly stressful summer and it was all at our own doing. We chose to completely gut our kitchen and three of our bathrooms.

You guys, I know that seems like it’s not that big of a deal, but have children, have your job be completely centered around cooking, and then take away the sinks, anything with cooking, showers and toilets and then fill the whole house with endless people, dust, dirt, and chaos.

That is stress.

One thing after another fell apart, the kitchen backsplash tile was accidentally installed in the shower, the cabinets were late, and then late again, and then wrong. The floors were ruined, which we hadn’t planned to replace.

WE FOUND MOLD.

I mean, the list literally goes on for another mile and we were stretched beyond our own capacity. It was so hard living off of protein bars and cereal in plastic bowls and I’m not kidding, that’s what we ate. We aren’t the type to say, hey folks, we could use a dinner or heck a plate of cookies because we are drowning!!!!! But we have two friends who reached out and cooked us a meal at one point.

One of those meals involved these easy black beans and although they filled our spirits and we knew, we knew it was such a crazy tender mercy that day, they also happened to be the best, the most delicious Mexican Black Beans Ever!

What’s Needed for Mexican Black Beans?

To make this simple black bean side dish, you need just a handful of mostly pantry ingredients. Here’s what goes into this easy recipe:

• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Cumin
• Canned black beans
• Tomato sauce
• Fresh cilantro

The measurements of each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Mex

Spanish Rice

Spanish rice is exactly the side dish you need with your next Mexican meal! This is a classic with all the flavors you want in a Spanish rice recipe and it’s perfectly moist every single time!

We’ve all been there…your meal arrives at your table, you take a bite of your main course and then tear into the rice and beans. The rice is dry and pasty and you can barely choke it down. Say goodbye to that scenario with this Mexican rice recipe!

This Spanish rice is so dang delicious. It makes a lot, but don’t you worry, we will be using the leftovers for pork tostadas later. The leftovers also freeze well (details below), so it’s actually awesome to have loads of leftover rice!

Make some steak fajitas, smothered chicken burritos, or the best pork carnitas with this Spanish rice for a side and prepare for a fiesta in your mouth! Ole! Cinco de Mayo anyone?!

Oh and don’t forget the refried beans to go with it!

What Ingredients Do I Need to Make Spanish Rice?

All the ingredients are exactly what you would expect in this dish. No surprises here!

• White Onion
• Tomatoes (Roma or Vine)
• Jalapeños
• Rice
• Cumin
• Canola Oil – olive oil can also be used
• Garlic
• Chicken Broth (or Vegetable)
• Tomato Paste
• Salt
• Cilantro
• Limes

How to Make Spanish Rice

Here are all the steps and tips we have for making this delicious rice recipe. For full details, see the recipe card below.

• Preheat the oven.
• Puree the tomatoes and onions in a food processor.

• Measure out 2 cups of the tomato/onion mixture and discard the excess.

• Mince the jalapeños leaving the ribs and seeds in one of the jalapeños.
• Rinse the rice through a fine-mesh strainer and shake to remove excess water.
  • Pro Tip: Rinsing the rice removes all the starch on the surface of the rice which can cause the rice to clump and get gummy when cooked.
• Saute the rice and cumin in a large skillet.
  • Pro Tip: This step is crucial. It adds a boost of flavor that takes this rice to the next level.

• Add garlic and seeded jalapeño.
• Add pureed tomato/onion mixture, broth, tomato paste and salt.
• Bring to boil then cover and place in oven to bake.
  • Pro Tip: You can also cook it on the stove top. We just prefer the taste and tex

The Best 5 Minute Restaurant Style Homemade Salsa Recipe

This is the best 5 minute restaurant style homemade salsa recipe! It is fresh, flavorful and easy to make. You’ll never buy salsa again and you might find yourself eating it every night!

Best Homemade Salsa Recipe

This post has been a long time coming. It’s no laughing matter to set out to make the Best Homemade Salsa Recipe. It all started years ago when my friend, Krysta, made the most delicious homemade salsa EVER.

What’s the key? Oh, friend let me tell you…

Restaurant Salsa Recipe

A restaurant salsa is not big and chunky, that’s a pico de gallo. No, this easy salsa recipe is actually more similar to what you’d pour out of a jar with 100% better flavor.

What makes it a restaurant salsa? Two things:

1. Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes
2. Blending versus strictly chopping the ingredients.

Oh Sweet Basil Pro Tip

If you live anywhere like we do, fresh tomatoes might not be super easy to get all year round, however they do make for the best salsa.

Let’s break it down even more so that you can be successful whether at the grocery store or at the farmer’s market.

Which Tomatoes are Best for Salsa?

When making a homemade salsa like our chunky tomato salsa you can use a variety of tomatoes, but for a restaurant style salsa you’re going to want to stick to Roma Tomatoes.

How to Pick Good Tomatoes

• Tight Skin- Look for tomatoes with really tight, smooth skin, no wrinkles as that’s a sign of withering from age.
• Coloring- Even coloring without yellow or orange or green marks means it ripened on the vine as it should.
• Weight- The heavier the tomato the better! This is the most important of all. Pick it up and resist squeezing it. The more often you feel tomatoes the better you’ll get at feeling the weight.

Should You Add Sugar to Salsa?

A dash of sugar is used to balance the acidity of the tomatoes which often comes from using store-bought vs garden tomatoes.

Salsa Ingredients

While you can use all canned items (not the onion) for salsa, I’ve found that a combination of fresh and canned works the best for a copycat Mexican restaurant salsa recipe. I think that’s because the canned tomatoes add a more thick and saucy salsa versus a pico de gallo like salsa.

Here’s what we use for Mexican Salsa:

• T