The Best Vegan Black Beans (with Recipes) (2024)

This vegan black beans recipe uses dry beans and is easily made on the stove, in the instant pot or in a crock pot. The flavor is unreal!

I love keeping a large batch of these black beans in the fridge to use all week long. They are so versatile for things like burritos, salads or even a quick and easy grain bowl.

This post was originally published on April 9, 2020.

Learning how to make black beans from dry beans is much easier than you think. It is also so much tastier than the canned version, and can save you money! Use them in black bean burritos, black bean enchiladas or simply eat with rice!

Are Black Beans Vegan?

On their own yes, black beans are naturally vegan. However, some black bean recipes use chicken or beef broth and sometimes even lard. Make sure to check the label if buying canned, or ask if you're out at a restaurant. However, by cooking dried black beans yourself you can control the recipe and use only plant based ingredients!

Ingredients

Like other beans, black beans come in 2 ways, dried or canned. While using canned black beans is pretty self-explanatory, it's good to know how to cook dry black beans as well.

You could simply use beans and water, but where's the fun in that? The seasonings for black beans can be adjusted to your taste, but this is our favorite go-to:

• Dried black beans
• Red onion
• Red pepper
• Garlic cloves
• Vegetable broth
• Red wine
• Balsamic vinegar
• Dried oregano
• Smoked paprika
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper

How to Make Black Beans From Scratch

This Mexican black bean recipe is one of our top family favorites. Even since I created it, we eat it at least once a week. Cooking black beans on the stove is so simple, yet so dang flavorful. We simply sauté some greens or toss a salad, then serve these beans with them over rice.

1. Sauté the veggies.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until thickened.
3. Serve over rice or however you prefer!

How to Make Black Beans in the Instant Pot

You can definitely cook beans in a pressure cooker. It's actually our current choice! Follow the same directions, I use the sauté setting on my Instant Pot. Then add everything else in and cook on manual setting with the valve in the sealed position for about 30 minutes.

You will need to reduce the amount of liquid however since it doesn't cook off as much as it does on the stove top.

How to Cook Black Beans in the Crock Pot

If you want a really flavor infused option, cook dried black beans all day in the slow cooker. I still suggest sautéing the veggies first because the flavor really increases when you do this.

But after that you just dump the rest of the ingredients into the crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. You need to test at the 3 or 6 hours mark to check for doneness. Also you will need to add about 1 cup more water here because more evaporates since it cooks all day.

Do black beans have to be soaked before cooking?

There are multiple reasons why soaking black beans is recommended.

1. Cooking time. Soaked beans cook in less time.
2. Digestion. Soaked beans are usually easier to digest.

In my post all about cooking chickpeas, you read about how soaking the chickpeas is highly recommended. They are pretty hard to digest if not soaked and take a lot longer to cook.

On the other hand my post on cooking lentils showed how lentils do not need to be soaked. They cooked pretty quickly as is and are easier to digest over all.

Black beans fall a little in the middle. While soaking them will decrease your cooking time, it doesn't decrease it by all that much. However, if you do have a hard time with digestion, you may want to give them a soak.

One thing I did learn though, is unsoaked beans have more flavor since they cook longer and absorb all the spices and seasonings more.

How to Cook Black Beans Fast

If you want to make black beans as quick as possible, you'll need to soak them. Ideally overnight or for at least 8 hours is best, but if you forget, you can use the "quick soak" method:

• Put the black beans into a large pot and cover them with water.
• Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow them to sit for at least 1 hour.

You can then continue with the recipe you are using.

If you really want to know how to make black beans fast, learn to use a pressure cooker. It cuts down the cooking time by about half!

How to Store Black Beans

The great thing about dried beans is if you put them into an airtight container in your pantry, they will last up to a year!

Cooked black beans last in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. Place them in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator. After that the start to break down and you lose flavor and texture, plus they start to go bad. And no one needs to eat bad food!

Freezing tips

I love batch cooking dried black beans and freezing them for future meals or to use in recipes. Here are my best tips:

1. Allow the beans to cool completely.
2. Once cool, put them in an airtight container. You can even put them into a ziplock bag.
3. If in a container, I like to lay a piece of plastic wrap all nuzzled up right on the top of the beans. This helps prevent freezer burn.

In the freezer, cooked black beans will last about 6 months before the quality starts to go downhill.

What to Serve with Beans

We eat these Mexican black beans in so many ways! They taste amazing with basically anything.

Serve any of these recipes with black beans for a delicious meal:

• Over rice with salad or sautéed greens
• Vegan Quesadilla
• Tacos like Vegan Birria Tacos, Crispy Potato Tacos, or even in these Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos
• Burritos like this Ultimate Vegan Burrito or Vegan Burrito Bowl
• In a Mexican inspired Vegan Grilled Cheese
• In a bowl with ingredients like rice, potatoes, sour cream, salsa, guacamole
• In a taco salad.

Black Bean Recipes

If you are a black bean lover like we are, here are some of my other recipes with black beans. You can most certainly use this recipe in them instead of canned beans! You will however need to adjust the spices and seasonings a bit.

• Vegan Burritos with Black Beans
• Black Bean Enchiladas
• Gluten-free Black Bean Burgers
• Black Bean and Pumpkin Enchiladas
• BBQ Black Bean Burger
• Sweet and Spicy Black Bean Burgers
• Healthy Vegan Bean Dip (sub black beans)
• Vegan Taquitos (sub black beans)