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Instant Pot Dominican Pink beans

Instant Pot: Habichuelas Rosadas

Written by Published on in Sides

This Instant Pot: Habichuelas Rosadas Recipe is going to give you a step by step guide to making authentic Dominican Pink Beans.

During Hispanic Heritage Month, and really all year long, we will be featuring different dishes from different cultures. When you read and prepare recipes from different cultures it becomes clear that while, independent and so different, we are also so similar. There is so much crossover between these dishes and how they are done. However each culture’s traditions and recipes lend a different perspective into how to prepare something and what ingredients are involved. Case in point, let’s look at something as simple as beans.

Why We Chose Instant Pot: Habichuelas Rosadas

This Instant Pot: Habichuelas Rosadas, is one of our absolute favorite dishes out of this vibrant amazing island. Habichuelas is the word Dominicans use for beans. The beans most commonly found in the Dominican Republic are cranberry (pink), pinto, red kidney, navy, and black beans.

Beans from the Dominican Republic are savory and full of flavor. The dish is made with small habichuelas rosadas which are Dominican Pink Beans. They hold their shape but they are creamy on the inside. The small red bean known as Central American red beans are the most similar to the pink ones but you can use whichever you like. 

We love looking at how other cultures prepare their food. It’s so fun to note the small subtle differences in how each culture prepares similar food. For example, culantro, not to be confused with cilantro, is a big herb used in the Dominican. It gives these beans so much flavor unlike any other herb. The taste takes you right back to the heart of the Dominican Republic, its incredible food, beautiful beaches and kind people. 

If you look at our traditional Black Bean Recipe, you will see that we have a lot of overlap in flavor and seasonings. It’s those small things like Culantro that make such a big impact into flavor.

This recipe uses an Instant Pot to cook the beans. If you don’t have one, you can soak the beans overnight, and boil the beans in a pot and follow the same method. Just keep in mind the beans will take about 1 1/2 hours to cook on the stove top.

Dominican Pink Beans (Habichuelas Rosadas)
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Dominican Pink Beans (Habichuelas Rosadas)

Recipe by Abuela's CounterCourse: SidesCuisine: DominicanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

50

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 14-oz bag of dried small pink beans, cleaned and drained

  • 1 small yellow onion, peeled and left whole

  • 1 red pepper

  • 10 cloves of garlic

  • 4-6 leaves of culantro

  • 4 cups of chicken broth

  • 2 cups of water

  • ½ cup of tomato sauce

  • ¼ cup white vinegar

  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

  • Salt and freshly cracked pepper

  • ½ teaspoon of dried oregano

  • ¼ teaspoon of ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Directions

  • Rinse the beans under cold water, and pull out the beans that are cracked. Set the rinsed beans inside the instant pot insert. 
  • Cut the top of the red pepper and dig out the inner white ribs and seeds. Fill the pepper with the whole garlic cloves. 
  • Add that pepper stuffed with garlic, onion, broth, 3 leaves of culantro to the pot. Cover, and set the instant pot to the “bean setting” or set to pressure cook on high for 35 minutes.
  • Once the time is up release the pressure. The beans should be intact but completely cooked.
  • Carefully scoop out the whole onion, the pepper with garlic, a ladle full of beans with some of the bean liquid and add into a blender.
  • Add tomato sauce to the blender and mix until smooth. Set aside.
  • Now set the instant pot setting to saute. In the instant pot add the pureed mixture from the blender, the oregano, cumin, garlic powder, 2 teaspoons of salt, oil, vinegar, some of the water and freshly cracked pepper. Saute in the instant pot for 10 minutes until all of the flavors come together. 
  • Taste and adjust the seasoning. You may need more vinegar, spices or even water depending if you like the beans thicker or soupier. *REMEMBER – Since we cooked the beans without salt you will need to add more salt than you think. 
  • Thinly slice the remaining culantro leaves and incorporate into the beans. Mix together and serve.