Dominican-Style Stewed Beans (Habichuelas Guisadas)
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry red beans, pinto beans, or cranberry beans
- Water
- 2 small Yukon gold potatoes, diced
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, quartered
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube or 1 tsp better than bouillon paste
- 1/4 cup cilantro with stems
- 1/2 tsp adobo seasoning
- 2 tsp sazon seasoning
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Add the beans to your instant pot insert and pour in enough fresh water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Allow them to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Rinse and drain the beans, then add fresh water back into the instant pot chamber, enough to cover the beans by 1 inch.
Place the insert back into the pressure cooker chamber along with potatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Set to manual pressure and cook for 25 minutes. Release the pressure naturally.
While the pressure releases, sauté onions in a separate pan with a little oil until they are translucent. Add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant. Stir in tomato paste and sauté for about 2 minutes.
Remove the instant pot lid and discard the bay leaf and 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
Add the sautéed onion mixture to the instant pot along with cilantro, vegetable bouillon, adobo seasoning, and sazon seasoning.
Hit the sauté button on the instant pot and allow the mixture to come to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stew has thickened. If the stew appears watery, you can lightly mash the beans to help thicken it.
Stir in hot sauce and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Serve and enjoy!