A few weeks ago, my friend Mel, aka the Dancin’ Queen, had to make Cafe Rio beans for 250 guests. Yes, two hundred and fifty.
We talked about how this was going to happen.
She gathered ingredients.
I showed up with my apron and big bowls.
We went to work.
About an hour and a half later, we had made four batches of beans (she made a test batch the night before). Each batch contained enough to serve fifty. Seriously, it was really simple. The hardest part, or I should say the most tedious part, was opening all of the cans. It’s a REALLY easy recipe. The finished product? Yum. These beans are flavored perfectly and go great on the side of any Mexican dish. This recipe tastes exactly like the black beans you can get at Cafe Rio. The texture is just right.
I’m all about a good copycat recipe you can make at home. Sauté some garlic, cumin, and olive oil over the stove. Once it becomes fragrant (about a minute) add the beans and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes juice and season to taste. When you’re ready to serve these yummy beans, add the chopped cilantro and enjoy!!
I’m posting the recipe for 8 and for 50. Depending on how many you are serving, or how much you love beans, or how much you love your hubs after he eats beans- you choose the quantity. If you want to use dry black beans take a look at my No-Soak Instant Pot Black Beans.
Interested in making more copycat Cafe Rio recipes?
- Instant Pot Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
- Cafe Rio Style Sweet Pork Salad
- Pico de Gallo
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Cafe Rio Style Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing
- ABK’s Ultimate Chunky Guac
- Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup
Cafe Rio Style Black Beans
Ingredients
for 8 servings:
- 2-15 oz cans black beans (drain one can, don’t drain the other)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-11.5 oz can tomato juice
- salt kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
for 50:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 12 cloves garlic about 1/3 cup chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup ground cumin
- 12-15 oz cans of black beans drain 6 cans, do not drain 6 cans
- 60-70 oz tomato juice about 1 1/2 46 oz. cans
Instructions
for 8:
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In a non stick pan, cook garlic, cumin and olive oil over medium heat until fragrance is released, about one minute. Be careful not to burn garlic.
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Add beans, cook down for about 5 minutes until some of the liquid from the beans is absorbed and evaporated.
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Add can of tomato juice and seasoning to taste.
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Stir in chopped cilantro when ready to serve.
instructions for 50:
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Place oil in large pot.
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Add garlic and cumin, cook over medium heat until fragrance is released, about one to two minutes.
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Add black beans and tomato juice and salt to taste. Cook until mixture is heated through on medium heat.
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When mixture has cooked 20- 30 minutes, turn off heat and add chopped cilantro.
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Cool and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
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When ready to serve, heat slowly on medium heat, stirring gently to avoid burning beans at bottom of pan. Add more tomato juice if needed.
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This may be made and stored up to five days before serving.
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Just today had balckbeans..I love thsoe.No other bean can be compared:) Great recepie this one;)
Proudest day of my life! I helped author a recipe on ABK. We did use 1/2 c. of cumin though in our big batches, plus added a bit more at the end.
I LOVE your blog, I found it through pinterest.
I'm wanting to make these ahead of our upcoming family reunion. What are your thoughts on how they freeze and how they would reheat in a crock pot? Have you ever tried it?
I’ve frozen and reheated them and they were great!
This recipe does freeze well! Thanks Rachel!
xo
Si
What would be the best way to reheat them after freezing?
Bless you! I am making sweet pork salads at girls camp and have been hunting high and low for a recipe that looks like it could even remotely serve as many people as I need it to. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't wait to try these!
I recently made these beans and they are seriously the best ever! My husband says they are even better than Cafe Rio! I am going to be making a large batch for our Stake Youth Conference and noticed the comment about 1/2 cup of cumin used in the large batches, whereas the recipe says 1/4 cup. Which one should I do? Thank you so much for your help!
Hi Jackie,
You are right, I totally forgot to amend this recipe. Ill change it now. Thanks for reminding me! Glad you loved this recipe!
I have made this large batch of beans several times. I only add the 1/4 cup and I think its perfect! I also feel when you are cooking for a lot of people, you should go more to the lighter side of the poignant flavors, only because many will love it and many will not, this way you appeal to both tastes. Just my experience from cooking for large groups over 20 years. I still have rave reviews over the 1/4 cup amount.
Thx for the awesome recipe! I just noticed that I the large batch recipe it’s says, “add beans, tomato juice and fresh cilantro” and then at the end it says “add chopped cilantro” after it’s off the heat. Which one is correct?
Rachel,
Just corrected the recipe it should say to add the cilantro after the beans are heated, but not a big deal to add them while cooking. Thanks!
xo
Si
When you say “tomato juice” do you mean V-8?
Kathie,
No, just plain tomato juice!
How much chopped cilantro do you add for the 50 serving batch recipe?
Jan,
I’d use about 1 1/4 cups cilantro for the 50 serving recipe.
Thank you for reading ABK.
xo,
Si
Have you ever made this with dry beans? We are making it for a fundraiser and planning to feed 200. A local grocery store donated a huge bag of dry black beans so I want to use them, but may that won’t work…
Hi Melissa, if you’re using dry beans, I would actually use my recipe for No Soak Instant Pot Black Beans: https://abountifulkitchen.com/no-soak-instant-pot-black-beans/. You can use your own variations for the other ingredients but this method is great for cooking dry beans. Thanks for asking and hope this helps!
xo
Si
Okay, I will try that. Would you swap coriander for cumin and chili powder?
Do you drain the beans on the recipe for 50 or no? It only specifies on the serving for 8, so just wondering!
DO you have the other parts of your recipe for a group of 50? Like the meat?
Yes take a look at the sweet pork recipe it includes instructions for large groups!
I followed the recipe for eight to the letter. What I ended up with was beans floating in liquid- yes I drained one can of beans didn’t drain the other and put in 11.5 oz tomato juice??? Ideas?