By Sean Sherman
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, plus overnight soaking
- Rating
- 4(70)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The small tepary beans that grow in the harsh, dry American Southwest are an heirloom variety that has been cultivated and harvested wild by countless generations of Native people in the region. The Diné (more commonly known as the Navajo) seed savers even protected them during the Long Walk of 1864, a brutal forced march to eastern New Mexico, hiding the beans in their clothing. This is an amazing bean that can withstand and even prosper in the most extreme heat and drought. The white variety I use here is slightly sweet and nutty, while the brown variety has an earthier flavor. The combination of white and brown tepary beans is both visual and flavorful, but you could also simply use 2 cups of one variety of tepary bean. Top the beans with roasted turnips and winter squash for a satisfying vegan meal, or pair them with bison pot roast, roast turkey or other meat.
Featured in: Sean Sherman’s 10 Essential Native American Recipes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 entree servings or 8 side servings
- 1cup dried white tepary beans (see Note)
- 1cup dried brown tepary beans (see Note)
- 1tablespoon sunflower oil
- ½small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3tablespoons light agave nectar
- 1tablespoon New Mexico Hatch chile powder or chipotle powder, plus more for garnish
- Sea salt
- 2teaspoons whole fresh oregano leaves
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
420 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 74 grams carbohydrates; 17 grams dietary fiber; 14 grams sugars; 21 grams protein; 295 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place the white and brown tepary beans in a large bowl. Add enough water to cover by 4 inches and let soak overnight at room temperature.
Step
2
Drain the soaked beans, discarding the liquid, and transfer the beans to a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add enough cool water to cover the beans by about 4 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 1½ to 2 hours. Reserve 1 cup of the bean cooking liquid, then drain the beans.
Step
3
In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil over medium. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the cooked beans and the reserved bean cooking liquid, the agave and the chile powder. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced to a glaze, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Divide among bowls, sprinkle with additional chile powder and top with oregano.
- Tepary beans are available online from Ramona Farms and Native Seeds Search. You may substitute any dried bean of choice for the tepary beans, adjusting the cooking time as needed, but please avoid using canned beans, which lack texture, bite and flavor.
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4
out of 5
70
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Jo Falls
Having cooked with tepary beans for years, I would recommend that you spill them out on paper towels and sort through them for errant bits of gravel, often the same size and color as the beans themselves. I am also a proponent of cooking in a slow cooker, putting them on low for about six hours. Teparies are amazing in chili, too - I make one with ground buffalo, adding dashes of honey and cocoa powder to my chile spices.This is a great little bean!
K.
Tepary beans are also available from Rancho Gordo! www.ranchogordo.com
Cynthia
Tepary beans are delicious! The Tohono O'odham have been growing them in Arizona for millennia! https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/21/586420523/arizonas-tepary-beans-preserve-a-native-past-hold-promise-for-the-future
frances farmer
The very best tepary beans are from Rio del Rey farm in California. That offer the blue speckled variety that I haven't been able to find anywhere else plus they are very nice people.
dona
Kalustyan's at 123 Lexington Ave in NYC has Tepary beans- white/ black and brown- $8.99/ 1 lb or $16.99/ 2 lb
Ben
I didn’t have the chile powders called for, but gave this a few generous shakes of sweet and smoked paprika and a dash of garlic powder and Worcestershire. The sweetness of the agave nectar was still front and center, but with some smoky and savory notes on top.
S Stegall
My Southwestern tastebuds were unimpressed. I made these on the stovetop; texture was excellent. But even doubling the chili and agave added nothing to this dish. I served it over polenta, and the combination was great. But I wound up adding salsa to the whole thing just to get some flavor.
ann
This turned out tasty but 1 tbsp of chipotle powder is too much/hot! 1 tsp was too much! Used diluted honey instead of agave nectar. Topped with roasted rutabaga and delicata that was sprinkled with salt and chipotle (lightly). All of the ingredients were from my CSA! I plan to make refried beans with the leftover beans
frances farmer
The very best tepary beans are from Rio del Rey farm in California. That offer the blue speckled variety that I haven't been able to find anywhere else plus they are very nice people.
Kate O’Neill
Lovely, easy recipe. But I pre-cook beans using Tuscan method (also on NYT}. I found small light yellow beans from the farmer’s market. Never seen them before. No label, but they look like these beans. Farmer is from eastern WA, so possibly an heirloom bean, imported north. Anyway, great recipe to combine with Pressure cooker Cuban pork (Melissa Clark). I added a Serrano pepper to the beans. Not classic black beans, but yum!
Maya
These were WAY too spicy. I'm wondering if they meant to say a tsp of chile powder?
ann
I found 1 tsp too much as well. Love the recipe though
sarah blair
Turns out when you plan thanksgiving on Tuesday you can’t get tepary beans by Thursday. So I made this with, well, two kinds of dried beans of different colors. Will definitely try it with tepary, but it was really good with whatever those beans were.
Rachel
I’m in Australia, is there any other bean I could use as a replacement?
seattle_sz
I just received a package of these beans as a gift from a friend and am excited to try them. Is it necessary to drain the initial soaking water?
Tajai
Just finished making these, used a slow cooker for the softening, which worked great. I took my first taste and wow! First sweetness followed by an intense heat. I love spicy foods in general but this blacked out all the other flavors. I did follow the recipe. I’m going to let it sit overnight and hope the flavors mingle a bit.
Rebecca
I've been making a lot of beans lately and was pretty skeptical about the simplicity of this recipe, but it is perfect! They are like the perfectly slightly spicy, slightly sweet baked bean. Thank you Sean Sherman for your work!
Thula
Great recipe to get us in touch with ancient peoples and crops that remain to this day. Whole Foods was out for the Thanksgiving holiday, but Arizona grown beans were easily available at the Heard Museum. The dish was a success and may become a tradition with family and friends. The slow cooker for softening works well. The NM chile and fresh oregano at the end are wonderful. For anyone interested in food anthropology, this is great to prepare and share.
Ilene
Hello. I have cooked tepary beans purchased from Native Seed Search and, at their recommendation, I soaked the beans over night and then cooked on the slow cook cycle of the Instant Pot for eight hours. They were still a bit tough for some of those I served it too.
Jo Falls
Having cooked with tepary beans for years, I would recommend that you spill them out on paper towels and sort through them for errant bits of gravel, often the same size and color as the beans themselves. I am also a proponent of cooking in a slow cooker, putting them on low for about six hours. Teparies are amazing in chili, too - I make one with ground buffalo, adding dashes of honey and cocoa powder to my chile spices.This is a great little bean!
NCJess
Excellent advice. I highly suggest doing this with all dried beans. Though, I generally do it during the soaking process. I am looking forward to trying the teparies,.
dona
Kalustyan's at 123 Lexington Ave in NYC has Tepary beans- white/ black and brown- $8.99/ 1 lb or $16.99/ 2 lb
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