Fiber in Pinto Beans Calculator – Daily Intake Tracker

pinto beans rank between the most common kinds of beans that one finds in kitchens around the world. The word “pinto” in Spanish means “painted”, and that fits well, if one looks at them… They cover themselves with little marks, that look like the coat of a painted horse.

Here the funny part: those marks fade as soon as one cooks them. In Spanish speaking lands one calls them frijoles pintos. Important detail: they are the main bean crop in North Mexico and the southwest United States.

What Are Pinto Beans and How to Cook Them

Those beans offer rich food value. They provide plenty of proteins, fiber, together with various vitamins and minerals. That mix helps to care about your physical health, it controls the blood sugar, strengthen the heart and lower the cholesterol.

Especially the fiber helps in the control of the blood sugar. Black beans are similar to them, really. They store only a bit more protein for one serving, around 7 grams in half of cup against 6 grams from pinto beans.

No really big difference.

How does one most commonly prepare pinto beans? Whole, cooked in broth or mashed and fried. Simple method is boil dried beans in pot with a bit of vegetables, and result is creamy and delicious.

Cumin, oregano and chili powder commonly go into the spices. To get Mexican taste, chipotle in adobo sauce or vegetable chili salsa with jalapenos give smoky and sharp touch. On the other hand, Italian or Mediterranean recipes use bay leaf, thyme, parsley, garlic and maybe Parmesan rind.

In Mediterranean cooking olive oil usually enters the mix.

One-pound bag of dried beans give about 2 cups dry or between 5 and 6 cups after cooking. The cooking lasts different times, so do not wonder, if one batch ends sooner then another. One lesson, that I learnt: add salt during the boiling extends the process and gives them tough texture.

So it is better to wait and salt them at the end.

pinto beans commonly appear in Latin-American cuisine and form the core of many Mexican foods. Refried beans simply are mashed pinto beans fried with spices and some fat, lard or vegetable oil works well. If one takes canned beans and blends them in a food processor, one gets rich and creamy result.

Burritos usually combine them with Tex-Mex flavors, cilantro, chili and onions. They also serve well above rice with eggs, salsa, cheese, lemon and cilantro, or at huevos rancheros.

In the Deep South pinto beans boiled with ham skins are the main food. Pinto beans together with cornbread form a filling meal, the bread absorbs the broth perfectly. They even work for bread recipes.

Mashed pinto beans form that wet, lightbread that does not remind you of beans at all.