Robin’s Sweet and Spicy Black Beans

  4.1 – 42 reviews  

In my family, they are well-known, and people frequently ask me for the recipe. Serve in tacos or with rice for a tasty and nutritious supper!

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 4
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  2. ½ large red onion, chopped
  3. 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  4. 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
  5. ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  6. 3 tablespoons sugar
  7. 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  8. 1 dash chili powder
  9. 1 dash cumin
  10. 1 dash ground cinnamon
  11. 1 (15 ounce) can black beans

Instructions

  1. Warm oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook about 2 minutes; then stir in garlic, and cook until onion is soft and translucent. Stir in tomatoes, cilantro, and sugar. Season with cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin, and ground cinnamon. Cook for 10 minutes. Stir in black beans, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer 1 hour or longer.

Reviews

Nathan Benson
This was amazing! The changes I made were to reduce the cayenne to a dash, use 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and increase the chili powder to a tablespoon and the cinnamon to half a teaspoon. Oh, and I left out the cilantro because we don’t like it. It makes enough to be the main dish for my family of three.
William Gomez
This dish is similar to one I had in a Cuban restaurant. I was very happy to find I could make this at home. I used agave syrup instead of sugar and it was just right. Sweet and spicy! These beans are an excellent complement to a Cuban sandwich. I spooned the mixture over rice, and made the perfect meatless meal. Thank you so much, Robin!
Brittany Johnson
I’ve made it three times but right from the beginning I thought the amount of sugar and cayenne was way way too heavy. I use 1 tablespoon of sugar and a quarter teaspoon of cayenne and I added half of a lime. I serve it over Chinese noodles and grated cheddar cheese to make the dish complete.
James Macias
I had leftover black beans I needed to use up, and this looked like a good recipe. But the sugar ruined it for me. If I had left that out, the rest probably would have been good (though I left out the cilantro and cayenne because I didn’t have any, so I’d like to try them next time). But sweet chili just didn’t work for me. I kept adding more spices, extra tomatoes, salt, etc. to try to balance out the sweetness, but nothing worked. I might try this again sometime, but I definitely wouldn’t add any sugar.
Lisa Reid
Absolutely delicious! I made one or two tweaks to fit the ingredients I had on hand. I added a chopped banana pepper to a can of stewed tomatoes. No cilantro (due to an allergy). 1 TBS of maple syrup instead of sugar. Everything else was as written. I have served this as a “breakfast chili” a few times. Love it more and more! Thank you!
Brooke Atkins
It was really easy to make and super delicious! I am so going to make it again and in a large portion to share with more people!
Lisa Ross
My husband and I really enjoyed these on our tacos! The intial heat seems a bit powerful (we’re “mild” people) and is well balanced once combined with other ingredients. The sweetness is pure bliss!
Brian Kelly
I made it and used some other items. I wanted to use some veggies before they went bad. I processed some celery, tomatoes, onion, carrots, and cilantro. I also added some frozen corn. I substituted honey for sugar and added some Siracha. It turned out soooo yummy over some rice.
Anthony Cortez
I love this recipe and what I like the most is that I can enjoy it hot or cold. The only thing that I changed is that I use two cans of beans to cut down the powerful Cayenne Pepper. Other than that, We Love It!
Jacqueline Hart
I didn’t like this recipe.
Heather Padilla
I just made this with a can of black beans, a can of red kidney beans, & a cup of medium salsa. Spiced accordingly, & served with home recipe skillet cornbread-DELICIOUS & EASY!!!!
Tony Krause
These are the best black beans I’ve ever had! I just love the sweet and spicy flavor mixture. I always make these whenever we have people over for a taco dinner.
Julie Mathis
I serve this at least two times per month. Typical meal consists of steamed rice and leftover rotisserie chicken all mixed together. Delicious! For the spice-wimps, I cut back the cayenne to 1/2 tsp. Thanks, Robin! Love this!
Christopher Ford
This is one dish we never get tired of. Easy to make and delicious, especially with Mexican food but great accompaniment with anything. I don’t personally care for onions so I omit those. I ran out of cayenne and on a whim tried a few drops of habenero sauce and that has gotten rave reviews. Don’t let the habenero frighten you, I use 2 to 3 drops for extra mild and 10-12 for spicy. Give this recipe a try, you’ll find it will soon become a regular dinner menu item.
Cynthia Swanson
This has become a staple. I use Splenda instead of sugar and whatever canned tomatoes I have. It’s got a great combination of flavors!
Michael Campbell
awsome flavor i did half amount of cayenne pepper and added sliced jalepenoes topped with cheese, sour cream and avocado slices yummmm
Brittany Ramirez
I leave out the cumin and add cajun instead. I also leave out the cayenne powder. Very good!
Eric Michael
Yum!
Jasmin Brown
I did not like these. I think it was the cinnamon in them. They had an odd smell and noboby liked them. I even tried adding bacon, but still didn’t work for us.
Joseph Ayers
I would have rated this recipe a “5” for everything except the amount of sweet and spicy… I would never add as much sugar and as much cayenne to this as called for. Simmering uncovered for about half the time was enough to evaporate the liquid and leave a nice thick sauce around the beans. This was delicious served with rice cooked in chicken broth. My favorite black beans and rice recipe…use Rotel tomatoes with cilantro and lime juice!
Jillian Perry
I followed the directions exactly and these just were not for us. The sugar was all we tasted. I probably would not try these again even with less sugar.

 

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