Holy Frijoles

My grandpa makes the world's most amazing charro beans.  I salivate just thinking about them.  They are so full of flavor.  Recently I found out that my grandpa is a bit of a fibber.  It's actually my grandma who's been making them, but grandpa has been taking all the credit.  That rascal.  Either way, their beans are so delectable.  

My mom celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago and I decided to host a little weeknight birthday party for her.  A couple of my siblings are just a little picky {and by little I mean that they don't like anything}, so I wanted to make sure that I made a meal that would appeal to everyone's palates.  So Mexican it was.  

I decided to make my Baja Crockpot Pork Tacos, taco rice, and charro beans, but I was in a bit of a quandry because I had NO idea how to make said charro beans.  Especially the kind of charro beans my grandpa...errr...grandma makes.  I wanted to phone it in and ask grandma to make them for the party, but instead I resolved to figure out how to do it myself.  

I'll go ahead and tell you that I ended up finding this little recipe that didn't require half the effort that grandma puts into hers.  She soaks her beans overnight and pours so much love into them.  I won't give myself that much credit.  Even though these beans were nothing like grandma's, they were just as full of flavor and easy to boot!  A winner all the way around.  Even my picky siblings raved about them :)

EASY WEEKNIGHT CHARRO BEANS

4 {15 oz.} cans of pinto beans

1 {10oz.} can of Rotel {I used Mild}

1 {4 oz.} can chopped green chiles

1/2 cup chopped onion {I used a little bit more}

6-8 sliced of bacon, cooked & cut into bite sized pieces

Handful of cilantro, stems removed, chopped

First things first...cook your bacon.  I always bake mine because I STINK at frying it.  Grease stains for days and I always end up burned.  I follow this little kitchen tutorial.

Once your bacon is cooked, crumble it into tiny pieces and set aside.  Combine ALL of the ingredients...included the crumbled bacon...into a large pot.  Season to taste with pepper and salt and let it simmer on the stove top for an hour.  

BOOM.

Easy charro beans that are ***almost*** as good as grandmas :) 

This recipe fed 11 adults with a little bit leftover after dinner.  Next time I'll be sure to double the recipe because there's nothing we love more than leftovers!  Okay....there are a lot of things we like better...but leftovers are pretty darn fantastic :)