Recipes
How to Cook Beans in the Rancho Gordo Manner
Featured
There is not one single method of cooking beans. At its most basic, you want to simmer the pot until the beans are soft. Soaking can speed up the process and vegetables or stock will make them more flavorful. It's really that simple. There's all kinds of fine tuning and variables, but basically, this is it. Normally on a bean cooking day (which frankly is everyday at Rancho Gordo), I put the beans to soak in the morning, after rinsing in lots of cool water and checking for small debris. I cover the beans by about an inch or so...

Edna's Black Bean & Corn Soup
Dark Beans soups Soups & Stews Vegan Vegetarian
1 pound uncooked Rancho Gordo Midnight or Santanero Negro Delgado black beans, picked over and rinsed8 cups water½ bunch of green onions, white and tender green parts, rinsed1 small garlic head, rinsed but unpeeled, or 4 to 5 large garlic cloves, unpeeled1 tablespoon olive oilSalt1 large yellow onion, finely chopped½...

Yellow Eye Bean and Kale Soup
Medium Beans soups Soups & Stews Vegan Vegetarian White Beans
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling1 garlic clove, minced1 large carrot, peeled and chopped1 small bunch Tuscan kale, leaves stripped from the stems and sliced into thin ribbons1½ cups cooked Rancho Gordo Yellow Eye beans in their broth1 sprig fresh rosemary4–6 cups vegetable brothGrated lemon zestRed pepper...

Ayocote Morado and Charred Corn Salad
Dark Beans Gluten-Free Salads Side Dishes Vegetarian
Inspired by a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe, here is a dish you could take to a gathering and serve at room temperature. So many hosts want some help but dread hearing, "What can I bring?" Make it easy on them and bring this. Or serve it as a side at your own celebration. 1...

Beef, Bean, and Swiss Chard Ragout Over Polenta
Italian Main Dishes Omnivore Polenta White Beans
Angelo Garro has been a part of the Bay Area food scene for years. His Omnivore Salt company has been making the world more delicious, and if you get a chance to meet him, you are in for a treat. He's one of our favorite people, and we're happy he...

Puerto Rican Habichuelas
Main Dishes Medium Beans Omnivore Soups & Stews Vegan Vegetarian
We've been following Illyanna Maisonet for years. She's an excellent food writer with a natural curiosity. Her articles for the San Francisco Chronicle were legendary. She's an odd and appealing mix of honesty, integrity, vulnerability, and maybe a touch of confidence now and then. She knows her subject, but...

Celery and White Bean Salad
Holiday Omnivore Salads Vegetarian White Beans
This is our favorite kind of salad: crunchy, creamy, and substantial. We've been enjoying Andy Baraghani's book, The Cook You Want to Be (Lorena Jones Books, 2022). There are countless new ideas and jumping-off points if you're an adventurous cook. His Crunchy Celery Salad has shades of the old Waldorf...

Deconstructed Pozole Salad
Omnivore Pescatarian Posole/Hominy Salads Side Dishes
You are welcome to play around with quantities and even ingredients. You could try a colored cabbage, replace it with lettuce, use poached chicken instead of shrimp, or make it vegan and leave them out altogether. The one thing we insist is that you don't use canned hominy. Hopefully, you...

Baby Spinach and Preserved Lemon Salad with Black Garbanzos
Omnivore Other Legumes Salads Side Dishes Vegetarian
1 garlic clove, minced 1 tablespoon minced preserved lemon 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Castillo Spanish Pimenton (optional) 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 4 cups baby spinach 1 1/2 cups cooked, drained Rancho Gordo Black Garbanzos or Classic Garbanzos 1/4 of a white...

Black Garbanzo Salad with Emily Nunn's Barn Ranch
Omnivore Other Legumes Salads Side Dishes Vegetarian
Our friend Emily Nunn is a People of The Bean. Her clever Department of Salad newsletter is an endless font of salad wisdom. She's written an ebook for Rancho Gordo, and she's a constant inspiration for better and better salads. She is an advocate for this delicious version of Ranch...

Garbanzo Salad with Roasted Peppers and Spanish Chorizo
Gluten-Free Omnivore Other Legumes Salads Snacks & Appetizers
Steve made this super simple, flexible salad for an Instagram Live episode and we got some requests for the full recipe. Ta-da! Note that Steve used pre-cooked Spanish chorizo, which is different from the fresh Mexican-style chorizo that needs to be cooked first. 2 cups cooked, drained Rancho Gordo Garbanzo Beans 1 cup chopped...

Green Chile Pozole with Shrimp
Main Dishes Omnivore Posole/Hominy Soups & Stews
As much as I love pork and chicken, some of my happiest memories have been made over a bucket of perfect shrimp. Any type of pozole is appropriate for any time of year, but I think a party with shrimp pozole, cold beers, and a fun crowd sounds like summer....

Black Eyed Peas and Carolina Gold Rice
Main Dishes Omnivore Other Legumes
Hoppin’ John has a fascinating history, with many regional variations – too many to count. One difference is the variety of field peas used. A lot of Southerners grew up with cowpeas, or “red peas,” in their Hoppin’ John, rather than black-eyed peas. There are also different opinions about bacon versus...