Copycat El Pollo Loco BBQ Black Beans (Canned Barbecue Beans)

If I live to be a thousand years old, I will never exhaust the possibilities offered by beans. What’s not to like? They are inexpensive, nutritious, easy to store, delicious and endlessly versatile.

If you’ve followed Foodie With Family for any length of time, you know I adore beans. They’re a quick, filling, and budget-friendly way to feed a growing family.

“Quick? Beans? You’re not making them from dried, are you?” some skeptics ask. Yes—I am. That brings me to pressure canning, which is the method I use for preserving dried beans. To explain why I pressure-can my beans, I need to detour a bit.

Many people grew up with scary pressure-canning stories. “Pressure canners are DANGEROUS! Aunt Bertha had one explode…” Those tales are common because older models sometimes failed. The key word is “were.” Modern pressure canners are far safer. They feature ratcheting, locking lids with metal-to-metal seals rather than older rubber gaskets that could warp or crack.

The man in my life, affectionately called the Evil Genius, inspected my pressure canner—yes, I name mine Carol—and declared it the domestic equivalent of a small-scale industrial sterilizer. If someone who works around real sterilizers every day says it’s safe, I trust him. (I’ll also note, with a smile, that this man who works with sterilizers at his job was raised in a lively, unsterile household—five sons in nine years.)

Bottom line: pressure canning is very safe when you use a modern canner and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. And perhaps don’t let Aunt Bertha near it.

Which canner do I use? I prefer a large model from Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry. It’s a bit pricier than smaller or cheaper alternatives, but it holds and processes fourteen quarts at once. That level of capacity cuts processing sessions in half compared to seven-quart models and can double as a boiling-water canner. When I had an issue with my gauge, the company replaced it free of charge after I admitted my mistake. Good customer service goes a long way.

Back to beans.

I found the recipe that inspired me in an online canning group. The original was described as a clone of El Pollo Loco’s BBQ Black Beans. Whether or not you’ve been to El Pollo Loco, the recipe’s simplicity and flavor are irresistible. The method is straightforward, and the result is spectacular.

The hardest part is waiting two weeks after processing before you open a jar. The sealed jars sit patiently on the shelf and call to you: “Eat me!”

These canned barbecue beans are smoky, spicy and saucy. They taste like beans that have simmered for hours, but they take only a few minutes of hands-on prep before pressure canning. For many home cooks, a single delicious recipe like this can justify investing in a quality pressure canner.

Imagine a busy weeknight: rehearsals, deadlines, errands, and guests arriving for the weekend. Here’s a simple dinner solution—start a pot of rice, heat a few jars of Canned Barbecue Beans, grill some sausages (kielbasa, smoked sausage or chorizo), and toss a salad. Serve the rice topped with beans and sausage, and dinner is done. It’s fast, inexpensive and satisfying.

Aside from convenience and flavor, these beans are nutritious: fiber, vitamins and minerals without unnecessary preservatives or additives. Home-canned beans are wholesome and economical.

Canned Barbecue Beans

Adapted from Creative Canning and Mary Kay Craig

• 1 pound (or slightly more) black beans or a mix of pinto and black beans, rinsed, picked over and soaked 8 hours or overnight
• 2 small onions, peeled
• 5 small cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 cups barbecue sauce (homemade or bottled)
• 2–3 drops liquid smoke per pint jar
• 1/4–1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle powder per pint jar, to taste, or 1/2 fresh jalapeño, minced, per pint jar

After soaking the beans overnight, drain and rinse them. The example shown uses roughly equal weights of black and pinto beans.

Divide the beans between five clean pint jars so the beans fill each jar about halfway. Divide the onions and minced garlic evenly among the jars. Add the chipotle powder (or minced jalapeños) and liquid smoke to each jar. Add 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce to each jar.

Top the jars with clean water, leaving one inch of headspace. Use a chopstick to release any trapped air bubbles by running it along the inside of each jar a few times. Adjust the liquid as needed to maintain one inch of clearance from the rim. Wipe the rims, apply new two-piece lids, and process according to your pressure canner’s manufacturer instructions—generally at 15 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes for pints.

Pressure canning cooks the beans inside the jars, so you don’t need to pre-cook them. After processing, wait at least two weeks before opening a jar to allow the flavors to meld and the beans to absorb the sauce. For an even deeper flavor, wait four weeks if you can resist opening them.

A final note: while the jars cool you may notice the liquid inside continuing to boil briefly. That’s normal after pressure canning due to the vacuum formed inside the jars.

These canned barbecue beans are convenient, economical, wholesome and incredibly flavorful—one of those pantry treasures you’ll reach for again and again.