Vegan frijoles Zacatecanos

This recipe was designed exclusively for our Toda la Familia kit by Todo Verde founder and NYT Cooking contributor, Jocelyn Ramirez. Our collaboration celebrates plant-based cooking and simple, healthy, abuela-approved meals at home. You can typically find avocado leaves at Mexican grocery stores or online.

What Are Frijoles Zacatecanos?

Frijoles Zacatecanos are a traditional dish from Zacatecas, Mexico, typically made with pinto beans that are cooked, mashed, and enriched with tomatoes, chiles, and cheese. They're more rustic and less smooth than refried beans, with visible texture and chunks. The dish is often served as a side or appetizer with tortilla chips for dipping, or as a filling for tacos and tostadas.

Jocelyn Ramirez's vegan version honors the traditional preparation while making it plant-based and accessible. She uses Todo Verde's Carnitas seasoning for depth of flavor, nutritional yeast for umami, and vegan cheese for richness. The result is something that's entirely plant-based but still feels indulgent and satisfying, the kind of comfort food that would be abuela-approved.

The Star: Flor de Junio Beans

Let's talk about Flor de Junio beans, beautiful medium-sized beans that are perfect for this preparation. These beans have a creamy texture when cooked that makes them ideal for mashing into frijoles. They're tender enough to break down easily but substantial enough to maintain some texture, creating that perfect "smooth yet slightly chunky consistency" that Jocelyn describes.

What makes Flor de Junio beans special for frijoles Zacatecanos is their ability to absorb the flavors of the avocado leaf and bay leaf during cooking, then take on the tomato mixture, poblano, and seasonings when mashed. Their mild, slightly sweet flavor provides the perfect base for all those wonderful Mexican flavors.

The beans are cooked with avocado leaf, which adds a subtle anise-like flavor that's distinctive in Mexican cooking. If you can't find avocado leaves at Mexican grocery stores or online, you can skip them, though they do add authentic flavor.

The Tomato Mixture

The tomato mixture is what gives these beans their distinctive flavor and color. Roma tomatoes get blended with water and salt until smooth, creating a light tomato sauce. This gets cooked with sautéed onions and Todo Verde's Carnitas seasoning, a spice blend that adds depth, warmth, and complexity.

The mixture simmers for 10-15 minutes until the flavors meld and it reduces slightly, concentrating the tomato flavor. This tomato-onion mixture then gets stirred into the mashed beans, infusing them with savory, slightly sweet, aromatic flavor.

The Poblano Chile

Roasted poblano chile is a traditional addition to frijoles Zacatecanos. The poblano gets chopped and seared in a hot pan until tender and charred in spots. This develops the pepper's natural sweetness while adding a subtle smoky quality and gentle heat.

The poblano serves as a garnish on top of the finished beans, adding visual appeal, textural contrast, and pops of flavor throughout.

The Plant-Based Richness

What makes this version special is how Jocelyn creates richness and depth without any animal products. Refined coconut oil provides fat for mashing the beans, creating that creamy texture without lard or butter. Nutritional yeast adds umami and a subtle cheesy flavor, it's a staple in plant-based cooking for good reason.

Vegan cheese (shredded) gets mixed into the beans for creaminess and richness, with more sprinkled on top for garnish. Together, these ingredients create beans that are creamy, rich, and satisfying without any dairy.

The Mashing Technique

The technique for mashing is important. You add the drained beans to the pan with rendered coconut oil, then mash with a bean masher (or potato masher) while gradually adding reserved bean cooking liquid. Start with 1 cup and add more as needed to achieve that smooth yet slightly chunky consistency.

Don't over-mash, you want some texture, not a completely smooth purée. Those visible bits of beans are part of what makes frijoles Zacatecanos different from refried beans.

Once mashed to the right consistency, you stir in the tomato-onion mixture, nutritional yeast, and vegan cheese. Everything simmers together for 3 minutes to meld the flavors and allow the cheese to melt.

Serving

The presentation matters with frijoles Zacatecanos. Serve them in a statement pan (like a cast-iron skillet) or a beautiful serving bowl. Garnish with additional grated vegan cheese and those seared poblano chiles on top. The visual appeal, creamy beans, green poblanos, melted cheese, makes this look as good as it tastes.

Serve with plenty of tortilla chips for dipping. The beans should be thick enough to scoop with chips but still creamy and luscious. They're perfect for sharing, everyone gathered around, dipping chips, enjoying the warm, comforting flavors together.

Versatility

While these beans are delicious as an appetizer with chips, they're also incredibly versatile. Use them as a filling for tacos, tostadas, or burritos. Spread them on tortas (Mexican sandwiches). Serve them as a side dish for grilled meats or vegetables. Or eat them as a main course with rice, salad, and warm tortillas.

They're also excellent for meal prep, make a big batch and use throughout the week in different ways.

Plant-Based Mexican Comfort Food

What makes this recipe valuable is how it proves that plant-based Mexican food can be just as satisfying and delicious as traditional preparations. There's no compromise on flavor or texture, these beans are rich, creamy, deeply flavored, and absolutely craveable.

It's the kind of food that appeals to everyone, not just vegans. The Todo Verde Carnitas seasoning adds complexity that makes you forget there's no meat. The nutritional yeast and vegan cheese create richness without dairy. And the traditional techniques, cooking beans with avocado leaf, roasting poblanos, simmering tomatoes with onions, honor authentic Mexican cooking methods.

Part of the Toda la Familia Kit

This recipe was designed as part of our collaboration with Todo Verde, celebrating plant-based Mexican cooking. The Toda la Familia kit brought together Flor de Junio beans, Todo Verde seasonings, and recipes from Jocelyn Ramirez to make plant-based Mexican meals easy and accessible.

Check out the other recipes designed for the kit: Jocelyn's Frijoles de la Olla and Molletes with Tofu al Pastor for more delicious plant-based Mexican inspiration.

*A Note On Our Recipes:

Every recipe here was developed and tested using farm-fresh beans from Foodocracy and Primary Beans. Older beans, anything past a year in your pantry or beans from other sources may need more coaxing. Give them a soak and add extra cooking time, and they'll get there eventually.

Vegan Frijoles Zacatecanos

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Category

Main Course

Cuisine

Mexican

This recipe was designed exclusively for our Toda la Familia kit by Todo Verde founder and NYT Cooking contributor, Jocelyn Ramirez. Our collaboration celebrates plant-based cooking and simple, healthy, abuela-approved meals at home.

Featured bean: Flor de Junio 

Other beans to try: Ojo de Cabra, Bayo, Flor de Mayo

Ingredients

• 1½ cups dried Flor de Junio beans or other beans of Mexican origin

• 1 avocado leaf

• 1 bay leaf

• Salt to taste

• 2 Roma tomatoes, quartered

• 2 tbsp neutral flavored oil, plus more for cooking

• ½ yellow onion, chopped

• 2 tbsp Todo Verde Carnitas seasoning

• 1 medium poblano chile, chopped

• 1 tbsp refined coconut oil

• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

• ½ cup vegan cheese, grated, plus more for serving

• Tortilla chips, for serving

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Directions

1. Prepare the beans: Add beans to a pressure cooker with avocado leaf, bay leaf, 4 cups water, and salt to taste and cook for 40 minutes. Once the beans are cooked and tender, drain and reserve the cooking liquid.

2. Make the tomato mixture: Add the tomato to a blender with ½ cup of water and salt to taste. Blend until smooth and set aside. Preheat a skillet to medium heat and add oil until hot and shimmering. Add onion and a pinch of salt and cook for about 3-5 minutes until onion is slightly seared and softened. Add Carnitas seasoning and cook for an additional 2 minutes until the mixture becomes aromatic. Add blended tomatoes to the skillet with the onions and simmer for 10-15 minutes on medium low heat until the flavors meld and the mixture reduces, stirring occasionally.

3. Cook the poblano chile: Preheat a pan to medium heat, and add a drizzle of oil until hot and shimmering. Add chopped poblano and cook for 5-7 minutes until tender and seared. Remove from the heat and set aside.

4. Mash and season the beans: In the same pan used for the poblano, over medium heat add the coconut oil until rendered. Add the drained beans and starting with 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid, mash with a bean masher until you have a smooth yet slightly chunky consistency. Using additional cooking liquid as needed to smooth out the mixture. Add the tomato and onion mixture, and the nutritional yeast, and ½ cup of grated cheese. Mix until fully incorporated and simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Serve: Serve beans in a statement pan or serving bowl, and garnish with additional grated cheese and the seared poblano. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Recipe Note

Every recipe here was developed and tested using farm-fresh beans from Foodocracy and Primary Beans. Older beans, anything past a year in your pantry, or beans from other sources may need more coaxing. Give them a soak and add extra cooking time, and they'll get there eventually.