Black Bean Recipes — The Flexible Chef's Complete Collection

There are two kinds of black bean recipes, and they start with two completely different ingredients. The first is the tinned cooked black bean — Phaseolus vulgaris, the black turtle bean of Cuban, Mexican and Caribbean cooking, the backbone of Congrí, of black bean soup, of the beetroot burger that has quietly become a fixture in this kitchen. The second is the fermented salted black soybean — douchi in Chinese — small, dark, intensely savoury, the umami engine behind black bean sauce, behind Chicken & Black Beans, behind the dish that started all of this.

Both are black bean recipes. Both are on this page. They are not the same ingredient and they are not the same tradition, and it is worth knowing which one you are cooking with before you start.

The collection on this page uses Eat Wholesome Organic black beans — 400g tins, cooked in water, no salt added, organic. They arrived at Casa Adora in September 2026, a case of twelve, and within twenty-four hours they were under a piece of Icelandic cod poached in early-harvest olive oil and in a pan of beetroot burgers heading for a wholemeal bun. Ten tins still to go.

The fermented salted soybean tradition starts somewhere else entirely — at Pearl City in Manchester's Chinatown, now closed, where Chicken & Black Beans was the dish that taught me what a black bean could do. Back in Cumbria before 2012, I used to buy Lee Kum Kee black bean sauce jars, rinse the beans thoroughly to strip out the preservatives, and use them to recreate it at home. Then the move to Andalucía, and black beans — both kinds — quietly dropped out of the rotation for over a decade. September 2026 brought them back.

These black bean recipes range from a Cuban rice dish to a Korean noodle bowl, from a gut-health breakfast to a chorizo broth. Some use tinned cooked beans. Some use Diamond fermented salted black soybeans, rinsed and ready. The hub will tell you which.

Mains — Meat & Fish

Chicken in Black Bean Sauce — Pearl City Style, Casa Adora — Velveted chicken, fermented black soybeans, red onion, courgette and carrot, homemade Nearly Lee Kum Kee black bean sauce. Served with pearl barley cooked ahead, cooled and reheated for resistant starch. The dish that started all of this — and the reason Pearl City still matters.

Cod Loin Poached in Early-Harvest Olive Oil — Black Beans, Confit Garlic & White Asparagus — Icelandic cod poached at 60°C in Montetucci early-harvest olive oil infused with confit garlic and lemon peel, rested on warm black beans with flat leaf parsley and pimentón, white asparagus alongside. The first use of the Eat Wholesome Organic case. Eaten in the shaded patio at Casa Adora on a 41°C September evening.

Sichuan Black Bean Soba Noodles — Fermented black soybeans, Sichuan peppercorns, crispy tofu and white cabbage tossed through soba noodles in one pan. Quick, vegan, and built on proper umami depth.

Campervan Tofu and Soba Noodles in Black Bean Sauce – half a jar of homemade fermented black bean sauce doing the heavy lifting in a quick vegan noodle stir fry.

Black Bean Tofu Recipe – Casa Adora, Nearly Lee Kum Kee Style – firm tofu in homemade fermented black bean sauce, the slower Casa Adora version of a Cantonese classic.

Mains — Meat Free

Coming soon — Congrí (Cuban Black Beans & Rice); Jajangmyeon (Korean Black Bean Noodles); Cosy Spanish Black Bean Stew with Potatoes; Spicy Black Bean and Quinoa Salad;

Beetroot & Black Bean Burger — Casa Adora — Black beans, grated beetroot, mushrooms, walnuts, cumin and smoked paprika. Pan-fried, makes four, freezes two. Nearly K-Salat remoulade on the bottom, Tropical Sunset on the top. The second use of the Eat Wholesome Organic case.

Slow Cooker Beef Curry — Kerala Style with Black Beans — A Kerala-style slow cooker beef curry with black beans — overnight marinade, fennel-forward spice, and two tablespoons of fig chutney to finish.

Soups & Broths

Black Bean Soup — TFC's Take on Nigella's Cuban Cure — White onion, cumin, oregano, Osborne Veterano brandy and homemade chicken stock. Half a tin, one bowl, thirty minutes. Nigella called it a cure. She wasn't wrong.

Coming soon — Black Bean and Chorizo Broth.

Sides, Dips & Extras

Coming soon — Costa Rican Black Bean Dip with Coffee; Black Bean Jacket Potato Topper.

Nearly Lee Kum Kee — Homemade Black Bean Sauce — Diamond fermented salted black soybeans, rinsed and slow-cooked with garlic, ginger, Shaoxing rice wine and dark soy. The Nearly Series take on the jar that sat at the back of every British Chinese kitchen cupboard for thirty years.

Black Bean Salsa — Mango, Red Onion and Lime — Fresh mango, red onion, lime and parsley. Five ingredients, ten minutes, no cooking. Alongside grilled fish or chicken, or as a dip with flatbread. The fourth use of the Eat Wholesome Organic case.

A Black Bean Breakfast

A Black Bean Breakfast — Fried Egg, Two Ways, Casa Adora — Half a tin of Eat Wholesome Organic black beans warmed with black pepper, a fried egg on one half of a toasted wholemeal baguette, beans and tinned tomatoes on the other. Ghee on the toast, Nearly Worcestershire Sauce over both. Ten minutes, Sunday morning, Casa Adora.

This is a growing collection of black bean recipes — tinned and fermented, British-Caribbean and East Asian, breakfast and dinner. Bookmark this page and check back as the case of twelve works its way through the Casa Adora kitchen.

Find more recipes and food adventures here. Browse all recipe collections at The Flexible Chef's Complete Hub Guide.
Wonky photos, proper beans, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef