La Sierra

La Sierra is a Mexican brand of cooked beans, part of the everyday larder in Mexican homes, where frijoles are eaten at almost every meal. Its beans are cooked whole and canned ready to heat, so the long soak and simmer that dried beans need has already been done for you.

We carry La Sierra in our tinned beans collection, part of tinned beans and chickpeas. The beans are bayos, a pale, creamy Mexican variety close to the pinto, packed in a large catering tin that suits restaurants and big family cooking.

In Mexican cooking, bayo beans are mashed in hot fat with onion for frijoles refritos, spooned into burritos and tacos, or served soupy as frijoles de la olla with chilli and coriander. They take Indian spicing just as well: simmer them in an onion, tomato and garam masala gravy for a rajma-style curry, add them to a vegetable chilli, or crush them with cumin and green chilli as a paratha filling. Their thin skins mean they break down quickly, which gives a creamy sauce.

A catering tin holds many portions, so once opened decant the beans into lidded tubs, refrigerate them and use within a few days, or freeze portions in their own liquid. For smaller tins and dried alternatives, compare our rajma and dried beans and the baked beans shelf.