Mexican rice and refried beans?

[elgerber]

Has anyone ever made Mexican rice and refried beans in really large quanitities? I want them for sides for the taco bar at my sons grad party, but I wa just realizing the very large amount I will need and have no idea if thats something I would be able to make myself. I may have to spend some money and buy some from a local Mexican place, but I thought I would ask here first to see if anyone had any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[saradela]

Beans are not that difficult, but rice is. You dont post for how many people, but if it is for more that 30 persons you need a lot of pots. I have seen in Mexicans stores that they sell mexican rice that you just pour hot water. That should be easy. Here in my house ,we use 2 cups of rice for 5 persons, and for beans 1 bag for around 10 people, or you can buy cans of beans, and put more flavor, just adding chicken boullion and if you can, in a blender put some pig skins (mexican stores, you eat them with guacamole ) make them powder, and put them on the beans , and fried the beans again, they will taste really good. again

 

[disneyhand]

I've never been happy with any of my attempts at home made beans or rice. They are always too spicy or too bland. Everyone I know that makes their own will tell you how easy it is, but they never have a real recipe to share. I'm usually good with recipes like that, but haven't figured these two out yet.

So instead I use Rice-A-Roni Mexican flavor rice and canned pinto beans. The rice is really tasty, just follow the box directions. These beans are easy and tasty too. Both are much cheaper than takeout.

I drain off some of the liquid from the beans and add some garlic and onion powder, pepper, chili powder, cumin and a pinch of cayene pepper. You can add bacon for flavor, but I don't think it needs it. I let it simmer for a while, until I like the consistency, maybe 20 minutes. It will thicken more after it's done cooking. It's not really "refried" but is very similar and hopefully healthier.

Good luck with your party, hope you work out all the food details!

 

[Piecey]

I did this for my sons second birthday party. I was sick, to the point I couldn't taste, but everyone I asked (mother, best friend, husband) swore it was yummy!

I'll have to dig the recipes I used out of my box tomorrow, because I combined a few different ones I found online.

The rice defi itely turned out better than the beans. It couldn't have been too bad because DH took the leftovers, rolled them into bean & rice burritos and froze them for him to grab for lunches

 

[shortbun]

Beans are not that difficult, but rice is. You dont post for how many people, but if it is for more that 30 persons you need a lot of pots. I have seen in Mexicans stores that they sell mexican rice that you just pour hot water. That should be easy. Here in my house ,we use 2 cups of rice for 5 persons, and for beans 1 bag for around 10 people, or you can buy cans of beans, and put more flavor, just adding chicken boullion and if you can, in a blender put some pig skins (mexican stores, you eat them with guacamole ) make them powder, and put them on the beans , and fried the beans again, they will taste really good. again

I think both are hard to do really well. I have a girlfriend who's Mexican grandmother taught her years ago and she's still working on getting the rice the way she wants it. She makes her own beans too. They are great but I don't think I'd want to risk doing it for the first time at a large dinner.

 

[SandrA9810]

A much more simple mexican rice, is to buy the powder or cubes of Knorrs chicken bouillon with tomato. If you look in the store aisles, the regular chicken package is green lettering, but the chicken with tomato is red. If you buy the cubed, use two cubes for about every 1-1/2 cups of rice. 1 cube per 1 cup just doesn't give it a strong enough taste.

There's a favorite taco truck that I like to eat at, and always get a plate of rice with my tacos. I never really could figure out what made it orange, so I asked. And he showed me the seasoning they mix in with it. They make large quantities all the time, so they had a rather large tub. He said all they did was sprinkle a few spoonfuls in with the rice while it cooks.

http://www.amazon.com/Knorr-Tomato-Chicken-Flavored-Boullion/dp/B0000GHEF8

Traditionally (well not traditionally, but what I've learned that most do at home for dinner) most add in a can of tomato sauce and let it simmer down with the chicken bouillon. And don't be afraid to use canned beans (whole) then make those into refried beans. Unless you have a massive crock pot, in which case would be just as easy to let them simmer over night, then put it on warm during the party.

To me, growing up in Miami, it was spanish rice made with safron, which is yellow. All the grocery stores there just sell the dried rice with safron. If they even had mexican rice, I wouldn't have even known it. Never had it till I went to California. I have seen packets of mexican rice like they did the spanish rice, but they're much smaller packages, and you'd probably wind up spending a lot more money than buying the two ingredients separate.

Ohh and go with corn tortillas if you're watching the waste line. They're a tiny fraction of calories compared to flour tortillas, but just as filling. And you don't need to fry them into hard shells either, they taste just as good as soft tortillas.

 

[elgerber]

Thanks everyone so far. Not to concerned about the waistline, as it's just one party, and the cake will kill the waistline anyway. It's more the quantity needed I am worried about, anywhere from 50-100 people, yikes!

 

[Diegosmom]

For that many people and if you never did it before I would think it would be best to get from a mexican place...rice and beans are really cheap so I can't imagine a tray would be too much...

I am horrible at the rice so no advise there but for beans we buy the bush seasoned black beans, cook in a pan with a little oil and then use the potatoe masher...hubby might add some salt but I think they taste fine just like that...I think 1 can says 4 or 5 servings so you would probably need in the range of 10-20 and they usually go for about $1 each (again seems like it would be cheaper thru a mexican place)...

 

[Lanshark]

I too made a taco bar for my son's graduation. I did not do rice because it can overcook while trying to keep it warm. I made refried beens though and they turned out wonderfully. I believe we had about 50 people and I think I made 5 pounds of beans. We had plenty. I had two kinds of taco filling meat and all the fixins including cheese dip and guacamole bought from SAMS. Most of the kids made theyselves nachos.

 

[Goofyluver]

Thanks everyone so far. Not to concerned about the waistline, as it's just one party, and the cake will kill the waistline anyway. It's more the quantity needed I am worried about, anywhere from 50-100 people, yikes!

Wow that's a lot of people!

In my Mexican family, there's a ton of us, and we're used to cooking for HUGE groups quite often.

You can do huge vats of beans and they'll be absolutely fine. I do huge pots all of the time.

Rice may be more difficult and if you're doing it yourself, you'll have to make a few smaller (but not too small) batches.

I agree with the previous poster. Mexican restaurants typically offer that stuff up pretty cheap. It may be cheaper for you to go there!

 

[elgerber]

I too made a taco bar for my son's graduation. I did not do rice because it can overcook while trying to keep it warm. I made refried beens though and they turned out wonderfully. I believe we had about 50 people and I think I made 5 pounds of beans. We had plenty. I had two kinds of taco filling meat and all the fixins including cheese dip and guacamole bought from SAMS. Most of the kids made theyselves nachos.

How did you make your beans?


You would think they'd be cheap from the Mexican place, considering how cheap they are to make, but they want $25 for a pan that they say serves 20.

 

[Goofyluver]

How did you make your beans?


You would think they'd be cheap from the Mexican place, considering how cheap they are to make, but they want $25 for a pan that they say serves 20.

They do great (and I'll deny it to my family if they ask, I swear it) in a crock pot. If you can get three or so of those, you can do them in there.

 

[elgerber]

They do great (and I'll deny it to my family if they ask, I swear it) in a crock pot. If you can get three or so of those, you can do them in there.

But I need a good recipe, very easy, for the beans. Are you making them from scratch, or doctoring canned?

 

[Goofyluver]

But I need a good recipe, very easy, for the beans. Are you making them from scratch, or doctoring canned?

I make mine from scratch.

I (sorry, don't know what else to call it, and it's what my dad calls it) de-fart the beans by combing through them and getting rid of all of the broken beans and rocks. If you use a crock pot you don't have to soak them, if you use a pot, you need to soak the beans overnight.

I use a 6 qt. crockpot and it generally can hold 1 lb. of beans. I toss in beans, enough water to cover by a few inches (to begin with), salt pork chopped into small pieces, large chunks of onion, sliced jalapeno, garlic powder, and oregano. It depends on how much beans you're using and then you gauge how much of the extras you add, but I usually add 1 large onion per crockpot, maybe 2-3 jalapenos, one package of salt pork, and I just eyeball the garlic powder and Mexican oregano. If you use salt pork (or bacon) you don't need much salt, but you can taste and see. You can substitute some of the water with beer and it adds even more flavor. I'll use a bottle of beer per crockpot. As the beans absorb the liquid, just add more water and make sure they remain covered.

 

[yoopermom]

Aldi's brand of mexican rice is even better (and cheaper) than Rice-a-Roni's. We like all of their Mexican food products!

Terri

 

[mikehn]

man, I got a gas bubble just reading this thread

 

[SandrA9810]

Typical mexican is made with pinto beans, not black beans. I've never seen black beans served any where other than tex-mex places. Which as my bf calls it, the white man's burrito, since you'd never find a mexican there. And it's a toss up if it's refried or whole beans served.

I made a huge batch of beans in the crock pot with a ham bone. Not quite mexican style, but he still enjoyed them. The crock pot just made it a million times easier. I tried it once before on the stove and it was horrible. But it's one of those things that work better in larger quantities rather than smaller batches (which was my problem).

When I worked at qdoba, they do catering orders as well. I don't remember the pricing information, but they can put together a taco bar. With rice, beans, tortillas, cheese and salsa. The tortilla chips are really cheap, it's $10 for a huge bag, and of course they're freshly fried every morning. If you just wanted to go in the morning and order those alone, I find them better than the store bagged chips.

 

[Anne34]

Typical mexican is made with pinto beans, not black beans. I've never seen black beans served any where other than tex-mex places. Which as my bf calls it, the white man's burrito, since you'd never find a mexican there. And it's a toss up if it's refried or whole beans served.

I made a huge batch of beans in the crock pot with a ham bone. Not quite mexican style, but he still enjoyed them. The crock pot just made it a million times easier. I tried it once before on the stove and it was horrible. But it's one of those things that work better in larger quantities rather than smaller batches (which was my problem).

When I worked at qdoba, they do catering orders as well. I don't remember the pricing information, but they can put together a taco bar. With rice, beans, tortillas, cheese and salsa. The tortilla chips are really cheap, it's $10 for a huge bag, and of course they're freshly fried every morning. If you just wanted to go in the morning and order those alone, I find them better than the store bagged chips.

We just did Qdoba for my dd's grad party last weekend. It is definitely not budget friendly. It's $9/person but that included 2 meats, rice, beans, salsas, chips, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, plates, silverware & the warming trays. We had over 50 people and it went well. The local mexican places were $7.00/ea, but Qdoba is my dd's favorite so we went with it. We had lots of leftovers except for meat -- some people used lots of meat & also used it on their chips, etc.