Black bean skillet dinner with quick-pickled red onion and lime crema from Dinner: Changing the Game (page 249) by Melissa Clark

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Tomato salad with herbs, shallots, and lime; Citrus salad with olives

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • barbara_xcaci9 on April 08, 2026

    Very filling and flavorful, but be sure to make the lime crema and pickled red onions - they make the dish. I used green peppers instead of cubanelles, cooked dried beans in the pressure cooker, and served it with sliced avocado and rice. I cut the final simmering time to 15 minutes as most of the liquid was gone and I didn’t want it to be too dry.

  • halfchefc on October 10, 2025

    This was easy & quick, nothing special but that's the beauty of it. Like others said, def don't skip out on the pickled onions & lime crema. I used canned beans & added it at the very end. Also thought the crema needed lime juice but followed the recipe otherwise!

  • jenmacgregor18 on February 08, 2023

    Satisfying & comforting. I think the lime crema and pickles are mandatory. I used canned beans and added 1 t Aleppo pepper. I could go for more heat yet. I didn't make the pickled onions, I used some pickled sauerkraut & jalapenos that I had on hand.

  • ezwriternc on November 30, 2022

    This was easy, good and fun. I used canned beans and put out jalapeño slices rather than putting them in the skillet. We also topped it with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and salsa. A definite keeper recipe but not very original.

  • ldyndiuk on May 28, 2022

    This is a go-to recipe when I want something vegetarian that doesn’t take a long time. I use canned beans because dried are SO much effort and they never come out with the right texture. The lime crema and quick-pickled onions are what really makes this dish!

  • dc151 on April 04, 2022

    Made it tonight- my partner couldn’t help himself from taking thirds. Lovely dish. Elevates black beans. Highly recommend!

  • Emily Hope on March 31, 2021

    Needed a way to used up a bunch of cooked RG San Franciscano beans, and this was a nice showcase for them. Good effort to result ratio. Made more or less as written, though I did sub a red bell pepper for the cubanelles as we're not fans of green peppers, left out the jalapeno (for the kiddos), and upped the amount of chili powder. Served over rice, with the crema and onions, and a little bit of shredded cheddar, which was nice but not necessary. Had a cabbage and carrot slaw on the side.

  • mharriman on March 25, 2021

    “This is a keeper!” was my husband’s response. I’m glad he liked it so much because I did, too. Delicious! Served over rice, it felt like jazzed up rice and beans to us. Changes: I used only 1 cubanelle pepper and 1/2 a jalapeño but added a whole diced green bell pepper. I also used ancho ancho chili pepper in place of regular chili pepper. The crema, pickled red onion, and sliced avocados went well as toppings. Will repeat when I want an easy kitchen night: A great vegetarian entree that’s mostly effortless.

  • TrishaCP on April 08, 2020

    We really liked this served the night of and the leftovers were great too. I would probably be wary of using canned beans. As other members noted - the extra cooking with the vegetables might make the canned beans too soft. I used dried beans and the final texture was perfect. I didn’t have red onions so made the best of it with pickled ramps. Red onions would have been better though!

  • westminstr on April 15, 2019

    I've made this twice, once with canned and once w home cooked beans. I think it is quick, flavorful and healthy but nobody else in my family likes it at all. (Writing this note now to remind myself not to make again.)

  • ksg518 on March 04, 2019

    I've made this several times and think it's delicious. I've always used dried beans and I think I wouldn't like it as much with canned beans. I find black beans from the can to be a little soft for my taste and I think cooking them again with the tomatoes and other ingredients would turn them to mush. I serve this over rice and, if anything, the leftovers are better than the original.

  • Maaseelulu on August 01, 2017

    Another successful recipe from Dinner for me! I omitted the cubanelle/bell pepper and used ancho chili powder. I found this to be an all around very flavorful, easy, vegetarian dinner that I will definitely make again.

  • stockholm28 on April 22, 2017

    Overall, I liked this. I used dried beans so I actually started this 2 days in advance (soaked overnight on day 1, cooked beans on day 2 and stored in fridge, and made skillet dinner on day 3). I thought the chili was just average; when I want veggie chili, I will stick to my go-to recipe from "New Basics". The real takeaways for me were the lime crema (I used light sour cream) and pickled onions. These really jazzed up the dish. The other takeaway was in her instructions for storing the beans after you have cooked them. She suggests storing in some of the cooking liquid which I'd never thought of.

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    I really enjoyed this, and I'm not always a huge fan of tex-mex. I reduced the cubanelle pepper to 1 pepper rather than 3 - maybe my supermarket just had enormous cubanelle peppers in stock, but I thought 3 would have overpowered the black beans. I think the red onions were the best part of this meal. We used sour cream for the crema and really enjoyed it, but next time I'd make a half-recipe, because we came nowhere close to needing the full cup. I served this in tortillas for dinner, and then had the leftovers over rice for lunch the next day, and I really liked it both ways.

  • amandacooks on April 05, 2017

    I thought the lime crema was the best part of this dish. Definitely a keeper for serving with other Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes instead of plain sour cream. We weren't fans of the quick-pickled red onions, but we don't normally care for raw onions anyway. I liked the idea though, so the next time I make black beans I might try serving them with pickled red onions from a jar since we usually like the softer texture of those. We thought the beans were good, but nothing terribly special. Maybe the cubanelle peppers make a difference? I'm not sure I've ever had them, and they weren't available at my grocery store. I subbed a large yellow bell pepper.

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    We eat a ton of black beans and have had them all ways I bet. This recipe is a keeper because it made me excited for lunch to have leftovers!! The flavor combo is wonderful and the Lime Crema had me licking the serving spoon after plating! I was excited to see how easy the red onions were to do - need to keep those on hand. Yum????

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