Add a Splash of This to Canned Beans for the “Best Flavor Ever” (It’s Probably in Your Fridge!)

Cars run on gas, America runs on Dunkin, but me? I run on orange juice. As a central Floridian, who grew up surrounded by orange trees, I take orange juice very seriously. It is my curse in this life, but that’s simply just what happens when your family gets a manual orange juicer for Christmas, and you’re slightly ruined forever. Only the best drinkable sunshine will do.

In all my years of spit-taking subpar bottles of orange juice (So watery! Too sweet! Where’s the pulp?!), only one bottle has rivaled the ones fresh squeezed in the kitchen: Trader Joe’s Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice. This liquid gold manages to impart a bit of refreshingly tart-floral zip into pretty much every facet of my cooking, like smoothies or for dredging French toast. Where it really shines is in a standby recipe for black beans that I picked up from one of my favorite cookbooks. 

This wee bottle really earns the “fresh squeezed” moniker on the label. While I typically stick to “most pulp” OJs for imbibing day-to-day, Trader Joe’s fresh squeezed orange juice is what I call my “top shelf” orange juice. Other bottled juices usually go through several processes (whether they’re condensed, filtered, or pasteurized, or created by an algorithm), and end up slightly watery and less-than-juicy. 

Not Trader Joe’s. Its orange juice is able to maintain that freshly squeezed orange juice flavor due to it being unpasteurized (not heat-treated). In other words, one can truly call it freshly squeezed, but it also must be consumed more quickly, as if you juiced it by hand. As you’ll find, that’s more than easy to do. 

I love when a cookbook, somewhat ironically, teaches you enough that you barely need to refer to it anymore. That’s absolutely the case with one of my favorites, The New York Times Cooking: No Recipe Recipes by Sam Sifton, which taught me the only way I’ll ever make black beans from now on. You guessed it, with orange juice.

As the cookbook title suggests, you don’t need to adhere to a recipe (it’s called “Kitchen-Sink Rice & Beans” if you’re reading along) or even really measure anything. A dash of this, a splash of that, open a few cans, let simmer, and you’re pretty much done. But one thing is true: Orange juice takes these beans to new heights. Think of it like a pinch of nutmeg in a béchamel sauce that makes you go, “Hmm … what IS that.” 

The way I make my own Kitchen-Sink Beans takes a few liberties, but I typically assemble the following cohort:

• A can or two of black beans (depending on how hungry you are)
• A handful of cilantro 
• Some sort of allium, whether it’s a few cloves of garlic, half an onion, or a fat shallot (or a squirt of sofrito paste)
• Cumin
• If I have some time (or am feeling flirty), I’ll also fry up some bacon after cooking down my allium of choice, but it’s totally optional.
• Trader Joe’s Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice!!!

I start by sweating down the choice of chopped onion/garlic/shallot in olive oil (feel free to add in chopped bacon or skip it). Once it’s cooked down, add a sprinkle of cumin and salt, a handful of torn cilantro, and a splash or two of the OJ. Now, you’ll want to cook this liquid down slightly, almost turning it into a syrup. 

Once slightly thickened, add your beans (bean juice and all) and continue to simmer so everything is fully incorporated. I sometimes mash the beans at this point so they’ll release their starches and become a thicker hybrid of both refried and standard black beans. They’ll absorb more of the liquid as well.

To serve, use these to top either rice or tostada shells, along with pickled red onions, sour cream, cotija, hot sauce, avocado, really anything your heart desires. As you’ll find, this magic cooking liquid helps to meld all the savory components together with a subtle sweetness and a hint of acidity. It’s like a squeeze of lime, but with a secret. What is it? We may never know. But at least we’ll have these beans. 

Find it in stores: Trader Joe’s Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, $2.99 for 16 ounces at Trader Joe’s

What’s your secret to the best black beans? Tell us about it in the comments below.