It’s green chile time here in New Mexico!!!! They have started picking chile in Hatch and other parts of southern New Mexico, and soon to be picking further north. So to celebrate the season, I’m partnering with The Hatch Chile Store to bring you a new recipe that uses a generous amount of roasted Hatch chile. The recipe below yields a hearty, one pot meal with navy beans, green chile, and corn, tomatoes, and a few other savory ingredients. It’s spicy comfort food. If you already have the navy beans cooked and the green chile roasted and peeled, then it takes less than 30 minutes to bring this dish together from start to finish.
There are two versions of this bean and chile recipe – one for bacon lovers and one for vegetarians. The vegetarian version substitutes the bacon with toasted pinon nuts (pine nuts) and the bacon drippings with olive oil. Both versions have been thoroughly enjoyed at my dinner table.
I would like to thank The Hatch Chile Store for some lovely packages of both red and green roasted Hatch chile. Chile from each of those packages (red and green) ended up in this dish when I made it July; therefore, one could call it my Christmas in July celebration.
Navy Beans, Green Chile and Corn
Serve are a side or main dish. The vegetarian version omits the bacon and replaces it with toasted pinon.
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 2 cups cooked navy or white beans, drained
- ¼ pound slab bacon, cut into ¼” cubes (optional)*
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced (roasted garlic* if you have it)
- 1 cup corn
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes*
- ½ tsp. dried thyme
- ½ tsp. dried oregano
- ¾ – 1 cup green chile (amount depends on spiciness of chile*)
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- ½ whole milk ricotta, whipped with a fork or whisked
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- juice from ½ lime
- salt to taste
- 3 tbsp. pinon (pine nuts), toasted
Heat a heavy duty Dutch oven (e.g., 6 qt. enamel) over medium-low heat. When hot, add the cubes of bacon. Once the fat starts to render, turn the heat to medium and cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Remove all but about 1 Tbsp. of drippings from the skillet.
- Add the onion and garlic*. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook for 3 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- Add the corn, tomatoes, thyme and oregano. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the tomatoes are soft. Add the chile, beans, and pepper. Heat through and remove from heat.
- Stir in the ricotta, cilantro and lime juice. Taste. Add salt if needed remembering that you will be topping with bacon and/or pine nuts.
- Serve in soup bowls. Top with bacon or pine nuts and enjoy.
- Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and toss around the skillet until lightly brown.
Navy Beans – Use canned beans, slow cooked navy beans, or pressure-cooked beans. For this navy beans, green chile and corn recipe I adjusted my recipe for savory navy beans, and cooked them in the pressure cooker. Following is the recipe for Pressure-cooked Navy Beans.
- After brining in water with 1 Tbsp. salt for 4 hours, rinse the beans.
- In a pressure cooker, add the brined beans, 1/2 medium chopped onion, 4 minced garlic cloves, 6 cups water + 1 tsp. vegetarian bouillon paste (or 6 cups water + stock/broth), ½ tsp. thyme, ¼ tsp. marjoram, and black pepper.,
- Cook at medium pressure for 8 minutes, let rest for 8 minutes, then depressurized. This yielded over 6 cups of beans. Reserve 2 cup for this navy beans, green chile and corn dish. Use the remaining beans in other dishes.
Slab Bacon – If you don’t have slab bacon, substitute with crumbled thick cut bacon. To get slab bacon, one usually has to request it from a local butcher.
Vegetarian version – Replace the bacon with 3 Tbsp. toasted pinon (pine nuts). Replace the bacon drippings with 1 Tbsp. olive oil.
Garlic – If you use roasted garlic, add it with the corn and tomatoes, not the onion.
Tomatoes – If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, substitute with one cup of canned tomatoes.
Green Chile – You can use different heat levels of chiles to get the spiciness you desire. Below are my recommendations.
- Mild spiciness: 1/2 cup mild + 1/2 medium or all mild
- Medium spiciness: 1 cup medium or 1/2 cup medium + 1/2 cup medium-hot
- Really spicy dish: 1/2 cup medium-hot + 1/2 cup hot
- I love to sweat spiciness: 1 cup hot or 1 cup very hot (yes, there is a “very hot” variety of chile)
I hope you have enjoyed this post and that you now have a craving for some navy beans, green chile and corn. If you like this recipe, here are a few more you will enjoy.
Navy Beans, Bacon and Chipotle
Savory Navy Beans with red chile
Beans, Rice, Chorizo and Chile
If you are looking to buy some fresh or frozen Hatch chile this year, be sure to check out The Hatch Chile Store as well as these other recipes that have made using their Hatch green chile.
Green Chile stacked with crepes, pinon, and queso fresco
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I feel like a corn tortilla is perfect for a bowl of that nice dish
It certainly is! Thanks Raymund!
Beautiful recipe MJ, I like how you bring all the flavours together and wrap them in velvety ricotta (such a good idea for that touch of cream/sauce texture). After seeing your recipe, I went to my local grocer and found anaheim along with the usual trio of greens: poblano, serrano and jalapeno I’m wondering whether I can use anaheim in place of the hatch chile here? I’d love to try this delicious looking dish the way it was intended (or as close as possible :).
Thanks so much Kelly! The ricotta was one of those “oh, I need to use this before it spoils” thing and it worked! I made it once without it and after a couple of bites, we dumped the bowls back in the pot, added the ricotta and reserved. 🙂 Yes, the trio of peppers would work great! Just use the heat proportions to match you and your family’s heat tolerance/desires. New Mexico chiles are a close relative to the anaheim so using it is perfect. Hope you enjoy! Have a great weekend!
I just scored some 88 cent/lb. chiles here! I immediately went to your site to find some recipes! I am also looking for some one pot meal things to wag in my lunches for work. Double score today, M.J.!!!!!!!
I’m so glad!!! Love the double scoring! Thanks! BTW – How do you get chiles so cheap? Here in NM we’re still paying over $1/lb and they are grown here! UGH!!!
Oh wow! This looks like something I’m gonna love!! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks Peachy!
A chile store… I wish there was one in my city or at least in my country 😉
I must say that for a bacon lover even the vegetarian version of this dish sounds extremely appetising!
The plates look so beautiful…. by the way, have you noticed chile (green or red) makes every meal look better?? I use fresh chile as a colour enhancer too).
(I’m so happy to see you back after the break!)
Thanks so much Sissi! We have so many chile stores here in New Mexico!!! I love going in them! However, just a few of them actually ship fresh and frozen chile, The Hatch Chile Store being one of them.
Yes, chile does make a dish quite appealing and, as you know, quite tasty. 🙂
This looks so good, MJ! A great summer time dish.
Thanks Amy!
Looks delicious I love to try it, thanks Mj for this wonderful reipe, Pinned and tweeted
Thanks so much Swathi! Hope you’re handling the heat down there.
I love beans and we have couple of ways to cook them here! This is a delicious version and I would love to try it! Pinned!
Thanks so much Katerina!
Can’t wait to try this one. I keep checking my places for chilies. They should be appearing soon. With your great recipes, I will be prepared! I just can’t wait to inhale! Love those chilies. I should have been a roaster!
Thanks Abbe! I love finding the chile lovers of the world!!!! 🙂 Hope you start seeing them soon.
So glad to see this post, MJ. I may actually be able to get some hatch chile this year at one of my markets. I always seem to be too late. If I repeat the pattern, at least now I know where I can still purchase them. Either way, once I got some, I’ll be returning here to find out how to use them. Today’s recipe would make a good start. I can’t wait!! 🙂
Thanks so much John! Hope you are able to get some chile this year, one way or another.
MJ, this has everything we love in a a dish. One day I have to make it to New Mexico for a taste of Hatch chilies — every time I see one of your recipes it makes my mouth water.
Thanks so much Nancy! If you do ever make it here, please look me up. We’ll go out for some chile. 🙂
Of course you would know it is chili harvest season 😉 Great looking dish, I have become a big fan of navy beans in the last year. I do prefer the bacon version but pine nuts is a great vegetarian subs.
Of course I would! 🙂 Thanks Evelyn!
And it’s corn season in Indiana! What a great dish to combine the summer’s bounty across the country! It looks marvelous!!!
Definitely! Thanks Liz!
Hatch chiles are such a slice of New Mexico! They capture the vibrant food culture of the region. We’ve had many foggy days this summer so the navy bean chile sounds just perfect for August!
Thanks Deb! It’s hard not to enjoy chile season! Can’t wait to be able to buy the fresh chiles here in the northern part of the state. Still waiting. Thank goodness I still have a couple of bags left in the freezer from last year. 🙂
Mmm, green chile winner! My sweetheart will love this as he loves all things green chile. 🙂 Great recipe.
Thanks Judy! My sweetheart definitely loves this. 🙂
I am so glad I found your site. My Dad was born in Wagon Mound, NM. in 1898. My Mom learned to make a lot of Gramita’s dishes. A lady friend of mine gave me a recipe simular to the crepes but used corn tortillas with gr. beef and onions and of course green chiie that was chopped. This was cooked in . a crock pot. I haven’t fixed it for a while so I may have forgotten something. My 4 kids loved it. I hope to try your recipe soon. It sounds so good. Thank you,
Thank you so much Virginia! I’m so glad you found me too!!! I would love to see some of your Gramita’s recipes. Bet she has some great traditional New Mexico jewels. Thanks for stopping by and hope to hear from you again!
Oh MJ! This makes me long for New Mexico! I know we will have Hatch chile in McAllen for a couple of weeks around Labor Day, and I can’t wait… This looks outstanding!
Thanks so much Tamara! It amazes me that Hatch chile is as far reaching as McAllen. 🙂
How interesting adding the ricotta. Great idea to calm the heat down a bit. Nice recipe!
Thanks Vicki! The first time I added ricotta it was because I had some that needed to be used. It was shocking how well it complemented the other ingredients. Have been adding it ever since.
This looks like a perfect one pot dish using some of my freshly harvested chilies!! Beans and chilies are just amazing together.
It certainly is Angie! Thanks!
Love the combo of Hatch chile and, well, anything! But the beans are a particularly nice pairing. I love vegetarian dishes, but think I’d opt for the bacon. Because bacon. 🙂 I’ve gotten things from the Hatch Chile Store before — they’re good people. Good recipe — thanks.
I’m with you – green chile and anything is always a winner. 🙂 I originally made the vegetarian version of this recipe many times but then a few weeks ago I bought 2 pounds of slab bacon and it made it a completely different dish. Both version are great! Thanks!