By Kate Morris, 22 July 2026
Five Easy Steps For The Perfect Bean Mix
aka: how to avoid looking like a dick at Taco Tuesday because you volunteered to cook the bean mix but it turned into a watery bland mess that is leaking out of everyone’s wraps
By Kate Morris
aka: lost-ish sheep, a fairly average chef, but an EXPERT at bean mix from years of Taco Tuesday-ing
1. Dice the vegetables EVENLY
Onions - dice em as small as you can. Carrots, mushrooms, capsicum - dice them into 1cm-ish cubes (about the size of a chilli bean!). This means that everything will be a nice consistent size at the end.
2. Brown the vegetables LOW and SLOW
Bit of oil in the pan. Low-medium heat. Let the vegetables cook slowly; they will reduce in size as the water steams off and then start to brown. This will take at least 15 minutes.
3. Add spice EARLY
Add the taco spice mix in with the browned vegetables, with a bit of extra oil. This makes it taste better because spices are oil-soluble: they release their flavor more effectively in hot oil than in water. Short on taco spice mix? Use equal parts cumin and paprika, with a bit of salt and chilli power to taste.
4. Use tomato PASTE
Using tomato paste gives a deeper umami flavour than just using canned tomatoes - especially if you add it in just after the spices and let it brown for a bit. By this point, your veggie/spice/tomato paste mix should be super fragrant.
5. DRAIN your CANS
Nothing worse than a sloppy bean mix. Now’s the time to add all your cans of goodies. Canned chilli beans are allgood, but drain all your other beans/corn/whatever else - yes, even the chopped canned tomatoes!
Bon appétit xx
