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A fast and easy dinner idea, these simple eggs and beans are the answer to how to get a quick dinner on the table…in just 20 minutes!
Some nights Alex and I are completely out of dinner ideas, and the mere thought of cooking something seems exhausting. (Yes, that’s true even for cookbook authors like us!) There’s something freeing about cooking using only the ingredients you’ve found rummaging through your pantry and fridge. It brings out the inner Chopped contestant in us all! More often than not, our weeknight impromptu cooking consists of something with eggs, beans, or both. Here’s the simplest way to make dinner in a hurry that we’ve found: these seriously quick eggs and beans. Keep reading for the recipe!
Related: What Should I Make for Dinner?
How to make the quickest eggs and beans
These simple eggs and beans are decidedly un-glamorous. But why not share the quick, down-to-earth meals Alex and I actually eat? In a time where Instagram-perfect meals have taken over our feeds, it’s good to remember that real food can be unrehearsed and simple.
That said, for two sloppy piles, these quick eggs and beans actually look lovely served alongside tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro confetti. The beans are our favorite simple method: simmered with some of their can liquid and a bit of cumin and cilantro. They’re served alongside our standard soft scrambled eggs, melty soft folds of goodness with a bit of sharp cheese for some flair. We can crank this eggs and beans recipe out in 20 minutes or less and mostly without thinking, which makes it a perfect meal for weeknight hangry moments.
As a note: while we’ve intended this quick eggs and beans as a dinner recipe, you could definitely eat it for breakfast or brunch as well! It’s a way to eat beans for breakfast that’s zesty and flavorful.
We hope you enjoy this dinner in a hurry meal idea — would you try it on a weeknight? Let us know your fast dinner recipes! We’d love to hear from you here or on Instagram.
Related: Best Egg Recipes for Dinner
This eggs and beans recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Quick Eggs and Beans
A fast and easy dinner idea, these simple eggs and beans are the answer to how to get a quick dinner on the table…in just 20 minutes!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 15-ounce can black beans (or 1 ½ cups cooked or Instant Pot black beans)
- 1 handful cilantro
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (or any flavorful cheese)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Cherry tomatoes, for serving
- Avocado, for serving
Instructions
- Mince the garlic. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add garlic and cook until just fragrant for about 30 seconds. Turn down the heat. Add the black beans, along with their liquid (or ½ cup water if using cooked beans), 4 sprigs of cilantro, ½ teaspoon cumin, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer 15 minutes until the liquid condenses.
- In a medium bowl, crack 4 eggs and whisk them together until well-beaten. Stir in ¼ cup shredded cheese, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and plenty of fresh ground pepper. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Tilt the pan to ensure the entire pan is coated in the melted butter. Pour in the eggs.
- Keep the heat on medium. When the eggs just start to set, use a flat spatula to slowly scrape sections of eggs, creating folds. Scrape occasionally until the eggs form soft folds, and remove them from the heat just before they are fully hardened. Serve immediately with black beans, sliced cherry tomatoes, and sliced avocado, garnished with chopped cilantro.
Looking for more fast and easy dinner recipes?
Outside of this quick eggs and beans recipe, here a few more fast and easy dinner recipes on A Couple Cooks:
- 20 Egg Recipes for Every Meal
- Quick Garlic Shrimp & Couscous
- Penne with Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
- Turmeric Poached Egg Avocado Toast
- Everything Bagel Pasta
- Tex Mex Migas Recipe
- Avocado Black Bean Vegetarian Quesadilla
- 5 Minute Seared Tuna Recipe
- Seared Salmon Poke Bowl
- Mushroom Pasta with Goat Cheese
- Coleslaw & Swiss Melt Sandwich
- Easy Chickpea Salad Sandwich
- Quick Coconut Lentil Curry
- Easy Dinner Recipes for Busy Lives
- All Easy Dinner Ideas!
Love this very simple and quite delicious meal. I’ve made it several times and I’m back to make it again tonight. Thanks for sharing these simple wholesome meal ideas. This is one of my hail mary dinners!
Oh I am SOooo glad to hear this! We survive on so many dinners like these! Thank you again so much!!!
Thank you- Delicious and made a perfect breakfast for for dinner when I was too tired to cook
Yum! Perfect recipe for my last minute dinner! I used mixed herbs instead of cumin for the beans but still yummy!
Thank you for this recipe! I love how simple yet tasty it is. Made it today for a quick stay-cay day lunch. Hit the spot!
I just add the well-beaten eggs straight to the black beans mixture. I’m so darn lazy
How did I miss this post?! Had to backtrack to it after listening to your hangry podcast episode last night. I love this recipe, and yes, this is absolutely something I’d make on a weeknight. If we have tortillas around I also like to make scrambled eggs with quark cheese stirred in and leftover cooked greens such as broccoli with avo + pico de gallo. Similar to your asparagus egg tacos, which I love. Another favorite quick meal is stewed lentils (which cook in 15-20 min) with greens thrown in and an egg poached on top the last few minutes of cooking.
“In the day and age where Instagram-perfect meals have taken over our feeds, it’s good to remember that real food can be unrehearsed and simple.”
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. As much as I love pretty pictures of inventive food the root of feeding ourselves good things is often much simpler than that. These black beans are basically the exact ones I make (often with some lime juice) to make fast tacos, nachos, quesidillas, what have you. I love the addition of egg, cherry tomatoes, and avocado that you’ve done here.