
Jerk black beans with coconut rice and mango
Spicy jerk-seasoned black beans over creamy coconut rice with a bright mango salsa, a Caribbean-inspired dinner that’s sweet, hot and cool all at once.
- 35 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.61 a serving
- 620 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free

Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups jasmine rice, rinsed
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1 mango, diced
- 1 red onion, ¼ finely chopped, the rest diced
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, halved
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
From your pantry
- 1 cup water, divided
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp brown sugar
Each serving has about 620 calories, 20 g protein, 111 g carbs and 12 g fat, and costs about $2.61 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice, coconut milk, ½ cup water and ¾ teaspoon salt in a , stir, and over medium-high heat.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Medium-high heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Leave it covered off the heat for 5 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: Coconut milk can catch on the bottom, so keep the heat truly low.Meanwhile, stir the mango, red onion, cilantro, juice of half the lime and of salt in a bowl.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Dolly’s tip: Slice the mango flesh off either side of the big flat pit, then score and scoop it out of the skin.Heat the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook 5 minutes, until soft.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger and jerk seasoning and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Jerk blends vary in heat. Start with 2 teaspoons if you’re cautious.Add the beans, ½ cup water and the brown sugar.
Medium heat
5 to 6 minutes, mashing a few beans, until saucy.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Squeeze in the rest of the lime.
Fluff the rice and serve the beans over it with the mango salsa on top.

Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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