12-Minute Broiled Chorizo & Bean Fundido (Friday Night Botana)
Listen, by 6 PM on a Friday, my brain is practically mashed. A few weeks ago, I had exactly 15 minutes before someone asked for a snack and triggered a family meltdown. I needed couch food that tasted like a Oaxacan cantina but took zero effort. Enter the 12-Minute Broiled Chorizo & Bean Fundido.
This is my ultimate Friday Night Botana. We are not suffering for dinner, people! You’re going to crisp up some fresh Mexican chorizo—the crumbly kind, not the cured Spanish link—and mash your frijoles directly into that beautiful, neon-red rendered fat. Blanket it with cheese and slide it under the broiler until it's bubbling.
But here’s the trick that turns this from a heavy gut-bomb into a bright, balanced meal: a quick toss of diced white onions soaked in lime juice scattered right over the blistered cheese. That crunchy acid cuts the richness beautifully.
Make it yours:
- Pantry Mode: Canned black or pinto beans work perfectly. Save a tantito of the bean liquid to loosen the mash.
- Bodega Mode Cheese: Oaxacan quesillo is the dream, but low-moisture mozzarella or Monterey Jack gives you that glorious cheese-pull.
Grab warm tortillas, scoop up that magic, and taste it—then decide if you even want to share. Ándale!
Featured Recipe
12-Minute Broiled Chorizo & Bean Fundido (Friday Night Botana)
This is Friday night couch food that tastes like a weekend project. We’re crisping up Mexican chorizo, mashing beans right into the flavorful rendered fat, and broiling a blanket of cheese until it’s bubbly and blistered. The real secret? A quick lime-soaked onion toss right at the end to cut all that beautiful richness.
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Timeline
Ingredients
- 8 oz Mexican chorizo(Casing removed. (Make sure it's fresh raw Mexican chorizo, not cured Spanish chorizo!))
- 1 can (15-oz) Pinto beans(Rinsed and drained)
- 1 tbsp Chipotle in adobo(Minced)
- 1 tbsp Adobo sauce(From the chipotle can)
- 8 oz Oaxaca cheese(Shredded or pulled into strings. Bodega Mode: Use low-moisture mozzarella or Monterey Jack.)
- 1/2 cup Red onion(Finely diced)
- 1 Lime(Juiced)
- 1/4 cup Fresh cilantro(Roughly chopped)
- 1 pinch Kosher salt(For the onions)
- 1 bag Sturdy tortilla chips(For dipping)
Instructions
- 1
Place an oven rack in the top third of your oven and turn the broiler to high. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet (or any broiler-safe pan) over medium-high heat, crumble in 8 oz Mexican chorizo. Cook, stirring and breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until the fat renders out and the meat gets deep red and crispy at the edges.
5 min
Tip: Don't drain that fat! That is liquid gold and the flavor base for our beans.
- 2
Lower the stovetop heat to medium. Add 1 can (15-oz) pinto beans, 1 tbsp chipotle in adobo, and 1 tbsp adobo sauce right into the skillet with the chorizo. Roughly mash everything together with the back of your spoon or a potato masher. You want a chunky, rustic texture, not a perfectly smooth puree. Let it bubble and thicken up into a rich paste.
3 min
Tip: Taste it—then decide. If you want more heat, stir in a tantito more adobo sauce.
- 3
Remove the skillet from the stovetop heat. Scatter 8 oz Oaxaca cheese in an even, thick layer over the warm bean and chorizo mixture. Slide the skillet directly under the broiler. Watch it like a hawk—do not walk away to check your phone! Broil until the cheese is bubbling wildly and features beautiful, blistered brown spots.
3 min
Tip: Every oven broiler has a different personality. It might take 2 minutes, it might take 4. Trust your eyes.
- 4
While the cheese is doing its thing in the oven, make your bright finishing move. In a small bowl, toss together 1/2 cup red onion, the juice of 1 lime, 1 pinch Kosher salt, and 1/4 cup fresh cilantro.
3 min
Tip: This quick acid hit is the Brooklyn shortcut to cutting through the heavy, rich cheese and pork fat.
- 5
Carefully pull the screaming-hot skillet from the oven. Scatter the bright onion-cilantro mixture right over the top of the molten cheese. Serve immediately with 1 bag sturdy tortilla chips.
1 min
Tip: Warn your family about the hot handle! Wrapping a kitchen towel around it is a good abuela move.
Chef's Notes
Real flavor, real life: if you have leftover roasted veggies (like zucchini or corn) in the fridge, chop them up and mash them in with the beans in Step 2. We're not suffering for Friday night snacks, and we definitely aren't letting good produce go to waste!
María “Mari” Santiago
Oaxacan comfort, Brooklyn shortcuts, weeknight bright.
María “Mari” Santiago was born in Oaxaca, where her earliest kitchen memories are measured in scent: chiles toasting on a comal, cinnamon and chocolate blooming in mole, and the warm, nutty snap of a tlayuda folded in half for the walk home. She learned by watching—first her tías, then her abuela—picking up the small, practical rules that never made it into written recipes: how to tell when the garlic is *just* right, how to rescue a too-spicy salsa, and why you always taste the broth before you add the salt. Now in Brooklyn, Mari cooks the food she grew up on while raising two little kids and juggling real-life time limits. Her style is “real flavor, real life”: traditional Oaxacan and everyday Mexican dishes—moles, caldos, frijoles, enfrijoladas, salsas, and crispy tlayudas—made weeknight-friendly with smart shortcuts, brighter salsas, and more vegetables without losing the soul of the dish. She’s not precious about rules, she’s big on swaps, and she’s on a mission to prove that you can cook deeply flavorful Mexican food with what you can actually find at a normal grocery store (and still get dinner on the table before a meltdown). Mari’s recipes read like a friend texting you from the produce aisle: clear, funny, and unpretentious, with a side of abuela wisdom. If there’s a hard-to-find ingredient, she gives you a realistic alternative, tells you what will change (and what won’t), and keeps the focus where it belongs—on food that tastes like home, even when home is a small Brooklyn kitchen.