It has always surprised us that of all our recipes, Habichuelas con Dulce is the most popular. This is a strange combination of ingredients for a dessert, but Dominicans love it!
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For some foreigners, Habichuelas con Dulce might be the answer to the question “what’s the most unusual sweet you’ve ever eaten”, but we Dominicans love it and never seem to have enough of it.
Habichuelas con Dulce is an important part of our culinary DNA, and the flagship dish of the Dominican Lenten season.
Versions of Habichuelas con Dulce
Amongst the many versions of Habichuelas con Dulce found in Dominican homes, we can also find an Habas con Dulce version (Sweet Cream of Butter Beans), which seems very popular in the Southwest, as well as the habichuelas blancas (navy beans) version which some people seem to favor. And for extra strangeness, there is guandules (pigeon peas) con dulce! This dish is a traditional cocolo dish, and not widely spread.
There are also many combinations of spices, most commonly cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Other people may add one or a combination of ginger, star anise, cardamon, allspice, etc. Read the comments and you will see how many different touches our readers have added to it.
Where did Habichuelas con Dulce come from?
Unlike most of our dishes, there isn’t an equivalent in other countries that we’ve found (although bean-based desserts are known in some countries).
In short, we have no definitive answer yet, but you can see where Aunt Ilana’s investigation led us. It’s a very interesting read.
About our recipe
It shouldn’t need to be said, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t: 11 million Dominicans can’t agree on the exact same recipe for Habichuelas con Dulce. And thank goodness for that, we can enjoy ours as well as neighbors’, friends’ and relatives’. It’s also a very forgiving dish that even the beginner cook can make well, and hey! any error can be explained as just your style.
This is my family version, the one I grew up with. Also, because I grew up with a diabetic mother, and have been around an assortment of picky eaters and people with unusual diets, I’ve tested many versions, and I share them with you. Please read the recipe notes to see how you can make light, low carb, dairy-free, and vegan Habichuelas con dulce.
Please let us know in the comments how your family makes it. We love to learn about your own family traditions.
Buen provecho!
Habichuelas con Dulce – Recipe & Video (Sweet Cream of Beans)
Ingredients
- 4 cups soft-boiled red kidney beans (or cranberry or pinto beans)
- 6 cups water from boiling the beans
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 3 cups evaporated milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 10 cloves
- 1/2 lb sweet potatoes (batata) [0.24 kg], cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup raisins
To garnish
- 8 pieces cassava bread (casabe), may be omitted
- 1 cup milk cookies (see notes)
- 2 tsp butter (salted)
Instructions
- Put the beans (and the water in which they boiled) in a blender and puree. Strain the beans to get rid of the skins and undissolved solids. Pour the beans, coconut milk, evaporated milk, salt, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and sweet potatoes and simmer over low heat until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. Stir regularly to avoid sticking.
- Add the raisins and simmer for another 10 minutes (don’t worry that it may look too thin, the cream of beans will get much thicker when chilled). Remove the cinnamon sticks (and cloves, if you like). Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Chill before serving.
- Spread butter on the cassava bread and toast in the oven until it turns golden brown.
- Serve the beans with the cassava on the side. Put cookies in the beans when you serve.
Video
Notes
How to make Dairy Free, Light, Low Carb, and Vegan Habichuelas con Dulce:
- Dairy-free: If you’re lactose intolerant, you can use almond, rice or soy milk if you are lactose intolerant
- Vegan: See above.
- Low-cal diet: Use skim milk if you are counting calories. You can use your sweetener of choice in lieu of sugar. Just cook everything without the sugar and add the sweetener as the last step.
- Low-Carb, and diabetics: My mom, a diabetic, made hers with Splenda and they taste just fine. Use your sweetener of choice instead of sugar. Just cook everything without the sugar and add the sweetener as the last step.
Nutrition
Check out:
– Las habichuelas de Mari
– Las habichuelas de Vanessa
Tried this recipe just the other day and it came out perfect! I still have a lot of practice to go in terms of learning all of my countries dishes but I’m glad I got this really important dish done right on the first try with your recipe.
I am glad you liked it!
Just finished making the frijoles rojos de dulce segui la receta al pie de la letra. Les cuento que me quedo deliciosi para ser la primera vez. Lo recomirndi
I’m new at this type of food and never cooked beans before. Can you please in detail explain the steps of what “soft boil” beans are and what to do? I bought a package of dry beans but don’t know if we soak them overnight, then boil then after soaking, then blend? Or, just boil the hard beans? I could use some detailed help. Thanks!
You start the recipe, as indicated, with beans that already boiled soft. If you’re starting with dry beans, you need to get them ready before following this recipe. My method is to soak overnight (makes the boiling time quicker), then boil in a regular pot or a pressure cooker. Boiling time will vary depending on the quality and freshness of the beans, but will typically be about 90 minutes for a regular pot at high temperature, and 30 minutes in a pressure cooker. Be careful to top with water as needed if you’re boiling them in a regular pot so… Read more »
When you cook the sweet potatoes do you blend it so they aren’t chunky or will they get mushy from simmering?
They get very soft from simmering.
Thank you for this and all of your other Dominican recipes. I am Dominican and have a hard time cooking all the various Dominican foods. My mom is an amazing Dominican home cook but does not use any standard measurements EVER so it is very hard to replicate or learn from her. Your website is so helpful and beautifully put together.
Thanks!
“My mom is an amazing Dominican home cook but does not use any standard measurements EVER so it is very hard to replicate or learn from her.” – Every Dominican Child EVER! hahaha.
Can’t wait to try this recipe this week.
I’m curious to find out if there’s a connection between the Chinese sweet bean soup and our Habichuelas Con Dulce. Although rare I have seen this on some menus in Chinese Restaurants
I wonder about this too. Part of my family is Chinese and sweet bean soups (be they red azuki beans, black beans, or green mung beans), served warm, are a common real/truly authentic Chinese dessert.
Actually, Asians eat beans for dessert, from China, to Japan, to India. In fact, go to a Chinese restaurant and you’ll sometimes get a small complimentary of sweet red bean cream aka habichuelas con dulce! They’re a bit different (not as sweet for one thing, which is great), but same exact concept.
Not true, habichuelas con dulce is a creamy dessert you drink, not a paste or ice cream.
You don’t drink it…you eat it like soup.
Nice!
i made this for my husband for christmas. even though i can make moro, locrio and other dominican dishes very well, my husband was skeptical about me making habichuelas con dulce, specially cause i never tried it my self before. but at the and he was so happy with it, he made a photo of my h con d, put it on the facebook, and boasted about it. it was suposed to last true the holiday, but he ate it all on christmas eve 🙂 i guess that not eating it for 4 years made it taste even better (that's… Read more »
Hello! I’m wondering if there’s an alternative to the sweet potato? I currently live in a country that does not have any and would love to make the habichuelas con dulce for people here.
Not everybody loves sweet potato, some homes don’t use it. So, yeah, do your habichuelas as you can. 🙂