Get the App

Recipes

Find a Recipe Blue Ribbon Recipes Pinch It!™ Feed Browse All Recipes

Editorial

Food Bites & Articles Videos What is a Blue Ribbon? Meet the Test Kitchen

Community

Member Recipes Groups Sweepstakes Contests Shopping

easy slow cooker pinto beans

(7 ratings)
Dawnofthekitchen avatar
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
dawn Tesam
@Dawnofthekitchen
South, LA

I love beans but I never remembered to overnight soak them. Then a friend of mine told me how she just Crock Pots and there's no soaking required! Now I cook beans once a week and freeze the extras. I also save the bones from ham or I save pieces of bacon to cook them in the beans. We always have lots of these on hand. When you serve it over rice it becomes a complete protein so it's delicious vegetarian style too without the optional meat flavoring.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

A super easy and delicious way to prepare versatile pinto beans. The broth from these beans takes on whatever meat you add. We used the hambone and added smoked sausage. It gave a wonderful flavor to the pinto beans. A fantastic way to use a leftover holiday hambone. Serve these pinto beans over rice or even smashed a little with a tortilla.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(7 ratings)
yield 6 serving(s)
prep time 5 Min
cook time 6 Hr
method Slow Cooker Crock Pot

Ingredients For easy slow cooker pinto beans

  • 1 lb
    dried pinto beans
  • 3 qt
    water
  • 1
    hambone, if desired
  • 1 tsp
    Kosher salt
  • Optional
    bacon, cooked and chopped up
  • Optional
    1 lb chopped up smoked sausage
  • 1 1/2 tsp
    Creole seasoning (Tony Chachere's)

How To Make easy slow cooker pinto beans

  • Pinto beans in a slow cooker.
    1
    Place beans and water in a Crock Pot. Do not soak your beans, there is no need.
  • Remaining ingredients added to a slow cooker.
    2
    Add all remaining ingredients.
  • Pinto beans set to cook in the slow cooker.
    3
    Place cooker on high for 6 hours, stirring at the three hour mark.
  • Pinto beans completely cooked.
    4
    Enjoy over rice or in tortillas. It makes a soupy broth that when cooled becomes nice and thick. If you don't have a ham bone don't worry you can substitute ham hock, sausage, or bacon. They are all delicious.
  • Pinto beans in a bowl.
    5
    One more quick note, if your dried beans are very old, like food storage beans that are over four years old, you may need to soak them a few hours and add a little more water and a dash of meat tenderizer to help them absorb better. But I have cooked ten-year-old beans like this and they were delicious.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
ADVERTISEMENT