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I love to cook with the crock pot in Winter-okay really anytime. It’s so easy and it holds the extra bonus of permeating the house with good smells and a real coziness to come home to after a long cold day.
Beans in the crock pot are super easy and I find black beans really satisfying. I read somewhere too that black beans can be very purifying for your kidneys plus they are loaded with protein and fiber- so what’s not to like? They can be a main dish, a side or the base for other meals such as chili with beans or soup.
Crock Pot Black Beans
- 1 pound dried black beans, picked over and rinsed.
- water to soak
- 1 or 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar of prepared salsa (use a kind you like green or red), or 2 cups home made salsa
- broth- chicken or vegetable to cover soaked beans
- ham bone- optional- obviously leave out for vegetarian beans- you might want to add other flavorings if you leave it out.
All you need to do is pick over the beans for small stones or any other foreign matter, rinse them and soak in about four times the volume of water to beans for about eight hours. If you do this before you go to bed you can throw the beans in the crock pot in the morning to cook away all day. Once the beans are soaked, drain them and put them in the pot with the other ingredients. If you want to keep them vegan or lower in fat leave the ham bone out- but it does add a lot to flavor for very little extra added fat and calories. Cover the lot with the broth- the beans will soak up a lot of the liquid as they continue to soften and cook. Set the pot to whatever time you want the beans ready- or if your pot doesn’t have set times use high for about four hours or low for eight.
Serve over rice or in a bowl as a side dish. Leftovers beans can be used in other recipes such as the soup recipe I’ll post in the next few days.
We enjoyed them as a side for a pork tenderloin that was also cooked in a crock pot – I’ll post that too soon.
Enjoy!
xo
That sounds wonderful Mandy! 🙂
I had some leftover bbq pulled pork that I threw in the recipe…smells delicious…cannot wait to taste it!
Hi Vickie- so glad you like the beans! 🙂
This is my favorite black bean recipe at the moment! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jennifer, Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Hope you liked the beans. The graphic is for the Light Opera Cake a la Mikado on here: http://www.thefeastwithin.com/2008/05/28/a-light-opera-cake-ala-the-mikado-for-the-daring-bakers/ Hope you have a great day!
Gabi
Thanks David- hope you liked them!
Hi Gabi,
I just finished plugging in the crockpot and in 8 hours I’lb surely be a happy woman! Thanks for sharing your recipe! I have been looking at your graphic at the top of the blog…looks like grasshopper pie or something very refreshing. Do you have a recipe for that?!
🙂
Jennifer
Thanks for sharing. Never thought of adding salsa to my black beans.
Glad you tried it Todd, your subs sound very tasty!
Good recipe — thanks! I followed your basic recipe, though added a couple of diced up bell peppers. And substituted for prepared salsa some pureed tomatoes and hot sauce (has tomatoes in the freezer from last season and some nice Costa Rican chilpolte and cayenne sauces that needed to be used up). Really, really tasty.
Hey Sheri- yay- glad you like them! Cheese and butter are always good additions. xo
Hey Gabi…..
Just getting ready to make this delicious recipe for the SECOND time! I made them last week for a dinner gathering….they are SO yummy! The greatest fan was my husband… who has a very particular palate! I love “adjusting” recipes according to my family’s tastes and my healthy conscience, and therefore couldn’t resist having fun with your recipe! I did make a few alterations, three of them being: 1) omitting the ham, because we rarely eat pork; 2) adding butter (a favorite of Julia Childs, I believe 🙂 ; 3) adding sharp cheddar cheese shortly before serving! I realize that many of you wouldn’t dare add these two ingredients, (butter and cheese), however, adding small amounts of these natural ingredients to our diet (for those of us who are able to) sure adds a LOT of yummy flavor as they did to your delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing!
This is such a help! Thanks!
Hi June,
They are sometimes called “turtle beans” but really any bean could be cooked this way. I like navy beans or cannellini using this method. Hope you try it and hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Cheers,
Gabi
I live in the UK and would love to try your recipes but am not sure that we have black beans over here. Is there another name for them, or would another kind of bean be o.k.?
do you have more south beach friendly recipes? I think i saw southbeach mentioned, but cant find here.
thanks
I stumbled upon this recipe 2 days ago as I’ve started the South Beach Diet! I love using my crockpot and we love black beans (the recipe is so easy too) ….so guess what I just turned on in the kitchen for New Year’s Eve dinner! Happy New Year everyone!!!!
Hey Dan- that’s great to hear- I am so glad that it is a recipe you keep making! 🙂
Follow-up. I keep making this every few weeks, but now double the recipe, as it just goes too fast for a single recipe. Everyone loves this. Even better after it sits for a few days to mellow.
Dan
thank you Gabi! I have them cooking now will see how much I actually freeze LOL! thanks again!
Sure they can just freeze in containers in the portion size you like. Pull them out of the freezer and reheat.
I’d recommend slow heating on the stove or in the oven though. Microwaving tends to explode beans in my experience.
xo
Can these black beans and Pinto beans be frozen? there is only me but these look spectacular!
This was a hit at our house. Almost like a thick chili, but with a salsa flavor. It’s a keeper. We have a LOT of black beans so we’re set to make this quite a few times.
This recipe is delicious! My husband and I ate the whole thing (over the course of a few days)! Tastes great either over rice or by itself with sour cream on top.
this is perfect for the faculty lunch dish I need to have for tomorrow. simple, nutritious, and cheap! 🙂 I am thinking of adding rice too!
I love black beans – what a great and easy way of preparing them!
I adore black beans and these look fabulous!! Love the fact that they are done in the crockpot!! They look so inviting!!
I love black beans! What a great way to fix them!
These look fabulous! I’ve been searching for a recipe just like this — jackpot! I am making this tomorrow. THANK YOU!!
Whoa Gabi! Those beans look gorgeous! Love the salsa in there!
I think the first post I ever read of yours was for a chili with black beans. This looks both delicous and warming.