I know that making beans yourself can be a pain, but if you use your crock pot, I promise it isn’t as bad as it sounds. I will say, homemade beans taste almost the same as canned beans. Not gonna lie. So you may ask… Why bother ?? Well, my recipe has a little pizzazz that regular old canned beans just don’t have. I like to add a whole jalapeno pepper, onion, garlic and bay leaves to season my beans. With those quick and simple additions, you can have yourself some seasoned, homemade beans made effortlessly in your crock pot while you’re at work. If you’re wondering why I didn’t add any salt before the cooking process, let me explain… I have read many articles about how to best cook your beans and consensus is, adding salt before you cook them can hinder the cooking process and leave you with beans that are tough, even after you’ve cooked them according to the packages instructions. I also did not specify how much salt to add. I prefer my beans to be less salty and therefore leave it up to you to decide how much is right for you. I recommend adding 1 tsp… tasting, then adding more in small increments until they taste just the way you like them. I also like to make a huge batch and freeze small portions for grab and go convenience during the week.
What You Need:
1 bag dried pinto beans, soaked over night
Water (enough so that the water is 2”-3” higher than beans)
½ brown onion, diced
3 - 4 cloves garlic, chopped (to taste)
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced (remove seeds if you prefer your beans more mild)
2 bay leaves (dried or fresh)
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
What To Do:
Combine all ingredients in your slow cooker (except salt) and cook on high setting for 4 - 5 hours, or until beans are tender. Add salt to taste once beans are done.
Bon Appétit!
Mary
