Whip up a batch of Crock-Pot Basic Beans and use them in any dish you want. This recipe is a building block recipe and you can freeze the cooked beans for other meals.
Slow Cooker Basic Beans
Ahhh beans, the magical fruit. The more you eat them, the more you….well you know the rest right?
Cooking your own dried beans is the epitome of frugality and using your slow cooker make the process super duper simple.
There is no need to pre-soak your beans (unless you are cooking kidney beans because they have a toxin in them that requires them to be soaked before cooking.)
Just sort your beans, cover them in water, add some garlic, salt and pepper and let them cook for 8 to 10 hours until tender.
Then, use them in any recipe that calls for canned beans!
Simple!
Equipment Needed For Crock-Pot Basic Beans Recipe:
- 5 Quart, 5.5 Quart, 6 Quart, 6.5 Quart Or 7 Quart Slow Cooker
- Colander
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Measuring Spoons
Frequently Asked Questions
Some people have heard a rumor that adding salt to the beans while cooking them make the cooking time longer. However, according to this article from Serious Eats this is not true. In fact, adding salt provides much needed flavor to the beans.
If you want to add some extra flavor to your beans adding in some salted smoked meat such as leftover ham, cooked bacon or even diced smoked turkey leg is a great way to do that. Go ahead and add 1 or 2 cups of diced smoked meat to your beans. That is a great way to use up leftover meat and make your meal stretch just a little bit further.
You can cook ANY type of dried beans in your slow cooker:
– Black Beans
– Black-Eyed Peas
– Black Turtle Beans
– Butter Beans
– Cannellini Beans
– Cranberry Beans
– Garbanzo Beans (aka Chickpeas)
– Great Northern Beans
– Kidney Beans
– Lentils
– Navy Beans
– Pinto Beans
– Red Beans
– Soybeans
– White Beans
Special Diets
Gluten Free | High Fiber | Low Calorie | Low Cholesterol | Low Fat | Low Sodium | Low Sugar | Vegan | Vegetarian
This recipe for Crock-Pot Basic Beans is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes
More Yummy Crockpot Beans Recipes!
Crock-Pot Cuban Black Beans
Serve these healthy Slow Cooker Cuban Black Beans as a side, over rice or in a burrito bowl for a protein and flavor packed dish you are going to love!
Crock-Pot Hoppin' John
This classic Slow Cooker Hoppin' John recipe is perfect for New Years or any day of the week. Serve this frugal & tasty recipe with cornbread for dinner!
Crock-Pot Steak & Cherry Chili
Warm up with a bowl of chili that has the heartiness of steak and a touch of sweetness with dried cherries. Slow Cooker Steak & Cherry Chili is kid friendly!
Crock-Pot Vegetarian Moroccan Tagine
Easy and full of flavor, this vegetarian Moroccan tagine recipe is slow cooked all day and can be served over couscous or rice for a healthy dinner any day of the week!
Recipe Collections:
- 5 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- 5.5 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- 6 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- 6.5 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- 7 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- Side Dish Recipes
Crock-Pot Basic Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Dried Beans (Pinto Beans, Black Beans. Kidney Beans, Navy Beans, Etc.)
- Water (Enough To Cover Beans By About 3 Inches)
- 1 Clove Garlic (Minced)
- ¼ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Rinse and sort beans, discarding any broken beans and stones.
- Add beans, garlic, salt and pepper to a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Add enough water to the slow cooker to cover the beans by about 3 inches.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or until the beans are fully cooked and tender.
- Use as you would canned beans in any recipe. Freeze extras in freezer containers for up to 6 months with cooking liquid.
Nutrition
This is a really great recipe and absolutely deserved to be posted:) Thank you so much for linking it up! I think I’ll have to post this on my fb page;) Btw…you have a super blog here! I think I need to look around a bit.
Thanks Andrea for stopping by! I am really enjoying your blog as well. Tons of great info. I have black beans cooking in my crock-pot today using this recipe.
I just found you – through a link at frugally sustainable- and I love my crock pot so i will be lurking here awhile
Just a question- could I do this with garbonzo beans as well?
Hi Nicci, thanks for dropping by, lurk all you want! This totally works for Garbanzo Beans (AKA Chickpeas) I cook them all the time to make my own homemade hummus.
I have some left over ham from dinner and was wondering if you could put it in the crook pot with the beans for some extra flavor?
I would. The beans would make it more of a full meal. Either slices or even chunks of the ham added to the Beans would be flavorful. Add a side of cornbread!
Just wanted to share that you can dehydrate the beans also and they keep for a few years… Awesome option to freezing!! YOu can save in a food saver bag or store in canning jars and use food saver attachment to take oxygen from jar and they store for quite a few years
I have a question. Why do you add the salt? I always heard that adding salt makes the beans take way longer to cook.
Thank you,
Hi Maryann, I have never heard that before, that adding salt to beans while cooking takes longer to cook. I have always added a little salt to my beans. After seeing your question here I went on a Google search to see if perhaps I was doing it wrong. But, I found this article from Serious Eats and it suggests that you should add salt to your beans when cooking. In all honesty though I don’t think it will matter too much if you add the salt or not in this recipe. But I do think the beans end up tasting better when salt is added.
I know this is an old posting, but see a reply from last years, so hope you’re still checking for questions.
I have been reading lately, that you should pre-boil dry beans for at least 10 minutes before adding them to a crockpot. In all the many years that I’ve used a slow-cooker to cook all kinds of beans (usually for 8 hours) I’ve never done this. Is this new news?
Hi Izzi, The only type of beans that you should pre-boil before slow cooking are kidney beans as they contain a toxin that needs to be cooked out. All other beans are okay to just cook in the slow cooker.
I always wash my beans before cooking them by boiling them for 15 minutes, then pour the dirty water off and rinse them before throwing them in the crockpot. This gets all the dirt off of them before poking. I also use a stick of butter instead of garlic, but that is how we learned to do it in the south.
Given the date of previous comments (2012), I suspect my comment will not be addressed. I’m wondering about the author’s comments that kidney beans MUST be soaked due to some sort of toxin. I’m 73 years old, from the Gulf Coast originally and I’ve been eating Cajun kidney beans and rice since mother could mash them and feed me as baby food. Never soaked beans overnight. Slow cooked all day (Mondays…laundry day…while mother did laundry on an old wringer washer in the shed.
Hi Susan, according to the Ohio State University website (and several other online sources too) is is recommended to soak red kidney beans. We are not food safety experts but do want to try to help people not get sick too. So, while you may never have gotten sick I guess there is the potential to get sick. Much like I love eating raw cookie dough, so far never been sick from it, but there is a risk. If you feel comfortable without soaking your beans then feel free. But we want to try to put out food safety information where possible to help others not get sick.