New cooks often find cooking dried pinto beans quite intimidating. They’re hard, wrinkled seeds that generally come in a boring plastic bag somewhere on the bottom shelf of the grocery store. Don’t let their looks fool you; dried beans are one of the easiest dishes to prepare – especially if you use a slow cook recipe. You just throw in a few tasty flavorings and allow your crock pot to do all the work. At the end of a long day you can enjoy these delicious southwest ranch style beans for dinner.
In addition, a bag of beans is extremely affordable. A bag of dried pinto beans costs about $0.05 -$0.08 an ounce. The 3 lb bag I used in this recipe cost $2.89 and contains about 5.5 cups of dried beans. A 15 oz can of pinto beans costs around $1.30 and contains the equivalent of 1/2 cup dry beans, before cooking. Have I confused you yet? Basically, one 3 lb. bag of dried beans equal approximately 11 cans of beans. You can spend $2.89 in dried beans or $14.30 in canned beans.
Finally, many canned beans are exposed to BPA in the lining of the cans and contain a great deal of sodium. (BPA acts like estrogen in our bodies and can increase your risk for breast cancer and can effect the brain and reproductive glands of fetuses, infants and children.) Dried beans are simply naked beans (how scandalous) PLUS they contain lots of protein and fiber. You can check out all the healthy benefits of beans in your diet here.
Have I convinced you to try cooking dried beans? If the cost and health savings haven’t convinced you I am sure this recipe will do the trick. It is a simple vegetarian dish that cooks all day in your crock pot and results in plump tender pintos in a flavorful sauce. The taste is southwestern with cumin, garlic and chili powder (sometimes called ranch style beans).
The best part about this pinto bean recipe is its versatility. We enjoy pinto beans and rice one night, with cornbread or as homemade refried beans another day (simply mash the beans in their own sauce), made into burritos, as a chili ingredient, and as a topping for nachos. The recipe fills my 6 quart crock pot; after making the recipe I simply cool the beans and divide them into smaller potions to freeze.
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This simple vegetarian dish cooks in your crockpot and results in plump tender pintos in a flavorful sauce. The taste is southwestern with cumin, garlic and chili powder (sometimes called ranch-style beans). The best part about this pinto bean recipe is its versatility. We enjoy them over rice or with cornbread one night, as refried beans another day (simply mash the beans in their own sauce), made into burritos, as a chili ingredient, and as a topping for nachos. The recipe fills my 6 quart crockpot; after making the recipe I simply cool the beans and divide them into smaller potions to freeze.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs dried pinto beans
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 1 can tomatoes with green chilies (10 ounce can)
- 3 Tbsp chili powder
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 bay leaves (remove before serving)
- 3 tsp salt (to taste, do not add until fully cooked)
Instructions
- Rinse dried beans in a colander to remove any dirt or dust.
- Pick out any black, discolored beans or stems
- Place beans in crock pot and fill with water until water is 3 inches over beans.
- Cover and let soak overnight.
- Drain water from crockpot.
- Add all additional ingredients except salt (salt can interfere with the water absorption/softening of the beans – wait until the cooking is done to salt)
- Add water until it is ½ inch above the beans and stir to combine
- Set crockpot on low, cover and cook 8 hours.
- Check to see if beans are soft, remove bay leaves, and stir in salt to taste.
- Serve over rice or with cornbread or tortillas. Top with your choice of chopped cilantro, green onions, grated cheese, sour cream, salsa, taco sauce and/or crumbled tortilla chips.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 135
- Fat: 0.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.1 g
- Fiber: 4.8 g
- Protein: 7.6 g
Keywords: crock pot ranch style beans, pinto beans, slow cooker pinto beans
Have your tried cooking dried beans? What is your favorite recipe?
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John
My family thoroughly enjoyed this recipe. You weren’t kidding when you said the recipe filled your crockpot. Mine looked like it was ready to burst. We tried the recipe a few times as a stand alone dish and have really enjoyed the results.. I am anxious to try the beans as a base for a chili recipe that calls for canned chili beans in sauce. I expect these will be a marked improvement. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Bob
I recently discovered the InstantPot electric pressure cooker, it does a great job with every bean I’ve tried. The beans will cook in a fraction of the time and the beans are healier than beans cooked on the stove or slow cooker.
Bren
I love using my InstantPot for dried beans! I’ll have to update this post with directions.
Malvern
Pardon me ignorance but how many ounces of tomatoes with chilies did you uuse.
Bren
I use one 10 ounce can of tomatoes and chilies. Hope you enjoy the recipe.
Stephanie
I can’t wait to try this recipe! My family loves beans!!
★★★★★
Bren
Hope they enjoy! I love a budget friendly recipe.
Bonnie
I bought mine at Sears for $125. which included shipping. It’s a little on the expensive side, but well worth it if a person does much cooking, like I do!
Bonnie
Thanks so much for sharing this great sounding recipe! We’ll be trying it soon. Have you ever tried cooking with an instant pot? It’s an electric pressure cooker with a stainless steel insert. After soaking beans overnight I pour them into the cooker with only enough water to barely cover. I set the auto timer for 35 minutes and walk away. It takes about 15 minutes for the cooker to reach full pressure, then the timer begins; so total time is about 45 minutes for pintos. Most other beans take less time. It’s a great time saver and is helpful in getting healthy meals to the table much faster. Something else I like to do is blend up cherry tomatoes instead of using canned tomatoes. Thanks again for the recipe and for letting me share a couple ideas too.
Bren
My friends keep raving about the Instant Pot, I need to get one soon!
Sam
If I wanted to add ground beef at what point should I add it?
Bren
Sam, I would brown the ground beef drain it and add it when you begin cooking the beans to add the most flavor. You could also brown it, drain it and stir it in about 1 hour before serving the beans. Let me know how it works for you.
Dawn @ Reveal Natural Health
I love using dry beans! That wasn’t always the case, but I have recently started using my crockpot to cook black beans and refried beans to freeze in individual containers instead of using the canned versions.