In a recent Dinner, A Love Story post, Jenny Rosenstrach captured my exact experience and thoughts regarding crockpot cooking. In sum, despite seeing the appeal, she has not had great success.
I have owned a crockpot for 10 years — received one as a wedding gift — and every winter, I break it out once, only to make something good but not great. Let’s just say no recipe this past decade has left me drinking the crockpot Kool Aid.
Part of the issue for me is that often the recipes don’t feel easier. If a recipe calls for browning meat in one pan, then finishing it in another, that means I have two pans to clean, not one. And I don’t understand the crockpot recipes that call for canned beans — isn’t that the beauty of canned beans? That the long, slow cooking has already been done for you? I own a cookbook dedicated to crockpot cooking, which includes a recipe for poached eggs, which, start to finish, take 45 minutes. Why?
But on Wednesday morning, inspired by Jenny’s post, I followed her dump-it guide and filled my crockpot with dried Greek gigante beans, half a can of plum tomatoes, which I crushed with my hands right into the pot, a bay leaf, pepper flakes, chicken stock (though I’ve since discovered water works just as well), diced pancetta, smashed garlic, chopped onions, thyme, and a drizzle of olive oil. I whisked the kids off to soccer tots then to the bagel shop, and when we returned three hours later, the house smelled as if I had been slaving away all morning.
Dried beans in the crockpot — yes, of course! This is where the crockpot really excels: No browning required. No measuring required. The crockpot keeps the one-pot wonder simmering at the steadiest simmer, ensuring creamy, not mushy beans. How nice to be able to leave the house while a machine works away? And to have the oven and stovetop free should I feel like making bread or the children their favorite dinner.
The beans cooked all day — they needed 8 hours in the pot — and when the dinner bell rang, I toasted bread, placed a slice in each of our bowls and ladled the stewy white beans overtop. With a few cracks of pepper and shavings of parmesan, dinner was served.
Friends, don’t take this as a brag — remember, this is my first slow-cooker success — but on Wednesday afternoon, during my sacred afternoon quiet time, when Wren naps and the two big kids are forbidden to speak to me, I kind of found myself twiddling my thumbs. I felt lost. I even broke my own quiet-time rule and invited the kids to make cookies with me. They were thrilled. Note to self: pay more attention to the children.
Wanting to continue this virtuous cycle, after dinner that same evening, I repeated the dump-it process. I’ve definitely drunk the Kool Aid. Twiddling my thumbs is something I could get used to. I see a lot of beans in our near future.
Slow Cooker Gigante Beans with Tomatoes and Pancetta
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Prep Time: 5 minutes -
Cook Time: 8 minutes
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Total Time: 13 minutes
Print Recipe
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Adapted from this Dinner, A Love Story post. As Jenny notes, the beauty of this sort of meal is that you really don’t have to measure. For 8 oz. of dried beans, 4 cups of water should do it, but check every so often to make sure the beans are covered with liquid. If they aren’t, add more. I love these dried Greek gigante beans.
Note: You can soak the beans prior to cooking if you wish, but you do not have to. If you do soak, the cooking time may be shorter. These gigante beans are cooked after 6 hours, but taste better after 12. The broth, too, reduces and becomes more flavorful with the longer cooking time.
Ingredients
- 8 oz dried white beans (see notes above)
- 1 bay leaf
- pinch red pepper flakes
- a few cloves garlic, smashed
- two onions, chopped
- ½ of a 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, crushed with your hands right into the pot (about 1.5 cups crushed tomatoes — I love Pomi finely diced tomatoes)
- a few sprigs thyme
- 2 oz. cubed pancetta or bacon (optional)
- parmesan rind if you have one
- 4 cups water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock (Don’t be afraid to use water — that’s what I always use)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
- fresh cracked pepper for serving
- shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano for serving
- toasted bread for serving
Instructions
- Place everything with the exception of the salt, pepper, Parmigiano Reggiano and toasted bread, into your crockpot. Cook on high for at least six hours or on low for 8 hours or longer.
- After the six hours, remove the lid and add salt to taste. I add about two to three teaspoons kosher salt but add to taste — if you are using salted chicken stock, you will need less salt. If you use more bacon or pancetta, you will need less salt. If you are using water and no bacon or pancetta, you might need more salt, etc. — you get the idea. Continue cooking for as long as time permits — if you can cook them for 2 to 6 more hours, do it, just be sure to check on liquid levels every so often.
- Ladle broth into bowls over toasted bread or serve toasted bread on the size. Shave Parmigiano Reggiano over top. Crack pepper over top. Drizzle more olive oil over top if you wish.
Maria says
What size of crockpot did you use? I have a 6.5 quart as find that many recipes are for 4 quart; hence, dishes can get overcooked in mine is not careful. From your photos, it looks like we might have the same size ?
Katie says
I only discovered your blog yesterday morning–and I must say I wish I had found it sooner! I made this bean recipe–I loved the idea of using large beans (few recipes call for them) and so I picked up some Rancho Gordo Royal Corona. I live in CA near Napa so we can get them at the grocery store. I also used bacon because that is what I had. The soup is delicious!
More importantly, I was compelled to try your peasant bread recipe! I love to cook, but I have always been intimidated by bread making. No more! It turned out awesome! Thank you so much for all the videos–I watched them all (twice actually) and they gave me the confidence to try it out. It was very easy and I definitely plan to make it again.
One question, can the bread recipe be easily doubled?
alexandra says
Hi Katie,
I’m so happy to hear all of this! So glad you liked the soup, and I’m so glad you liked the bread. I’m jealous that you can get Rancho Gordo beans at the grocery store. I just ordered some “Marcella” beans. I’m so excited!
Yes, the bread can be easily doubled. When you double, three teaspoons of yeast will be sufficient.
Thank you for your kind words,
Ali
Crystal says
This looks delightful and I soooo want to try it but we are trying to be health conscious and lose a little weight for our daughter’s upcoming wedding. Wondering what the nutritional content is and if I could tweak it so it would be less caloric. Thanks so much for any thoughts you may be able to give me.
alexandra says
Hi Crystal,
I don’t have the nutritional content, but I’ve heard good things about a website called My Fitness Pal. I think the easiest way to cut back calories here would be to omit the pancetta. If you want to cut it back further, I would reduce the oil to 2 tablespoons — you can always add more at the end if it needs more flavor. Hope that helps! Exciting about your daughter!
Tom B says
This was really good. A 4 on my 5 point scale of recipes (which means that it rises to the level of being so good, I would not only make it again, but I would recommend it to others). I used Rancho Gordo Royal Corona beans, and for the broth I used River Cottage vegetable bouillon food52.com/recipes/64146-the-river-cottage-s-vegetable-bouillon-a-k-a-souper-mix (which I know is a bit fussy, but I already had it on hand), and for the bread I used Lahey’s no knead recipe https://kneadingandknives.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/food-52-genius-recipes-no-knead-bread/, which I also had on hand. I made the recipe as written, with a couple of dried chile d’arbol serving as my “pinch”, the full 4 T of olive oil, pancetta, the parmesan rind, and seasoning adjusted at the end as recommended. I soaked the beans overnight, draining the liquid (which Rancho Gordo says is unnecessary, but I’ve had some under done Royal Coronas before, which is a shame because fully cooked Royal Coronas are amazing.) My slow cooker has a brown/saute setting, which allows the mix to be boiled at the beginning, which I did for 15 min, and then slow cooked it for 12 hrs. It was a bit soupy toward the end, so I boiled it again for 10 min or so, and left the cover off for the last hour. Really, really good. Maybe a 5.
alexandra says
Tom, I just placed a huge Rancho Gordo order that includes a few bags of Royal Coronas — a friend just recommended them to me. I’m so excited to try this recipe with them. I’ve also been meaning to try that veg bouillon recipe — sounds like a good thing to have on hand. Glad you liked this one, and all of your modifications/adjustments sound great. Thanks so much for writing in!
Monica Simpson says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I too have an unused crockpot and a recipe book to go with it, both are dusty from lack of use. We are vegetarian and all the recipes call for a lot of cutting and browning before starting the crockpot-Not much of a time saver! I will definitely try this.
alexandra says
I hope you like it, Monica! It’s a staple here.
Linda Hoffman says
This was very good, loved the big beans. I love my slow cooker for beans. I do black beans and chick peas in it all the time. I also make a squash soup from Skinny Taste that is terrific. I have purchased so many slow cooker recipe books looking for things that work and have three that can reliably turn out good slow cooker meals – Skinny Taste, both cookbooks, Cooking Light – 100 Best Slow Cooker Recipes and The Mexican Slow Cooker from Deborah Schneider. The soup and stew like recipes work best with beans and vegetables. And I usually do something different with the meat – ie put it in later so it doesn’t disintegrate and I always put chicken in the last 2 hours if possible, bone in, skin on. Some days when I am very busy its nice just to throw everything in the slow cooker and know that when I get home at the end of the day I don’t have to do anything to get dinner on the table, but dish a hot stew or soup into bowls with some good croutons and/or crusty bread.
★★★★★
alexandra says
I think I make that same squash soup?? This one: https://alexandracooks.com/2016/11/11/slow-cooker-butternut-squash-apple-soup/
Thank you so much for the book recs. Definitely will check them out. I’m really curious about the Mexican Slow Cooker one. Sounds great.
Linnea says
Made this today as written (no pancetta) and served it over rice. It was delicious and the rice soaked up everybody but of the yummy stew. Thanks for a great recipe! We are not vegetarian but it was so delicious, definitely didn’t miss the pancetta!
Linnea says
Every bit! Darn autocorrect!
Lucy says
Hi Alexandra,
I haven’t made this wonderful recipe in a while because giant limas were very hard to source around these parts for the last couple of years. I just found some but I no longer have a slow cooker! I could use the slow cook function on my instant pot or I could just pressure cook them and see how it goes. Curious if you have tried this recipe under pressure yet yourself?
Cheers!
★★★★★
alexandra says
Hi Lucy! I have not tried them under pressure yet, and I have not tried the slow cooker function on my Instant Pot yet either — do you like it? My instinct is to say try the slow-cooker function but I’m not sure why exactly, because I’ve had great results cooking beans under pressure. I think I worry that the soup might be too soupy and not stewy enough after being cooked under pressure, but that’s an easy fix, too: simmer it down until it thickens to the consistency you like.
Lucy says
Thanks Alexandra! I haven’t used slow cook in the IP yet either, might as well try it with this? I bought quite a few gigantes, so maybe I’ll do one batch slow-cook and one under pressure. Will report back!
PS your kitchen reno looks amazing! ????????????
Louise says
I tried this a couple of months ago with the IP slow cooker and the beans never softened. Using the slow cooker today to make this to ‘celebrate’ our first snow.
Lucy T says
Hi again Alexandra!
So I tested both versions in the instant pot and I actually preferred it under pressure. I used two cups of beans (soaked because they looked like they could use a soak) a full carton of Pomi tomatoes, and reduced the water to 3 cups. Cooked for 32 minutes high pressure with natural release, and I simmered it on sauté mode for about 5 minutes to reduce the liquid a little further. Such a simple dump and go meal!
★★★★★