Simplest Slow Cooker Black Beans
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Last week, after announcing my resolve to use more canned beans, my friend Rose emailed sharing her opposite, recently adopted stance: after using canned beans exclusively her entire life, she had started cooking beans from scratch, a batch of slow cooker black beans having showed her the light.
Never, she wrote, would she go back to canned.
Ha! What’s a girl to do?
Rose’s note reminded of the joys of cooking beans in the slow cooker (see Slow Cooker Gigante Beans) and of perhaps a slow cooker’s strongest play: bean cookery!
I immediately pulled out my crockpot, dumped in a pound of dried black beans along with a few aromatics, covered it all with water, and let it cook way. Eight hours later, my beans were done, the house smelled fantastic, and I had 6 cups of super-seasoned, perfectly cooked beans on hand to use immediately or to freeze for future use.
My slow cooker black beans landed in these sweet potato burritos, a combination of two recipes: the filling for these sweet potato quesadillas, a longtime favorite recipe, and these homemade flour tortillas, a recipe I had not made in ages prior to this week, but which, like the dried beans, reminded me how much fun from-scratch cooking — sometimes — can be.
Simplest Slow-Cooker Black Beans How-To
- Place a pound of dried black beans — no need to soak — into a slow cooker. Black beans, as you may remember from this Black Bean Soup post, never need to be (and in fact maybe shouldn’t be) soaked, regardless of how you cook them: slow cooker, Dutch oven, pressure cooker.
- Add aromatics, such as an onion, garlic, a bay leaf, all of which will impart the beans with good flavor. Fresh thyme is nice, too.
- Add salt: Opinions vary about when salt should (and should not) be added to beans, but I am of the belief salt does not impede the cooking process and that it adds flavor. I start with 2 teaspoons for a pound of bean, but always add more (often 2 teaspoons more) once the beans are cooked.
- Add water and olive oil, if you wish. Olive oil is something I always add to my stewy slow-cooker cooked beans (see here). I think it adds flavor, especially once the beans finish cooking and are cooling in the flavorful cooking liquid. Feel free to omit if you wish.
- Store beans in their cooking liquid. Beans freeze beautifully, too, in their cooking liquid. These deli quart containers are great for this purpose.
PS: Slow Cooker Gigante (or other white) Beans
PPS: Favorite Vegetarian Chili
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients.
Place dried beans, onion half, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes into a slow cooker.
Add water and olive oil (optional), then close the lid.
Cook for 6 to 8 hours on high or…
… until the beans are cooked.
Store in quart containers. These deli quart containers (BPA-free) are great for this purpose.
Simplest Slow Cooker Black Beans
- Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups
Description
Notes:
- Don’t be afraid to make these ahead of time, as they continue to develop more flavor as the beans sit in their cooking liquid.
- Kosher Salt: I always use Diamond Crystal brand; use half as much if using Morton or fine sea salt.
- Pepper flakes: if you like a little bit of spice, add the the chili flakes; if you don’t, omit or use less.
- To make these in the Instant Pot, into the Instant Pot add all of the ingredients listed below along with 6 cups of water. Start with 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Turn the valve to sealing. Set the IP to Manual, High Pressure, 30 minutes. Let it release naturally for at least 20 minutes. Uncover. Taste. Add more salt (I often add 1 to 2 more teaspoons of salt) to taste.
- Store beans in their cooking liquid. These containers are so handy for that purpose. They freeze well, too.
- I love these beans paired with this Sweet Potato Taco Filling.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. dried black beans, no need to soak
- 1 half of a small onion, halved through the core to keep it intact
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 garlic clove, smashed and halved
- 2 to 4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste, see notes above
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Place the beans, onion half, bay leaf, garlic, 2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt (I always use 3), pepper flakes (start with 1/2 teaspoon if you are sensitive to heat), and olive oil (if using) into a slow cooker. Cover with 8 cups of water. Cover pot. Cook on high heat for 6 to 8 hours or until the beans are done, but start checking at the 4-hour mark — all slow cookers are different and times might vary, too, depending on the age of your beans.
- Taste. Add more salt to taste 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Note: The beans develop more flavor as they cool in their cooking liquid, which will continue to season them.
- Store the beans in their cooking liquid. I love these deli quart containers for this purpose. I freeze the beans in their cooking liquid in these quart containers as well.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Beans
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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113 Comments on “Simplest Slow Cooker Black Beans”
This is a great recipe. Super easy. Super delicious.
Great to hear! Thanks for writing 🙂
Thank you! I wanted my beans to retain shape & not shed their skins for what I call “cowboy salsa”. Not soaking really made them perfect! Plus adding in seasoning! Yum & thank you!
Great to hear Chris! Thanks for writing 🙂
I’ve been making these for years and they’re fantastic. I mostly do pinto. I make a batch a week! This morning after cooking a batch overnight, my husband had the great idea of cooking the chuck roast we had in the bean juice. I removed the beans, placed the chuck in, added some water and seasoned the top of the meat with granulated garlic and black pepper. Ali, it is so flavorful and tender. Next time, we’ll add in a dehydrated chili and be on our way to chili Colorado!
OMG yum! I love this idea so much. Thanks for sharing it. What a brilliant everlasting-meal idea. Can’t wait to try it!
This is my go to recipe for black beans … it’s so simple and they are always great!
So great to hear this, Amanda! I just made a batch last week. So nice to have on hand for meals for the week.
So good! I used beef fat instead of olive oil and my goodness it adds a lot of flavor. I always save all my fat drippings and freeze them for later, even from ground beef.
Never cooked dry beans before, they’re perfect in a slow cooker. Probably could have cut the cook time from 4 hours to 3 hours, they were a little broken but tasted delicious!
Only used 2 teaspoons of salt, next time I’ll use maybe 3 teaspoons.
Used jalapeño seeds too instead of red chili flakes.
Nice! Great to read all of this, Melissa. Thank you for writing and sharing all of these notes.
I had to reread the list of ingredients…no liquid apart from the oil? No broth or water?
Please confirm, as that doesn’t seem right in the least.
8 cups of water… it’s noted in step 1
Can this recipe apply to other beans like red kidney, cannelimi, pinto?
I use this recipe and slow cooked my black and beans overnight for 10 hours in my crock pot. Prior to that I soaked them for 8 hours. They are absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making this recipe again 🎯
Great to hear, Nicole!
Does it actually matter which way you cut the onion? I love black beans in the slow cooker and plan to make them this weekend.
Doesn’t matter! I like to cut it through the core so that it’s easy to extract at the end.
Fabulous! Made these in the instant pot. Super flavorful. Never going back to canned beans. Thanks again Alexandra!
Great to hear, Linda! I made these yesterday (slow cooker version) too. We’ve been making homemade “Chipotle” bowls with chicken, rice, beans, homemade guac, cheese, and sour cream. So good!
Hi I will be making these tonight and was wondering if I could substitute 1/2 the amount of water for maybe veggie broth? So 4 cups water and 4 cups broth to add more flavor?
Thanks!
EDIT: I made this is described except I added a Tbsp of chipotle marinade. It was delicious and this was the first time I ever cooked dried beans from scratch! I checked at 4 hours but it still needed time. 6 hours was perfect like you said. Thanks!
Great to hear Daniel! Isn’t cooking beans from scratch a revelation? So easy and delicious. Thanks for writing!
I’ve enjoyed Cuban black beans in restaurants a few times. Any thoughts about how you might turn your black bean chicken slow cooker recipe into Cuban black beans?
Delicious!!! I selected the instant pot method and they came out perfect. I omitted the red pepper flakes, added the olive oil and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Delicious! And two thumbs up from my hubby 🙂
Great to hear, Marian! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. These are a staple for us 🙂
Made these today as written, including the olive oil. I used Flat Iron Pepper Company’s ‘Sweet Heat’ blend of red pepper, 1 tsp of Kosher salt, and two bay leaves as they were small. All I can say is that right out of the slow cooker (it took six hours for me) these are EXCELLENT!!! Waiting for two days to see how good they get is going to be difficult. My wife says the house smells, but what does she know? lol Thanks for this recipe.
🤣🤣🤣
Hilarious. So nice to read all of this, Doyle! I make these on repeat all fall/winter long. Thanks for writing 🙂
This is a fabulous recipe! I have 25lbs of black beans that I am trying to use us and I think I found my new favorite recipe.
I’m enjoying a bowl now with some fresh Parmesan.
I make this recipe weekly… kids love it, my husband loves it, I love it. So simple, healthy and tasty.
I just bought your amazing Pizza Nights cookbook and can’t wait to get it..
Your food is so wonderful and I love the pictures with the recipes. Keep up the great work with food.🤩👍
Awww thank you! So nice to read this, Sylvia. Means a lot 💕💕
Love this idea and love freezing food for subsequent uses. Do you have any non-plastic containers you like for this purpose?
I don’t! I’ve had glass shatter on me, so I stick to these deli containers. If you want to buy glass storage containers, make sure it’s freezer safe. Another great option is to use Souper Cubes … do you know this brand? They come in so many sizes. Not sure if they have quart size (which is my favorite) but I know they have 2-cup size, which is a nice size, too.
These look delicious! What size slow cooker do you have? I am looking to get one
I’m not at home but I’m pretty sure this 3 qt Crock Pot is the one I have… if I am mistaken, I will share a new link here when I get home.
Hi Ali, my fave chef that I don’t even know❤️ I live in Costa Rica where we eat lots of beans. For me, they are sometimes very hard to digest. I will try this method although the pressure cooked beans I usually eat seem to somehow work best thus far. . I just wanted to share that although I used to use plastic to store things in freezer etc, I recently was enlightened to how much micro plastics that are accumulating in our bodies. Like crazy amounts. Mel Robbins had a scientist/doctor on her podcast named Dr. Li, and boy did that wake me up. No more deli containers. Just sharing. And especially since we reuse snd many of us throw in the dishwasher where they breakdown become more toxic. Ugh! A bummer, but am switching to all glass. ❤️
Eeesh, bummer to read all of this and thank you for writing and bringing it to my attention and any other commenters. If you come across any glass storage vessels you enjoy using, please share!
I freeze in my canning jars all the time. My husband is doing the cooking lately (I’m on crutches for a while) and has threatened to finally use the dried beans we have in the pantry – I’ve printed out this recipe for him)!
Great to hear, Sandra! Thanks for sharing. And I hope your time on crutches is short lived… no fun.
Easy simple allows room for you to make it your own by adding spices or chicken stock instead of water – will make again easy delicious staple.
Can I makes this in my Dutch oven?
Hi! And yes… are you planning on baking them or simmering stovetop?
I don’t have a slow cooker so I simmered these on my stovetop for a couple of hours and they are absolutely delicious. I love the suggestion to let them cool down and be stored in the cooking liquid. Also, I’ve never put olive oil in the pot along with the water before and I agree, it’s a flavor booster! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about beans. Ha! Thanks for another winner, Ali!
Great to hear, Lynette! I’m with you… I’ve been so happy with my beans all week this week. So flavorful and so satisfying.
How long can they be stored in the fridge and how long in the freezer?
In the fridge for 1-2 weeks. In the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
I love these beans and because of you I love Rancho Gordo “ayocote negro” beans. They are so shiny and tasty–really wonderful. I’m sure people know, but if you don’t have a slow cooker (I don’t), I soak the beans overnight and simmer then the next day. Sometimes they’re done in 45 minutes! Of course, sometimes it takes longer, but this is a great recipe for any dried bean. And my sense is that anyone who uses dried beans will never go back to canned!
Omigosh Ali these beans have no business being SO delicious with the short list of ingredients and basically zero prep work. Incredible. Never made dried beans before and did 2 lbs in my crockpot (I really tested the limit of how much it could hold but I persevered). Made them for 3 families that came over for dinner and everyone thought they were delicious. I will be eating black beans and eggs all week and I can’t wait. Thank you for another incredible recipe!
Awww, Christina I love this so much. I feel exactly the same way every time I taste them straight from the crockpot: how are they so delicious for so little effort? Thanks so much for writing and sharing this 💕💕💕💕
Hi! If I wanted to make 2pnds of beans do I double the ingredients including doubling the water?
Yes!
I have probably made this recipe a dozen times. It always comes out perfectly!
Great to hear, Amanda! Thanks for writing 🙂