Down Home Pinto Beans

Comfort Food means many things but one of them is Down Home Pinto Beans. I love making pinto beans in the winter. They are so good and good for you. I don't use a recipe per say as I make them as I feel each time but here is my generic recipe and how-to.

For this pot I soaked 2 lbs of pinto beans in cold water for 4 to 6 hours (I can't remember!). Make sure you sort your beans first and remove any bad ones or little rocks from the bag. After they soaked I rinsed them well. I threw them in my slow cooker along with chunks of ham. The ham had been leftover from Christmas and was in the freezer for just such a use as this. I also chopped up an onion and added that. We love onion at our house so we always use more than most people would. I added salt and pepper, a dash of cayenne, a couple of shakes of chili powder and some garlic powder. I then covered the beans up with chicken brothe and water. You see the pot of beans below right before the cooking commenced.


And here are the beans at the end of the cooking spell. You can cook them on high or low or whatever. The beans are very forgiving. I like to go low and slow. So, if it is the weekend I soak them Friday evening. Put the beans on low right before I go to bed and then they are ready for Saturday lunch. But high and fast is ok too or even less time on low than I did for these.


This gives you a better idea of the finished product. Look at those yummy beans, chunks of ham and onion. Mmmm, mmmm! You can see the bowl of beans above. I love adding raw onions to my serving. A lot of raw onions. Muah!



These may not look pretty but I guarantee you that this is southern down home cooking at its' best. These are so dadgum tasty! I am always asked for my recipe and everyone wants seconds and thirds.