Homemade black beans are so rich and delicious, especially when they’re topped with a dollop of cultured sour cream and some fresh homemade salsa! For an extra special treat, add some diced avocado and finely diced green onion!
Soaking and cooking beans in your crockpot is very easy and it’s a great way to increase the nutritional value of your meals. If you’re new to soaking, check out “How to Soak Grains for Optimal Nutrition.”
Time-Saving Tip: Cooked beans freeze great, so why not double or triple this recipe and store extra portions in the freezer for a future meal!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried black beans, picked over and rinsed
- very warm water to soak
- 4 cups organic chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion (or use green onions!)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp all-purpose dried herb seasoning (I like Simply Organic brand)
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh organic cilantro
- Optional: 2 uncooked strips of uncured, nitrate-free bacon
Instructions
- The afternoon/evening before you plan to serve the beans, place dried beans in colander and pick through them removing any small stones or other foreign matter.
- Rinse the beans well and place in a large glass bowl, or remove your ceramic crockpot from its base and soak directly in the crockpot.
- Add about four times the volume of very warm water to beans. (I use a combo of half "almost boiling" water to room temp water.)
- Place bowl (or ceramic crockpot) in your oven with the oven light on and the door closed for 8-12 hours. (You might want to leave a post-it on your oven door to remind you not to turn on your oven – trust me – been there done that! Ha ha!)
- If you have time, ideally, it's best to drain the beans, rinse them and put them back through this same soak process again (which would extend the soak time and help to further reduce phytic acid, and further increase digestibility).
- Once the beans are finished soaking, drain them, rinse them thoroughly and put them in the crockpot with the above ingredients.
- Set crockpot on low and cook for about 8-10 hours.
- Remove strips of bacon before serving.
Notes
Leftovers beans can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week, or frozen for up to one month.