If you’ve never cooked dried beans, you are missing out. Slow cooker black beans are creamy and delicious, and I’m never going back! And to add to the happiness, cooking dried black beans is extremely economical! Yes, take a look below, one pound of dried black beans makes ten servings! That means your protein rich source of beans for only $1.49. So, for less than 15 cents/serving, you can enjoy a serving of black beans for you protein source at your next meal.
You can easily throw beans and a few spices into a crockpot or slow cooker in the morning and have dinner ready at dinnertime. Not only are black beans tasty and inexpensive, they are gluten-free and low in sodium (you can also cut back on the added salt in the recipe also). This slow cooker black beans recipe is a easy recipe for a meatless meal, vegetarian, heart healthy, gluten-free, diabetes friendly meal option.
Slow Cooker Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb black beans dried
- 3 cups water or soaking liquid
- 1 onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 bay leaf dried
- 1/4 cup cilantro fresh, chopped, plus additional for garnish
Instructions
- Rinse beans and place in a large pot. Cover completely with water and let soak overnight.
- When ready to cook, drain soaking liquid. Reserve 3 cups of liquid, if desired. Place beans and either water or soaking liquid into crock pot. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro. Stir to combine.
- Cook beans on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Once cooked, stir in cilantro and serve warm, with additional cilantro for garnish. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Not sure how to convert homemade black beans compared to canned beans, take a look at this blog which explains “One 15-ounce can of drained canned beans equals 1 1/2 cups of drained cooked dried beans”.
Looking for recipes to use your homemade slow cooker black beans? Take a look at these:
- Black Bean Burgers
- Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
- Fiesta Black Beans
- Quinoa and Black Bean Bowls
- Low Sodium Black Bean Salsa
- Black Bean Tomato Soup
- Turkey Chili with Beans
Please note:
Nutrition info is approximate and may contain errors.
An award winning recipe developer, Dietitian Kaitlin’s mission is to empower others to reach their health goals by encouraging them to get back into the kitchen. Co-author of Nourished: 10 Ingredients to Happy, Healthy Eating and Cooking with Diabetes.
