This post will show you everything you need to know about How to Cook Dried Beans in a CrockPot or Slow Cooker! I experimented with cooking soaked or unsoaked beans, and this post shares everything you need to know to make perfect slow cooker beans.
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Why is learning How to Cook Dried Beans in a Crockpot Slow Cooker such a big deal? This post will tell you why I think cooking your own beans from scratch is well worth the trouble, and give you the easy process for cooking dried beans in a slow cooker! And this post compares cooking times and results for cooking soaked or unsoaked beans, with everything you need to know to make perfect slow cooker beans.
And once you’ve mastered this easy process for cooking dried beans in a slow cooker, you can kick the canned bean habit. I recommend cooking up batches of dried beans to keep in the freezer and using those instead of buying canned beans. You’ll save money, and the beans you cook yourself will taste a lot better!
What Ingredients do you need?
- dried beans (see caution below for red kidney beans)
- water
- salt (to add after cooking if desired)
Safety Tip for Cooking Red Kidney Beans in a Slow Cooker:
Dried Red Kidney Beans need to be boiled on the stove for ten minutes to prevent an illness caused by Phytohaemagglutnin, also called Kidney Bean Lectin. (Slow Cooking doesn’t reach a high enough temperature to kill the toxins in that type of bean.) Then drain the beans and proceed with cooking as below. (White Kidney Beans and Broad Beans also contain small amounts of Phytohaemagglutnin; you might also want to boil those for 10 minutes before slow cooking, especially if your stomach is sensitive.)
What size slow cooker should you use?
I would use a 3.5 Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) to cook 2 cups of dried beans. You can increase the amount of beans for a larger size cooker. I don’t think the size of the slow cooker is especially crucial for this method cooking beans, but it is important that the slow cooker is at least half full (counting the water) for it to cook well.
Why Eat Dried Beans?
Dried beans are one of those foods that have everything going for them. Beans are inexpensive, and they’re a good source for many vitamins and minerals, plus they’re also high in fiber, high in protein, and naturally low in fat, sugar, and sodium. Dried beans are loaded with healthy nutrients, and they’re widely considered to be a healthy food.and beans are also listed as one of the Superfoods that we should all be eating often.
Not only are beans nutritious, they’re loaded with healthy slow-burning complex carbohydrates, and are low on the glycemic index, making them a good food choice for anyone who’s concerned about blood sugar, whether for weight-loss or health reasons. If you’re strictly watching your carbs you’ll want to eat them more sparingly, but even in small amounts dried beans add a lot of flavor and nutrition to many dishes.
Why Bother with Cooking Dried Beans from Scratch?
The flavor of beans from a can is incomparable to the deliciousness of freshly-cooked dried beans! And dried beans that are cooked from scratch are so much more budget-friendly than canned beans. You can cook a batch of beans and freeze them in small containers to keep in the freezer. And cooking your own beans eliminates the cans that fill up your recycling container!
How many cooked beans equals one can of beans?
I freeze my cooked beans in small freezer containers that hold 2 cups. That way it’s easy to know how many I’m getting when I pull some out of the freezer. But in the U.S. a can of cooked beans is usually 1 3/4 cups of cooked beans, so keep that in mind if you’re using a lot of recipes that call for canned beans, although in most recipe an extra 1/4 cup of beans isn’t going to matter at all.
Do you need to soak the beans before cooking then in a Slow Cooker?
Learning how to cook dried beans in a crockpot slow-cooker is one of those wonderful ideas I discovered through food blogging. After I tried cooking beans this way, I did the experiment outlined below to see how soaking the beans would affect the cooking time. I cooked my beans on high, but if you’re not going to be home you can always cook them for a longer time on low. The cooking time of dried beans will vary greatly depending on how fresh the beans are, so I can’t give you the exact cooking time, but I’ll give you the approximate times.
How to Cook Dried Beans in a Slow Cooker:
- I started with 2 cups of dried pinto beans, using beans from the same package for both crockpots.
- I soaked the beans in the green crockpot overnight (about 10 hours.)
- Beans in the brown crockpot were not pre-soaked.
- Beans in both crockpots were covered with enough water to cover by about 2 inches. I didn’t add salt to the beans. (For the pre-soaked beans, drain out the original soaking water and use fresh water to cook the beans.)
- I turned both crockpots to the HIGH setting, put the lids on, and started a stop-watch to time each crockpot.
- Pre-soaked beans in the green crockpot were tender and full cooked after 3-4 hours on high. (Actual cooking time will depend on how long beans have been sitting on the shelf in the store or in your pantry. Fresher beans will always cook more quickly.)
- Unsoaked beans in the brown crockpot were tender and fully cooked after 5-6 hours. I was quite surprised that pre-soaking didn’t make more difference in the cooking time.
Which Beans Did I Prefer?
I couldn’t really tell any difference in the flavor or texture of the soaked vs. unsoaked beans. Both methods produced about 6 cups of cooked beans from 2 cups of dried beans. I froze my beans in 2 cup containers to use in recipes.
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a new category calledWeekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Yield: 6 cups cooked beans
How to Cook Dried Beans in a Crockpot or Slow Cooker
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 5 minutes
This post compares results cooking soaked and unsoaked dried beans in a CrockPot or Slow Cooker, plus shares lots of ideas for using the cooked beans.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried beans
- 4 cups water, or more
- salt for seasoning cooked beans, optional
Instructions
HOW TO SOAK AND COOK DRIED BEANS IN THE SLOW COOKER:
- Pick over the dry beans and discard any broken or shriveled looking ones.
- Put 2 cups dried beans into the slow cooker crock and soak overnight in cold water, enough to cover by several inches.
- The next day, drain the beans and discard the cooking water.
- Put soaked beans back into the slow cooker and add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches.
- Turn cooker to HIGH and cook beans until they're tender and cooked through, about 3-4 hours for soaked beans. (You can also cook the soaked beans on low, which would take about twice as long.) Drain beans. (You can save the cooking water if desired, but I usually don't because this liquid will have the undigestible carbs that make beans cause gas.)
- Two cups of dried soaked beans will make about 6 cups of cooked beans.
- Beans can be frozen in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid for several months until you're ready to use them.
HOW TO COOK UNSOAKED BEANS IN THE SLOW COOKER:
- Pick over the dry beans and discard any broken or shriveled looking ones.
- Put beans into the slow cooker and add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches.
- Turn cooker to HIGH and cook beans until they're tender and cooked through, about 5-6 hours for unsoaked beans. (You can also cook the unsoaked beans on low, which would take about twice as long.)
- Drain beans. (You can save the cooking water if desired, but I usually don't because this liquid will have the undigestible carbs that make beans cause gas.)
- Two cups of unsoaked dried beans will make about 6 cups of cooked beans.
- Beans can be frozen in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid for several months until you're ready to use them.
Notes
Nutritional information is for one cup of cooked beans.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 119Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 602mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 5gSugar: 10gProtein: 6g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Recipes for using the Slow Cooker Beans:
Beans are such a versatile ingredient that they can be used in a variety of different types of dishes. Below are a few of my most popular recipes that call for canned beans or cooked beans; check Beans and Legumes if you want to see all the dried bean recipes on this site.
- Turkey Pinto Bean Chili
- Southwestern Quinoa Salad (with black beans)
- Amy’s Amazing White Chicken Chili
- Balela Salad (Middle Eastern Bean Salad)
- Easy Taco Soup
- Pumpkin Chili with Ground Beef
- Pinto Bean Salad with Avocados and Tomatoes
- Julia Child’s White Bean Hummus
- Tuna White Bean Salad
- Mexican Chicken Casserole with Pinto Beans
- Mediterranean Spinach Salad
- Vegetarian Mexican Casserole
- Black Bean Salad with Jicama
- Black Bean and Beef Chili
- Garlicky Roasted Chickpeas with Feta, Mint, and Lemon
- Curried Chickpea Salad
- Moroccan Chickpea Stew
- Instant Pot Pinto Beans with Ground Beef
- Cauliflower Rice and Pinto Bean Vegetarian Burrito Bowl
- Instant Pot Sausage Soup with Pesto
More Recipes for Cooking Dried Beans:
- Slow Cooker Recipes with Black Beans ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
- Instant Pot Black Beans Recipes ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooke
- Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Recipes for Mexican Beans ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
- Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Vegetarian Mexican Bowl
- Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Black Bean Soup Recipes
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Dried Beans are too high in carbs for other low-carb diet plans unless they are combined in recipes with lots of other lower-carb ingredients, which is how I like to use them. All types of dried beans are a low-glycemic food that’s approved for the original South Beach Diet, but portion sizes for phase one should be limited to 1/3 to 1/2 cup serving size.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. Use Slow Cooker to see all the Slow Cooker Recipes. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe
This tutorial on cooking dried beans in a slow cooker was first posted in 2010! It was last updated with more information in 2023.
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