This simple slow-cooker black bean recipe produces perfectly cooked and beautifully seasoned beans. It requires very little effort and will leave you with quarts of delicious beans to use immediately or freeze for the future. Once you make this recipe once, you’ll never go back to canned!

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    “This recipe is awesome!! I’ve made it at least 10 times, and these beans come out perfect every time. Thank you for this!!”
    – Donna
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An overhead shot of a quart of cooked slow cooker black beans.

Once you start cooking beans from scratch, it’s hard to go back to canned. Black beans, which require no soaking, are the bean I cook most often from scratch as my family loves them in all sorts of dishes: burritos, soup, enchiladas, and cowboy caviar.

There are many ways to cook beans from scratch, including on the stovetop and in a pressure cooker, but my favorite way to prepare them is in the slow cooker for its ease and the results: perfectly cooked and seasoned beans.

Making this recipe requires nothing more than combining dried beans with a few aromatics, covering them with water, and letting them cook away. Eight hours later, your beans will be cooked, your house will smell fantastic, and you will have 6 cups of the most delicious beans you have ever tasted, ready to use immediately or freeze for later. You’re welcome 🙂

PS: Slow Cooker Gigante (or other white) Beans

How to Make the Simplest Slow-Cooker Black Beans, Step by Step

First, gather your ingredients: dried black beans, onion, garlic, bay leaf, crushed red pepper flakes, olive oil, and salt:

Ingredients for slow cooker black beans on a board.

Place the dried beans, onion half, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes into a slow cooker.

Overhead shot of dried black beans with aromatics in a slow cooker.

Add water and olive oil, then close the lid.

Overhead shot of a crock pot filled with black beans, water, oil, and aromatics, ready to simmer.

Cook for 6 to 8 hours on high or…

A Crockpot on a countertop.

… until the beans are cooked.

A wooden spoon holding cooked slow cooker black beans.

Store in quart containers. These deli quart containers (BPA-free) are great for this purpose.

Two quarts of slow cooker black beans.
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An overhead shot of a quart of cooked slow cooker black beans.

Simplest Slow Cooker Black Beans

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Description

This simple slow-cooker black bean recipe produces perfectly cooked and beautifully seasoned beans. It requires very little effort and will leave you with quarts of delicious beans to use immediately or freeze for the future. Once you make this recipe once, you’ll never go back to canned!

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 chili flakes; if you don’t, omit or use less. 
  • To make these in the Instant Pot, add all of the ingredients listed below, along with 6 cups of water into an Instant Pot. 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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. 
  3. 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