Easy Slow Cooker Charro Beans

Overhead of a big bowl with Slow Cooker Charro Beans inside

5 from 3 votes

Easy Slow Cooker Charro Beans

These Slow Cooker Charro Beans are super easy to make with simple easy prep. This is a healthier alternative to the canned charro beans you can find in the grocery store as we use several fresh ingredients!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 8

Total Time 8 15

Servings to 10 servings

Calories 213kcal

Author Sharee

Ingredients

1 pound of dry pinto beans
1 smoked ham hock or two smoked neck bones
8 ounces of chorizo sausage (the type that comes in sausage form, not the ground chorizo) or smoked sausage
1 to 2 jalapeños diced , (optional)
1 onion quartered
2 tomatoes quartered
4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 whole green pepper roughly chopped
1 whole red pepper roughly chopped
¼ teaspoon of black pepper
5 cups of chicken broth
1 twelve ounce bottle of dark beer
2 sprigs of cilantro chopped
½ tablespoon garlic powder
½ tablespoon onion powder
salt to taste

Instructions

Rinse the pinto beans with water.
Remove any stone pieces or dirt pieces from the pintos.
Soak the pintos in a covered dish of water in the refrigerator overnight.
Drain the water off.
Put all of the ingredients (except the beer and salt) into the slow cooker.
Gently stir the ingredients together.
Cook the pinto mixture for 7 hours in slow cooker using low heat.
Then, add the beer and the ½ cup of chopped cilantro to the slow cooker.
Salt the pinto mixture to taste.
Cook for another hour.
Garnish with the cooked pinto mixture with the remaining cilantro. Then serve.

Notes

Using beer - You can eliminate the beer and only use broth for this recipe and still achieve amazing results. For a less potent beer test, you can add the beer at the beginning of the cooking process.
Healthy meat alternative - Replace the smoked pork meat in this dish with smoked turkey wings and/or legs. Also use homemade chicken broth if you can for a healthier dish. It's just as tasty!
Cilantro garnish– Don’t omit adding cilantro as a garnish this finished dish. Chop some additional cilantro to garnish each serving. It makes them that more delicious!
Increase heat level - I have put a whole jalapeno in this dish and this is a very mild heat level. Two jalapenos will give you more heat......
How to soak pintos - You can soak them for about 2 hours in water with a couple tablespoons of baking soda to speed up the process of removing the gas chemicals……
Easy clean up - Use slow cooker liners when cooking this recipe for easier clean up.
Stove Top Cooking Method Option- You can cook these on the stove top in a Dutch style oven or large pot with lid. Prepare as directed above in the recipe, add ingredients to the pot or Dutch oven, bring to a boil using medium heat, then lower heat to low, cover the pot with lid and cook for 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours until beans are tender. When you use this cooking method you need to check the beans periodically to add more broth or water during the cooking process and then adjust seasonings to taste. The beans may also be lighter in color when using this cooking method as well.

Nutrition