In my Daybook Online Journal post a couple of days ago I mentioned making a large roasting pan full of beans. You all wanted the recipe and here it is! This is the original recipe, but I triple or quadruple it all the time. This is one of my favorite large family recipes because it makes a ton of yummy pinto beans that can be mashed up and frozen as refried beans, or left alone and frozen as beans to eat by themselves, added to chili, soups or stews.
Large Family Recipes: Easy Pinto Beans
One of my favorite places to find large family recipes is church cookbooks and that’s where this recipe came from. Sometimes we make a batch of these and mash them all up–by hand or hand blender
Crockpot Pinto Beans
3 cups dry pinto beans
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 dry red peppers (or crushed to taste) or 1 seeded, chopped jalapeno
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/3 cup olive oil
5 teaspoons salt
1.5 teaspoons black pepper
9 cups water or enough to cover beans
Place in slow cooker and cook on high 8 hours.
Let me know if make these and what you think. Also, share some of your favorite large family recipes in the comments. To me a large family recipes must use easy to find ingredients, be flexible in the ingredient list–above, if I don’t have a jalapeno or don’t like a jalapeno, I can leave it out or substitute another pepper with really no impact on the integrity of the recipe. Large family recipes need to be easy to double–triple–or more. And kid friendly never hurts, although sometimes it’s ok for kids to try something they don’t necessarily like..a sprinkle of cheese and dollop of sour cream can sometimes go a long way in making a dish a little more palatable. And economical is a given.
I have a recipe for a giant vegetable soup base on my blog–I make it up and then add things like tofu chunks or tortellini to make it ‘taste different’ each time I serve it. I’ll have to try your bean recipe–I recently bought a used foodsaver unit and I’m eager to try it out on something!
I keep thinking I want a Foodsaver, but I rarely make a huge enough quantity of something other than these beans–we’re a family of nine!
Ok…I will try this recipe! I confess…the past few adventures attempting these beans into our dinners have FAILED! Its a miracle to get one clean plate per meal in my house! So Im always trying new things! So, I know I still have some to try again! Thanks!
Bethany I heard a long time ago that with kids, sometimes they have to see a new food on their plate as many as 15 times before they will taste it. I don’t know about the 15 times, but I do know with my kids it may take a few tries.
Love it! I make pinto beans all the time! It’s such a great, inexpensive belly filler that goes great with so many things. Three cheers for pinto beans! 🙂
I love the cheer for the beans! I’ve also made this with black beans too.
I am interested to freeze these! I think mashing them and using them for a Mexican dish, is a great idea.
It really is. There are many days for lunch we will pull one out of the freezer and reheat for a quick lunch.
My family isn’t that big, but I think this a fantastic idea. If I think of a recipe I have that might work, I’ll let you know.
This works great for smaller families as well–more to freeze!
Jenny, I LOVE that you’re sharing recipes. Making big batches of recipes to have for later makes me happy.
Thanks Lysha. Big batches are so handy and have saved many a weeknight meal around here!
These look wonderful! I am going to try and make hem next week. I add beans to several recipes to stretch them, this way I will no what is in them! Thanks for sharing!
Let me know what you think Jennifer. Beans are an inexpensive way to stretch a meal. My husband’s aunt also adds shredded potato to stretch meals, lol!