Pinto Beans: A "Good for You" Food!
Pinto beans are easy to make, they freeze well, and they are good for you! Homemade pinto beans beat canned hands down. So pull out your Crock Pot and lets make some beans...
What are Beans?
The common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is an herbaceous annual plant domesticated independently in ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes, and now grown worldwide for its edible bean, popular both dry and as a green bean. The leaf is occasionally used as a leaf vegetable, and the straw is used for fodder. Botanically, the common bean is classified as a dicotyledon. Beans, squash and maize constituted the "Three Sisters" that provided the foundation of Native American agriculture. Beans are a legume and thus acquire their nitrogen through an association with rhizobia, a species of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. 18.3 million tonnes of dry common beans and 6.6 million tonnes of green beans were grown worldwide in 2007.FAOSTAT, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, accessed November 5, 2009 The other major type of beans is broad beans (Vicia faba), of which only 3.7 million tonnes were grown in 2007. The commercial production of beans is well-distributed worldwide with countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, South and North America all among the top bean growers. Brazil and India are the largest producers of dry beans while China produces, by far, the largest amount of green beans, almost as much as the rest of the top ten growers altogether.
Cooking Pinto Beans Made Easy

Pinto Beans
What You Need:
1 16 oz package of Pinto Beans
3 slices of raw smoked Bacon
1 large whole Jalapeno (from the can, sliced with seeds intact)
1/2 tbsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1/2 tbsp Lawry's Garlic Salt
Rinse and sort your pinto beans. Remove and discard any rocks. Most, if not all, package directions tell you to pre-soak, or quick soak prior to cooking. I'm here to tell you I quit doing that.

I learned, by a stroke of luck, I did not need to do over night/quick soaking. A party came up and I needed to make some beans fast. I rinsed and sorted my pinto beans, threw them in my crock-pot, covered them with water and hoped they would be all right. They were not only all right; they were perfect!
Supposedly presoaking helps prevent the pinto beans from splitting. I never found it to be true. My beans always split horribly until that fateful day.

I tested this non-soak method of mine several times after, with several different brands, and every single time since my beans are always whole. Pretty amazing and quite a time-saver.
So, once you rinse and sort your pinto beans, put them in your crock-pot. Cover them with water, about an inch over the bean level.

Slice your raw bacon into 1-inch segments and toss it in.

Cover and turn the crock setting to high. Once it starts to get hot and steams, you should begin watching it carefully. Stir occasionally to prevent any sticking.

If your pinto beans get low on water, you need to add more. Make sure you only add HOT water to cooking beans. If you add cold or cool water to hot beans they will split.
After the beans have simmered for about 2 hours, reduce the crock heat to low. Continue stirring occasionally.

At about 4 hours of cooking, you add your sliced whole jalapeno, seasoned and garlic salts. (If you wish you could add 1/2 cup chopped onion, a 1/2-cup of your favorite Mesquite flavored BBQ sauce, or both, for a ranch styled pinto bean.) Stir well and continue to cook on low for 1 more hour.
These beans are mild, even with the jalapeno. You can add more jalapeno, if you like them hot. We never add salt or pepper; you don't have to. You can add more seasoned salt or garlic salt if you think it needs a little more punch.
Both Lawry's seasonings used in this pinto bean recipe are MSG free, which is better for your heart.

Pinto Beans Cook Best in a Crock Pot
I Wish I had This One!
The Nutritional Benefits of Pinto Beans
Pinto beans, like most beans, are a good source of fiber, which has been proven to lower cholesterol. For diabetics, adding pinto beans to meals may help keep blood sugar from increasing rapidly after eating.It is a given that beans are virtually fat-free and a high quality protein. But did you know pinto beans are also an excellent source of folate, manganese, molybdenum, and vitamin B1? Pinto Beans also contain the minerals phosphorus, iron, magnesium, potassium, and copper.
All of this combined make pinto beans a good heart health food too! (Learn more benefits on WHFoods)
Want to have some fun? Read about "Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit!

Pinto Beans ain't the Only Beans...
Some Good Lookin' Bean Cookbooks
Serving Ware for Your Pinto Beans
Pinto Beans in the Blogs
- Smashed Pinto Beans | Canela and Comino
- Smashed Pinto Beans. collage2 copy For the birthday bash, I wanted to be sure we had all the components of a great Mexican meal. Although we usually open a can of refried beans and call it Mexican, I wanted to serve something that had a ...
- Cheesy Mexican Cornbread, Smashed Pinto Beans and a Very Special ...
- So, if you need comforting ? say, it's a gray day or maybe your neighbors have assumed you were in an incestuous relationship with a sibling ? I highly recommend a cup of Smashed Pinto Beans and a hunk of Cheesy Mexican Cornbread. ...
- Mexican Fideo Soup with Pinto Beans
- Mexican Fideo Soup with Pinto Beans I love soup, I love easy soups, and I especially love dishes that hint of any Latin flavor, so the Mexican Fideo Soup with Pinto Beans (p159) was sure to be mine. Since the recipe only called for 15.5 ...
- Can it really be? Pinto beans?? | The Survival Mom
- I have been buying my wheat, on occasion, from Grandpa's Grains, a family farm up in Idaho. A couple of days ago they shared these two recipes with me,
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- spirituality spirituality Apr 19, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
- Great lens - you've been blessed by a squidoo angel :)
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- BlackroseBugg BlackroseBugg Jan 28, 2009 @ 8:35 am
- Rats! Stores don't open for another couple of hours! Guess I'll just keep reading recipes...and making a list...till then. This looks like a perfect way to make those slow cooked beans I never have time to slow cook! Thanks!
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- Shelly Shelly Jan 16, 2009 @ 8:04 pm
- I think I can taste them already and they smell so good! Beans are my comfort food and I love to add Jalapeno's. I like to add enough heat that the beans are hot when cold. Your step by step pictures are great for the novice and for those of us who just like pictures.
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- d-artist d-artist Dec 1, 2008 @ 11:40 am
- yummm, I love Pinto Beans. I make a version from my mother-in-law...Puerto Rican beans and rice, will be making them for Xmas with my German sauerbraten and potato dumplings...very mixed ethnic meals but it is our family tradition....5*
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- CleanerLife CleanerLife Sep 26, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
- Looks good! I usually see pinto beans in chili or three bean salad, not prepared by themselves. This looks delicious!
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Go Back to...
- What are Beans?
- Cooking Pinto Beans Made Easy
- Pinto Beans Cook Best in a Crock Pot
- The Nutritional Benefits of Pinto Beans
- Pinto Beans ain't the Only Beans...
- Serving Ware for Your Pinto Beans
- Pinto Beans in the Blogs
- Do You Have a Recipe Lens?
- Help Feed Those in Need!
- Like This Lens?
- Love This Lens? Please help give it a boost...
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