How To Cook Dried Pinto Beans

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The goal with cooking from scratch, is to make healthy, hearty and delicious food while also saving money, so it’s no surprise that beans check all the boxes.

Dried beans are the star of the show in any cooking from scratch kitchen. And for good reason, they are very versatile and easy to cook.

Types Of Beans:

Let’s start off by getting to know the different types of beans you can get as well as the sizes.

A quick Google search shows that there are about 15 different types of dried beans. I’m sure there are a lot more than that! Of the most common ones that I know (black, pinto, cannellini, navy, kidney, great northern and chickpeas), I use only three different types in my kitchen. My three favorite dried beans are black, pinto and great northern.

Amount of Beans:

Dried beans can be purchased in bulk from a source like Azure Standard or you can grab a small bag at your local grocery store. Either way, you will be saving money. Of course, buying in bulk will save you more in the long run. My advice, though, is to start small and build from there. Once you see how easy and delicious dried beans are, you will eventually move on from the one pound packages.

A one pound package of beans is right at A dollar at my local Walmart. One pound of dried beans equals two cups, which once cooked will yield about 6 cups of cooked beans. If you buy a can of beans (around ninety two cents at Walmart) that is ready to use that equals one and a half cups of cooked beans. You would need to buy three cans of beans to get about the same from a one pound package of dried beans. See the savings?

In this post I am going through the quick and easy process of making pinto beans. I’ll also share a few ways to use and store them.

As a reminder, I am learning how to cook from scratch right alongside you, so the recipes I share almost always come from another source that I have tried, tested and loved. This particular recipe comes from Christines Notebook. I could not find the recipe on her blog, so here is the link to her video. You tube is a great resource for getting inspiration and recipes for cooking from scratch.

For this recipe, I do not pre-soak my beans (you can soak overnight if you’d like). I am usually in a hurry, so I never pre-soak. I find any beans I have cooked turn out good without pre-soaking.

You can cook these beans in a crock pot, on the stove, or the instant pot. They just have to cook long enough in the water until they are soft. The crock pot will be an all day cook while the instant pot will take an hour or less. I use a Saladmaster stainless steal multi-purpose cooker. Basically, I think it is similar to the instant pot. I cook my beans on low for about three hours using this pot.

As always, let’s get started with the ingredients.

Here’s what you need:

• 2 cups of dried Pinto beans.

• 6 cups of water.

• 1/2 of a onion.

• A few cloves of garlic.

• 1/2 tsp cumin.

• 1 tsp chili powder1 tsp oregano.

• 1/2 tsp salt.

I doubled the recipe so I can use the beans for meal prep, so I added extra onion which is why there are two onions in the picture of ingredients.

The first thing to do is rinse and go through the beans to remove any dirt and/or rocks. After Andrew chomped on a rock in his bowl of beans (oops), I have slowed down when sifting through the beans.

Add the six cups of water.

Now add in the seasonings.

Salt.

Cumin.

Chili powder.

Oregano.

Some garlic, I used minced garlic.

And finally the onion. Again, I have doubled the recipe and used our own onions which are a bit smaller so that’s why I have two, but the recipe calls for only a half onion. I really need to fix my nail polish, that looks awful! Oh well, this is real life for ya.

Finally, give it all a stir and let them cook low and slow.

The water will be mostly absorbed and the beans will be plump and soft to bite into when they are done.

With this particular pot of beans, I only had a couple hours to fix them so I cooked them on high. I am assuming that’s why there was still a lot of water. But that’s ok because my plan with these beans is to half them and use one half of the beans to make a soup and the other half to make burritos.

Ways to use and store cooked pinto beans:

While there are a lot of ways to use cooked beans. My favorites are in soups, chili, with ham for ham and beans and my new found favorite way for meal prep with beans and cheese burritos.

Simply add cheese and beans on a tortilla shell, roll and wrap with aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag to freeze for a super convenient and cheap lunch.

I included the picture below to show you how much better making your own food is. The larger burrito is my homemade burrito with these pinto beans and the smaller one is a frozen burrito I have purchased for years from the store. I was incredibly surprised with the difference in size and taste.

To store the beans, you can put in the refrigerator to use within a week or put them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months. When you are ready to use the frozen beans, let them sit on the counter to thaw or put them in your pot frozen if you are making something like a soup or chili.

I hope you found this post helpful and enjoy all the many ways you can use these cooked pinto beans!