Foolproof and delicious Slow Cooker Black Beans! This easy, no-soak recipe yields tender and delicious black beans with barely any hands-on time. Make them a meal, serve as a side or stuff your tacos, burritos and quesadillas with them!
With just a handful of ingredients, you can have yourself a pot full of deliciously seasoned slow cooker black beans. Not only are they tasty they are super easy, budget-friendly and versatile too!
Ingredient notes
To make this recipe you will need:
- Black beans - Dried and unsoaked. There is no need to soak them and it makes them more flavourful too. You can also use other beans of a similar size such as navy beans or black eyes beans.
- Onion & garlic - Essential for flavour.
- Herbs & spices - This is what makes these beans taste so good! The combination of chili, cumin, coriander, bay and mint or thyme adds so much flavour.
- Stock - Adds more flavour than simply using water.
- Lime - Just the juice and right at the end to preserve its flavour. This adds more flavour and acidity. Lime works incredibly well with black beans.
You will also need a slow cooker. If you don't have a slow cooker see my Black Beans Meal Prep recipe for a similar way to cook canned black beans or if you have an Instant Pot, use my Instant Pot Black Beans recipe.
How to make black beans in a slow cooker
Making slow cooker black beans is so easy!
- Add the dried beans, onion, garlic, herbs and spices to the slow cooker.
- Pour in the stock.
- Cook on low or high depending on your needs.
- Squeeze in the lime juice right before serving.
Note that beans will take a little longer to cook if you live at a high altitude so allow for that if you do.
Success Tips
For the very best results when making this recipe follow these tips:
- Don't soak the beans. Soaking them first dilutes their flavour.
- Rinse the beans to clean them before adding them to the slow cooker.
- Be generous with the salt. Seasoning well is really important for great-tasting beans.
- Add the salt at the end of cooking.
- Don't skip the lime! it adds flavour and vibrancy that really makes all the difference to the finished flavour.
Why I don't recommend soaking
As per my success tips above, I do not recommend soaking the black beans prior to making this recipe. In fact, I never soak my beans before cooking them, except for kidney beans which need to be prepared differently for food safety reasons.
When you soak beans prior to cooking them they lose flavour and a significant amount of colour too. You can see a side-by-side comparison here.
“There are lots of old wives’ tales [about reducing flatulence] -- people use bicarbonate of soda, ginger, sulfur, castor oil -- a whole series of them. But there’s no evidence that any of them -- including soaking -- work effectively.” - Louis B. Rockland, Food Tech Research in Placentia. (Source Los Angeles Times)
“Soaking may shorten the cooking time, but other than that, there’s no effect [on flatulence].” - U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Western Regional Research lab in Albany, Calif.
(Source of both quotes: Los Angeles Times)
Variations
- Use other beans in place of the black beans but make sure they are of a similar size or the timings could end up off. Beans like black eyes beans, cannellini, navy and great northern beans all work well.
- Add a can of green chilis or a diced fresh chili
- Add extra herbs and spices
- Add diced sweet potato or squash
- Add a jar of salsa
- Add extra vegetables like bell pepper, chopped tomatoes or celery
- Stir through some fresh cilantro just before serving.
- Add more stock, blend up a bit with an immersion blender and call it black bean soup!
IMPORTANT - DO NOT cook kidney beans in your slow cooker using this recipe as they MUST be prepared differently for food safety reasons.
Serving suggestions
These slow cooker black beans are incredibly versatile. My favourite way to eat them is over coconut lime rice with plenty of green sauce and some vegan feta crumbles, but some other ideas include:
- As a side with Mexican, Cuban or other Latin American-inspired meals
- In burritos, taco, enchiladas, quesadillas, taquitos and chiliquiles
- In casseroles
- With burrito bowls and other bowl meals like my Cauliflower Rice Bowls.
- In salads
- Over nachos
- For breakfast with vegan scrambled eggs, avocado, toast and hot sauce
- Served in a bowl with some tortilla chips for scooping
- Stuffed sweet potatoes
Storage, freezing & reheating tips
These delicious black beans will keep in the fridge for 5 to 6 days and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before using.
To reheat beans either microwave them for a few minutes or warm them in a pan over medium-low heat until piping hot.
Meal prep
Cook the beans as directed then divide them into single-serve containers with an accompaniment like rice and vegetables. You can use this Black Bean & Rice Meal Prep recipe as inspiration.
Recipe FAQs
Some common reasons black beans cooked in a slow cooker might not soften as they should:
The beans are old or have been stored incorrectly. This is a tough one because you can never really know how they have been stored before they reach you and unless there is a use-by date on them you don't know how old they are. Old beans can stay hard no matter how long you cook them. My biggest tip would be to change where you buy them, don't buy brand from the bulk bins unless you know there is a really good turnaround, and don't keep them in the pantry too long.
You added the salt during cooking. I personally have never had this happen. I often throw the salt in at the beginning. But, some people say it can make a difference so just to be safe I recommend adding it at the end in this recipe.
All slow cookers cook at different temperatures. Some run hot, some run cooler. Get to know your slow cooker and adjust the cooking times as necessary. If you don't see the contents of your slow cooker bubbling when it's cooking on high then chances are your slow cooker is not getting hot enough.
You live at a high altitude. Beans take longer to cook in a slow cooker at high altitudes.
Recipe Video
Recipe
Slow Cooker Black Beans
Author:Ingredients
- 2½ cups (450 grams) dried black beans , do not soak them
- 1 medium onion , diced
- 4 cloves garlic , chopped finely
- 2 teaspoons chili flakes , or 1 fresh chili (you can omit the chili if you prefer)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried mint , or thyme
- 3½ cups (840 mls) vegetable stock
- 1½ teaspoons salt , plus more to taste as required
- Juice of one lime
INSTRUCTIONS
SLOW COOKER
- Place all ingredients except the lime into a slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7 - 8 hours.
- Once cooked, season with plenty of salt, then squeeze in the juice of the lime. Give it a good stir then serve.
NOTES
- Don't soak the beans. Soaking them first dilutes their flavour.
- Rinse the beans to clean them before adding them to the slow cooker.
- Be generous with the salt. Seasoning well is really important for great-tasting beans.
- Add the salt at the end of cooking.
- Don't skip the lime! it adds flavour and vibrancy that really makes all the difference to the finished flavour.
Storage, freezing & reheating These delicious slow cooker black beans will keep in the fridge for 5 to 6 days and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before using. To reheat beans either microwave them for a few minutes or warm them in a pan over medium-low heat until piping hot.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience. The data is a computer generated estimate and should be used as a guide only.
Sandra Bell says
Great black bean recipe, I used the slow cooker method and it was delicious, worked beautifully and was my best black bean recipe so far. Thank you!
Diane says
Are the canned beans supposed to be drained?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes
Corinna says
How much is considered one serving in the nutritional values please?
A Virtual Vegan says
The recipe makes 6 portions and the nutritional information is for one of them so one sixth of the entire recipe.
Louise says
You don’t list any liquid here, to be added to the beans... is that correct?
A Virtual Vegan says
Vegetable stock is in the ingredients list.
KG says
Is it the same amount of stock for dried beans as for canned? Most dried bean recipes I’ve seen have closer to six cups liquid per pound.
A Virtual Vegan says
The amount of stock listed is the amount for dried beans in a slow cooker. If you use canned beans to cook them on the stove top the instructions say to only use half the amount of stock.
Maybe the other recipes you've looked at are more saucy. These beans aren't saucy beans. Most of the liquid is absorbed.
Donna Jago says
The recipe says 4 garlic cloves. Are they just put in whole, or crushed?
A Virtual Vegan says
You can crush them if you want to, but they can go in whole. By the time it's cooked and you stir it before serving, they break up and disintegrate anyway.
Gail Wisdom says
I made this in the slow cooker today! I added a small can of green chilies and some bell pepper. My husband said "Gourmet." We loved it and will make again and again.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed the beans Gail. Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave feedback!
Karen says
Love these. They are a weekly staple for us.
Randi Tisdall says
I love slow cooker black beans!! The addition of the mint sounds delicious too. I love making a big pot and using them in a variety of dishes all week!
A Virtual Vegan says
Having a big pot on standby makes life so much easier!
Bonveggie says
So delicious. Made them twice. Love the pictures too.
Elaine Gordon says
Oh I love this recipe! So simple and tasty!
Anjali says
WOW these are awesome!
Amy says
I love these black beans! I make them all the time and we eat them with rice or in burritos.