Perfect Pinto Beans

Article by Layla Khoury-Hanold

Dried beans are a budget-friendly, feeds-a-crowd pantry staple, but they take a lot longer to prepare than their canned counterparts. As Ree Drummond proves with her easy pinto beans recipe, it’s worth spending the extra time and effort to create a deeply flavorful, tender and creamy pot of beans. Ree loves to make a big batch of these hearty, comforting pinto beans to serve as a side dish with a family Tex-Mex-inspired feast, but pinto beans and ham are just as delicious eaten by the spoonful as the main meal. With Ree’s simple recipe, you’ll learn how to make pinto beans from scratch, including how to add flavor to the cooking liquid, create a bold spice mixture, and the one step you should never skip to ensure the creamiest, most tender pinto beans. You may never buy pinto beans from a can again.

How to Make Pinto Beans Like a Pro

Soak the pinto beans overnight. Cover the beans with cold water and soak them overnight to ensure that they cook evenly and to reduce the cooking time. Don’t forget to drain and rinse the beans after they soak.

Add aromatics to create a flavorful cooking liquid. Ree adds chopped onion and red bell pepper, plenty of garlic and bay leaves to the create an aromatic and flavorful cooking liquid.

Add plenty of salt and black pepper to ensure that your beans are properly seasoned. Beans need quite a bit of salt, so Ree sprinkles in a good amount of salt and even more ground black pepper.

Create a powerhouse spice mixture. Ree relies on a spice mixture of ground cumin, cayenne, paprika and chili powder to make her pinto beans the right amount of spicy. You don’t have to be precise when you’re making a big pot of beans, so just eyeball the amounts.

Add ham for extra flavor. Ree uses chopped bacon pieces to add a depth of flavor to her pinto beans, but you can also add ham hock or diced ham. Omit the pork if you prefer to keep the pinto beans vegan or vegetarian.

Cook beans low and slow for the best texture and consistency. The pinto beans simmer on the stove over low heat until tender, up to 3 ½ hours. As the beans cook, they’ll slowly release starch which helps thicken the cooking liquid and yields a creamy consistency.

How to Soak Beans

To soak beans, cover dried beans with cold water and let them soak for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours at room temperature. Soaking pinto beans overnight ensures that they will cook evenly and will also reduce the overall cooking time.

How Long Does It Take to Cook Pinto Beans?

After bringing beans to a boil, it takes about 2 to 3 ½ hours to cook pinto beans by simmering them low and slow on the stove. You’ll know the pinto beans are done cooking when they achieve a texture that is tender, not mushy. Keep in mind that the longer the beans have been soaked, the less time they take to cook, and that older dried beans may take longer to soften and cook.

What to Serve with Pinto Beans

Ree serves her spicy pinto beans with Rib-Eye Quesadillas and Taco Ranch Side Salad as part of a Tex-Mex-inspired lunch for her family. Pinto beans make a fantastic side dish for other Tex-Mex dishes such as Ree’s Beef Tacos, Jalapeno Popper Tacos, Chicken Quesadillas or her fan-favorite Simple Perfect Enchiladas. You can also make them a meal and serve pinto beans with rice, tortillas or cornbread, like Ree’s Skillet Cornbread or Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread.