Smoky Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans
Smoky Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans made with dried black beans combined with smoky chipotle peppers, onion, garlic, jalapeno, and Mexican spices. These will be a serious crowd-pleaser and perfect addition to your Mexican fiesta.
Made with onion, garlic, and jalapeno, these Smoky Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans get their smoky flavor from both smoked paprika and a chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo.
Canned chipotles in adobo are dried, smoked jalapenos soaking in a spicy, smoky, tomato-based sauce. Those flavors perfectly complement the earthy spices like cumin and chili powder in this dish.
Pair the black beans with your favorite Mexican foods for a complete meal!
Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Dried black beans
- Onion
- Garlic
- Jalapeno
- Canned chipotle in adobo
- Chicken or vegetable stock
- Bay leaves
- Smoked paprika, cumin chili powder, salt, pepper
- Fresh cilantro
How to make Smoky Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans:
The great thing about this recipe is that everything is done in the slow cooker, even soaking the beans.
- Simply soak your dried beans overnight in a slow cooker (unplugged, no heat).
- The next day, drain and rinse the beans, throw back in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 8 hours.
- Garnish with some fresh cilantro right before serving. (full recipe card below)
Because the dried beans need to soak overnight, it takes a while to make this recipe, but the process is super easy and the end result is delish.
Not only do they taste good, they’re good for you, too.
This delicious side dish is vegan, high in fiber and protein, and contains good-for-you garlic. It’s a win-win-win.
Are these black beans spicy?
Word to the wise, these beans are spicy. My household loves spicy food, so we enjoyed having both the jalapeno and chipotle in these.
If your palette isn’t as adventurous, reduce/omit the jalapeno and chipotle.
I would suggest you keep a little of the chipotle though, because it really is a wonderful addition to the flavor of these beans.
Looking for more Mexican recipes? Here are some favorites:
- The Best Carne Asada
- Easy Homemade Salsa
- Slow Cooker Mexican Beef Barbacoa
- Roasted Tomato Habanero Salsa (shown below)
- Pickled Mexican Hot Carrots
- The Best Mexican Rice
How to store Mexican black beans?
Once the beans have cooled, store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Can you freeze these black beans?
Yes! You can freeze them for up to 3 months.
They may dry out a little bit, so make sure to freeze the cooking liquid with the beans.
NOTES:
- The dried black beans will need to soak overnight before cooking in the slow cooker, so keep that in mind when considering when you want them to be ready.
- Are refried beans more your style? Here’s my recipe for Slow Cooker Refried Pinto Beans.
- After opening the can of chipotles in adobo for this recipe, I like to put the rest of them and their adobo sauce in a freezer-proof container and freeze them until next time you need one.
Smoky Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb. dried black beans
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 jalapeno chopped
- 1 chipotle chopped (from a can of chipotle in adobo)
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tbsp. cumin
- 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tbsp. salt
- several grinds of black pepper
- 1 qt. chicken or vegetable stock
- handful of cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Rinse black beans and add to an unplugged slow cooker (no heat) with 8 cups of water. Soak beans overnight, ideally at least 12 hours. The next day, drain and rinse the beans and return to slow cooker.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours. Taste to see if additional salt is needed. Add cilantro to beans right before serving. Enjoy!
- NOTE: Beans will be slightly watery due to them needing to be submerged in liquid to cook properly. Simply use a slotted spoon when serving.
Notes
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
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Black beans are my new favourite! Love these flavors with rice…yum!
Beautifully cooked and spicy beans. They do take some forward planning, but it’s worth it.
These beans were awesome and had great flavor. Thanks for sharing
These beans were delicious! Best ones I’ve made yet!
My husband and I loved these beans!
Excellent recipe!
I made this recipe exactly as written, minus a change in peppers as I only had a poblano pepper on hand, and not a jalepeno. After it was finished cooking I found the black beans to still be a little hard, even after an night of soaking, and the final dish was a bit watery. So, here is what I did to fix it. I took about three huge soup ladle scoops of the beans and water and put them in the blender to make a very watery bean ‘smoothy’. I then returned that smoothy liquid to the slow cooker. I added 2 tbsp of tomato paste, two ground dried lime leaves (I just love the flavour they have), and 1 tbsp of brown sugar. (I have a very picky step dad who prefers his beans with a slightly sweeter edge) I then restarted the beans for another 8 hours and cooked them on slow. When they were finished, they were amazingly soft and not liquid-like at all. They in fact had the consistency of canned refried beans. We highly enjoyed them. (Although my step-dad is still on the fence about beans that don’t have ample amounts of molasses or maple syrup added to them. lol)
Thanks for the feedback! Beans can be finicky based on several factors, but glad you enjoyed them!
Question: Is the chilli powder in this recipe pure ground chilli, as in cayenne, or is it the ready-to-make mixed kind that you buy in supermarkets for chilli recipe making?
Hi there! It’s the latter in your question, the mixed spice blend we make chili with here in the U.S. :) Enjoy!
These were amazing beans!!
I love using dried beans and this recipe is so easy and delicious. I made a batch and froze in portions to use in other dishes.
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! :)
Great recipe! Second time I’m making these. I always double the recipe to freeze leftovers. I’m wondering if jarred jalapenos would be ok? My fresh jalapeno… was not so fresh.
Hi Nicole! You could definitely use jarred jalapeno. I’ve even used my aging fresh jalapeno when it was a little wrinkly ;) As long as it’s not clearly rotting, it should be fine. Enjoy and thanks for the feedback :)
How many servings?
Hi there! I didn’t put a serving size because people use these beans for lots of different things, but it does make a big batch! If you are using them as a side dish with other things, I would say for sure 8 servings, maybe 10 depending on how big each serving was. Hope that helps!
This recipe is ?!! I made them for a Halloween taco feed and I had enough left over to send with my husband to his fire station. Everyone has raving reviews! Planning to make some and freeze them to have throughout the winter!
I’m so glad these beans were a hit! Thank you for letting me know,I love feedback! :)
The beans I’ve had. Ever.