These easy slow cooker black beans are inspired by Cuban cuisine and seasoned with onion, pepper, garlic, cumin, and vinegar. They’re almost effortless: once you chop your vegetables, you simply add all ingredients to the slow cooker and let the appliance do the work! This is an economical vegan recipe that will allow you to prepare nutritious black beans from scratch.

When it comes to recipe keepers, there’s nothing like a versatile vegan basic. In general, the basics that I rely on most heavily are plant-based proteins that can be used in myriad ways.

These include my numerous recipes for baked tofu or tempeh, chicken-style soy curls, and all sorts of beans. I can’t imagine going through a month, let alone a season, without making my best brothy white beans or crispy roasted chickpeas.

And these easy, Cuban-inspired slow cooker black beans have been a mainstay in my home for years now.

In fact, they’re the number one reason that I use my slow cooker.

Once you make a batch of the beans, you can use them in so many ways.

Slow cooker black beans are a quick and easy protein addition to your breakfast tostada or your lunch burrito. They could give a protein boost to tofu scramble, or add plant-based iron to your next salad.

And of course, they are the beating heart of your next bowl of rice and beans.

Today, I’ll show you how to make them. (Spoiler alert: it’s so easy!)

My slow cooker inspiration

This recipe itself was inspired by Lindsey at Cafe Johnsonia, who has a slow cooker black bean recipe of her own. Her formula guided me directly.

My desire to make something like this in the first place originated in childhood memories.

I wanted to cook up a batch of beans with lots of flavor. I thought back to the Cuban black beans that my ex-stepmom, who was Cuban by birth, used to prepare.

I remember tasting those beans as a kid and being pleasantly surprised at how flavorful they were in spite of their humble, unassuming appearance.

I added bell pepper, jalapeño, cumin, and oregano to these slow cooker black beans, and I’m happy to say that the results brought me right back to her table.

If you’d like to keep the flavor of the beans more subtle, you can definitely leave out the cumin and jalapeño; both are optional.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to kick the flavor up, feel free to add more of the spices, as well as some cayenne or chili powder.

Cooking dry black beans from scratch

If you read this blog regularly, then you know that I don’t often cook dry beans from scratch.

I’m a canned bean enthusiast. The convenience of canned beans is everything, for me. As a registered dietitian, I also know that canned beans can be every bit as healthful as their home-cooked counterparts.

That said, it’s hard to beat the incredible affordability of cooking a pound of dry beans from scratch. This recipe makes 8-12 servings, and the cost of sixteen ounces of dry black beans can be as little as two dollars. That’s some incredible value.

There are a few ways of cooking dry beans from scratch:

• Soaking for ~8 hours, then boiling on the stovetop till tender (the “long soak” method)
• Bringing to a boil, soaking for ~1 hour, then boiling on the stovetop till tender (the “quick soak” method)
• Using a pressure cooker
• Using a slow cooker

Even when I cook dry beans in my slow cooker, I still give them an overnight soak first. This isn’t strictly necessary, but it is a good insurance policy against a batch of beans that’s especially old or dry.

Before adding your soaked beans to the slow cooker, be sure to drain and rinse them well. Also, you should always use fresh water, rather than the same water that you soaked them with, when you cook them.

Black beans nutrition

A pound of dry black beans stacks up beautifully, when it comes to dollars and cents. But what about nutrition?

As it turns out, these slow cooker black beans are as nutrient-dense as they are practical, versatile, and affordable.

The beans offer the following nutrients in good amounts per serving:

• Iron
• Calcium
• Folate
• Magnesium
• Protein
• Fiber
• Potassium
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C

The type of carbohydrate in beans, including black beans, is slow-digesting. It’s a complex carbohydrate, which means that its effect on blood sugar is steady; complex carbs amount to fuel without energy highs and lows.

Along with healthful fats and protein, complex carbs are one of the macronutrient building blocks of what I like to call a “Power Plate.”

Cooking beans in a slow cooker

When it comes to slow cooker black beans, or any bean that you’re cooking from a dry state, you have two options that will apply to most slow cookers.

The first is to cook the beans on a “high” setting for about four hours. The second is to cook them on the “low” setting for about eight hours.

The former is good when you have limited time. The latter works best for overnight slow cooking, which is how I most often use my slow cooker.

For this Cuban black beans recipe, I recommend 4-5 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low in your slow cooker. You should certainly use judgment; if you know that your machine is faster or slower than most, you can adjust the time accordingly.

And, when cooking beans from scratch, I always recommend tasting a few to check for doneness before serving or storing.

What slow cooker do you recommend?

Right now my slow cooker of choice is the Wolf multicooker, which was gifted to me by the brand. It’s a pricier machine that offers more functionality than I actually use on a regular basis!

In the past, I had an inexpensive Hamilton Beach slow cooker with simple settings. It worked perfectly well for my slow cooker recipes, this recipe included.

How to make slow cooker black beans

The slow cooker black beans are a quintessential “set it and forget it” recipe. Here are the ultra-simple steps.

Step 1: Soak

Technically, you can skip this step, but I highly recommend soaking the beans overnight first in order to guard against old, dry, or unevenly cooking beans.

To do this, simply place your dry black beans in a large mixing bowl and submerge them by a few inches with water. Transfer them to the fridge and soak overnight, or for 8-24 hours.

Before moving on in the recipe, drain and rinse the beans well.

Step 2: Add all ingredients to your slow cooker

Those ingredients are:

• soaked black beans
• chopped onion
• chopped green bell pepper
• diced jalapeño pepper
• whole garlic cloves
• bay leaves
• ground cumin
• tablespoon salt
• water

The onion and peppers don’t need to be sautéed before adding them to the slow cooker. Less work—phew!

Step 4: Slow cook

At this point, you’ll simply choose a heat setting and allow the slow cooker to take it away.

Once the beans are cooked, they should be fully tender. You’re not aiming for mushy beans, but you do want them to be entirely soft. I recommend stirring your batch and tasting a few beans before turning the machine off, just to be sure they’re ready.

At this point, you’ll add some finishing touches to the black beans.

First, stir in about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. This acidity gives the beans flavor and a little bit of zippy energy, and it’s a traditional finishing touch. Freshly squeezed lime juice is a fine alternative to vinegar.

Also, at this point, you can give the beans additional salt, as needed.

Step 5: Garnish and serve

Now it’s time to serve the beans.

As you do that, you can add any garnishes you want. My favorites:

• chopped red onion
• chopped cilantro
• crushed red pepper flakes
• avocado slices or chopped avocado
• hot sauce
• salsa
• all-purpose cashew cream
• vegan sour cream

Can I make the beans on the stovetop instead?

You sure can! I love the ease and convenience of using my slow cooker here, but the stovetop works well, too. I include modification options at the bottom of the recipe.

Is it really OK to salt the beans before cooking?

I’m asked this question often. There’s a lot of lore out there that suggests that adding salt to dry beans as they’re cooking will make them tough.

Actually, there’s a lot of information to disprove this—and the opposite may actually be true. I always salt my beans when I’m cooking them from scratch.

Meal prep & storage

These Cuban black beans, much like my slow cooker two-lentil chili, slow cooker tomato white beans, and slow cooker chipotle lentils, yields a lot of food!

That makes it all the better for your vegan meal prep. Make a big batch now, store some in the fridge for up to five days, and freeze the rest for up to eight weeks. You’ll have black beans galore to play with.

How to use your batch of slow cooker black beans

Speaking of, there are so many possible ways to use up the many, many cups of soupy, savory black beans that result from making this recipe.

Here are some ideas:

• Stuff the beans, along with some rice, veggies, and other fixings into a burrito for a quick and easy lunch or dinner
• Mash the beans lightly with a fork and use as a quick, homemade “refried bean” topping for breakfast tostadas
• Sprinkle the beans over a cup of gazpacho or tortilla soup
• Stir the beans into your next batch of classic tofu scramble or brown rice stir fry
• Make a simple bowl of rice n’ beans and top with some avocado or some cashew queso sauce
• Use them in your next batch of sweet potato black bean enchiladas
• Throw some of the beans into an easy lunch salad, like my black bean and quinoa salad with quick cumin dressing
• Make a batch of black bean and mango salsa
• Use them in my black bean, butternut squash, and quinoa chili
• Give them a starring role in your next lunch bowl

And if none of those ideas appeals, you can use the beans in these delicious bowls, which also feature easy roasted plantains and fragrant cilantro lime rice.

I can all but promise you that not a single bean in this generous slow cooker recipe will go to waste.

I hope that these beans make your batch cooking a little easier, and that they can fuel some quick and versatile dinner ideas. Enjoy.

xo