Slow Cooker Pinto Bean Mash with Bacon
Should any of this pinto bean mash survive until the next day, it makes delicious leftovers.
Ingredients
For the Roasted Garlic:
- 1-1/2 bulbs garlic can roast 2 bulbs of garlic; there will be a little leftover
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
For the Slow Cooker:
- 2-1/2 cups dried pinto beans (rinsed, dirt, rocks, bad beans removed)
- 9 cups water
- 1-1/2 bulbs Roasted Garlic
- 1/2 medium size of an onion diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper pulp, seeds removed, chopped (or more to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 small to medium size bay leaf
- 2-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 dashes smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup real bacon bits to be added after the beans are cooked and mashed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil to be added after the beans are cooked and mashed
- Salt and pepper to taste to be added after the beans are cooked and mashed
Equipment
- 5 quart slow cooker (crockpot) or larger
Instructions
For the Roasted Garlic:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- On a large piece of foil, lay 2 bulbs of garlic. Drizzle olive oil on top of each bulb. Wrap the garlic in foil and bake in a preheated oven until the cloves are soft (about 25 to 30 minutes).
- Remove the garlic from the oven; open the foil and let the bulbs cool enough to handle. Remove the garlic from the cloves (just from 1-1/2 bulbs of garlic; there will be extra). Chop the garlic and set aside.
For the Slow Cooker:
- To the slow cooker, add the beans, water, roasted garlic, onion, jalapeno, oregano, bay leaf, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Stir together. Cover with a lid and cook on the high setting for 6 hours.
- After the beans have cooked for 6 hours, ladle the liquid from the pot into a large pouring measuring cup or pitcher. Remove as much liquid as possible until just the beans are showing. Depending on how hot the slow cooker is, there may be 2 to 3 cups of excess liquid. Remove the bay leaf and discard.
- Using a potato masher, mash the beans. Add the bacon, and salt and pepper to taste.
- If needed, add some of the reserved liquid for a thinner consistency and stir. Top with drizzles of olive oil. If serving the beans right out of the pot, drizzles of olive oil and some additional bacon make a pretty garnish. Or just stir the olive oil right into the beans.
- Serve warm.