Slow Cooker Cuban-Style Black Beans with Rice
June 26, 2006 by Andrea 
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Filed under Vegetables
There is something about beans and rice that I find very comforting. We can make a whole meal out of a simple dish such as this. I like to eat beans and rice just about any way, but this is probably my favorite. The recipe is inspired by several that I’ve tried over the years, including one from Latin American Cooking Across the USA, by Himilce Novas and Rosemary Silva. This version uses more tomatoes than the traditional Moros y Cristianos, but we like the extra juice. Cooking in the slow cooker makes it a really easy meal.
Equipment
6 quart slow cooker
sharp knife
Ingredients
16 ounces dried black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 dried bay leaves
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (28 ounce) can water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies (less if you want to reduce the heat)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Preparation
1. Stir together all ingredients in the slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on high heat setting 8 hours or more, until beans are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove bay leaves.
3. Serve beans over cooked rice.
Variations
You can use 2 (16 ounce) cans of beans instead of dried beans. Drain them well and add to the slow cooker. Omit the 28 ounce can of water. Reduce the cooking time to 4 to 6 hours.
Resources
Latin American Cooking Across the USA, by Himilce Novas and Rosemary Silva
love,love,love red beans and rice!
Although not always convenient I love the homely feel of slow cooked food. Your beans look delish, the photo of them glistening on top of that bed of rice, yummo!
That looks fantastic! I’m hungry just looking at it. We’ve been looking for good yummy slowcooker recipes– thanks!!
Emily: I love red beans and rice, too!
Jenjen: Thanks! Nice to meet a fellow food blogger from Australia. We haven’t been down that way in a dog’s age. Michael did a bike ride from Melbourne to Canberra to Sydney in 1988 and I spent 10 weeks there on summer holiday in 1992. Gotta get back down there sometime!
Jenn G.: Thanks! We have a couple slow cooker recipes here, including Michael’s vegetarian chili (which we love).
I printed out this recipe a long time ago and have made it a few times since. I like it better every time! It is SO GOOD. I tweaked it slightly given what I usually do/do not have on hand (no red wine vinegar and chili flakes instead of the can of chilis). Anyway, thank you so much for a fabulous recipe. I used to think I didn’t like dried beans so the fact that this recipe is one I actually crave says quite a lot. Thanks!
Ruth, I’m so glad that you have enjoyed the recipe! And thanks for coming back to let me know.
I’ve made this many times. Sometimes black beans, sometimes red. I’ve used bacon, chili powder, whatever, and it’s always a hit. This time I’m putting in wild rice at the end, wish me luck!
Thanks
Larry, I’m so glad you like it. Let me know how it turns out with the wild rice.
The wild rice added a great nutty flavor to the beans. Add cayenne pepper to taste. It doesn’t get any better.
Thanks again.
This is great going through your blog and finding such nice recipes!
Oh. My. Goodness.
I made this last night. I doubled the recipe and made two changes. I was out of red wine vinegar, so I subbed half apple cider vinegar and half balsamic. I also added 2 tbsp. of adobo sauce. I put it on at about 11:30pm. (Late night
I turned off the crockpot at about 7:30am.
Best. Black. Beans. EVAR!
The boy thinks we’re weird because we’re “eating beans for breakfast.” I told him, “This isn’t breakfast. This is tasting.” He said he didn’t want any, but I could see the foodlust in his eyes. Nine-year-olds, they know nothing.
Hello there
I am going to try your Black bean and rice recipe.
When I was stationed in Panama,I knew some
Cubans.Excellent food.You also have a very nice web site.
Bill
Making this again today. It makes excellent leftovers for lunch.
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. My mother’s Cuban black bean recipe adds some cinnamon, more vinegar, and lots of lime juice. I tend to add the vinegar and lime at the end so it wont cook out/ Some people have different tolerances of the sour so I might leave the cut limes for the diners to squeeze on their meal. Tonight I am making my first slow cooker version….
Sorry for the extra-late follow-up, but I’m making this again today. We’re going to a friend’s house for a lunch pot-luck today, and I’m making a double batch of these awesome black beans. My kids still are a bit wary of it, but the rest of us love it.
I was so excited to make this for my son. I put them on at 11 pm last night (Monday) and they’re still cooking (it’s 4:50 pm) and the beans are still firm. I would recommend soaking the beans ahead of time for anyone who is going to try this recipe.
Hi Lori. I’m sorry to hear your beans didn’t turn out. I’m not sure what happened with your batch. I’ve never had a problem with the beans not cooking up in the allotted time.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I love cooking with the slow cooker, and have lost count of the number of times I have made these. YUM YUM YUM. I sometimes also add some smoked sausage since my husband thinks he needs meat at every meal. This one is definitely in the winter rotation.
Glad to hear you like them, Kara!
Making this for the 1st tiome today!!!!! can’t wait to eat!!!!!
I am new in the kitchen. I am cooking them as I type, I hope my hubby and baby girl like it. It smells good so far.
-Miami,Florida-
I’m happy, I’m making this for the first time… all went into the crock about 40 minutes ago and we’ll have it for breakfast in about 8 hours from now…
I used a variety of tomatoes from our garden for the diced portion, and substituted the bell peppers with a combination of homegrown red cowhorn peppers and a smaller amount of Jalepeno’s to make up the difference for the bells and green peppers … should have a nice kick!
it’s great to have many recipes and mostly used my tomatoes so far this harvest to make spaghetti sauce … thanks to this recipe, I can now use the harvest to make some great beans…
we’ll scoop it onto a bed of rice,
what is the best rice for cuban style in your opinion? We’ll be putting this on top of high-grade Jasmine rice…
thanks again, the last time I had this, I was with a family that absolutely made the best black beans, they were from Cuba, and I remember the whoever was in charge of the beans had already learned to cook the beans in the slow cooker … I think you’re on to something! I will report the taste in the morning, the kitchen is nicely aromatic right about now!
Thanks,
T
Hi T. Jasmine rice is our everyday rice and that’s what we eat with these beans. I hope you enjoy the beans and rice as much as we do.
Do you still need to soak the beans or is it not necessary with this recipe? Hope to try it this weekend! Brian Webb
Hi Brian. I don’t soak the beans, you just need to give them plenty of time to cook.
Thanks! I am going to make them this weekend to serve with shredded pork. Brian