Is it rice and beans or beans and rice? How about both? But don’t forget the ham, that really makes it taste good.
This is a flavorful dish that is great for busy weeknight meals or a cozy weekend at home. What I also love about this dish is it’s a way to put to use that leftover ham bone from Sunday dinner.
I grew up eating this meal pretty often. It was a favorite of my dad’s and I think my mom liked the simplicity of it. The hardest part…..at least for me…..is remembering to soak the beans the night before.
How to Make Rice and Beans or Beans and Rice
Like I mentioned above remembering to soak the beans the night before is the hardest part about this recipe. I’ve been known to crawl out of bed and tip-toe down to our scary unfinished basement ( imagine old farmhouse basement) because I forgot to get the beans soaking before I went to bed.
Don’t be like me………measure out your dry beans, rinse them really well and soak them in plenty of water before you go to bed. You’ll want the water to be a few inches above the beans.
The next morning, drain the beans and rinse them one more time. Place your ham bone in the middle of your crockpot and pour the rinsed beans around the edges. Next, fill up the pot with enough water to just cover the ham. This way we can get as much flavor from the ham bone as possible.
Next, add the seasonings. Cover and allow to cook on low for approximately 5 hours.
It’s finished cooking when the beans are soft. Next, fish out that ham bone and give it to your dog……after it’s cooled down of course. If you don’t have a dog that’s ok too because they’re cute but sometimes not the most helpful. Especially when you are NOT trying to move cows and the helpful dog gets them all riled up and moving.
Prepare your rice either on the stove top or my favorite, in an electric pressure cooker. It’s so much faster. Brown rice takes about half the time in a pressure cooker and when it’s finished it keeps it warm until you’re ready to eat.
While the rice is cooking doctor up those beans and make them real tasty. I like to add garlic, onion, season salt, and pepper. Then the real kicker is some liquid smoke, but go easy…..that stuff is strong.
All that is left is to dish up and EAT!
Topping Ideas
- My all time favorite is sautéed onions and lots of them.
- Fresh chopped cilantro is another great topping
- Sour cream
- BBQ sauce
Tools You May Need
Large Mixing Bowl
Food Strainer
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Slow Cooker
Other Recipes From the Farm You Might Like
Rice and Beans or Beans and Rice
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Food strainer
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Add to slow cooker before cooking
- 3 c dry pinto beans
- 1 ham bone
- water
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 minced garlic cloves
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ¾ tsp liquid smoke
Finished cooking and the beans are soft
- 1 ¼ tsp season salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 c ketchup
- ¼ c BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Rinse the dry beans well and place in a large bowl. Cover with water 2 inches or so above the beans. Allow to soak for 8 hours or overnight.
- Add the ham bone to a large slow cooker. Drain and rinse the beans before adding them also.
- Add water to the slow cooker until the ham bone is just covered.
- Add the bay leaves, minced garlic, onion powder, and liquid smoke. Cover and cook for 5 hours on low.
- Remove the bay leaves and the ham bone. Shred any large chunks of ham.
- Depending on how thin you want the broth leave, or discard a cup or two of liquid from the slow cooker before adding the other seasonings.
- Stir in the season salt, garlic powder, black pepper, ketchup, and BBQ sauce.
- Once everything is well combined serve over hot rice and top with sautéed onions, cilantro, and or sour cream.
- This recipe is very easy to adapt to your taste and to cut in half or double if feeding a large group.
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