My mama made this pinto beans recipe all the time because it was easy, flavorful, and cheap boos! The smoked ham hock adds flavor to the broth while the pinto beans get super tender from simmering. Pinto beans are straight-up Southern old-school eating with no frills, just soul. Get into it!
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How to Make Pinto Beans
These step-by-step photos show how to make pinto beans with ham hocks, but be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and detailed instructions. Skip to the → Best Pinto Beans Recipe
1. Start with soaked beans, ham hocks, chicken stock, water, bay leaves, and onion
Add them to a large stock pot and give everything a good stir so the beans are fully submerged.
2. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer and cover with a lid
Cook until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally, then season with pepper, garlic powder, and salt, stirring well so everything is evenly seasoned.
3. Taste your simmered pinto beans and adjust seasoning if needed
Serve hot, and enjoy!
PRO TIP: Soak your beans, boos! I like to soak mine overnight or at least 8 to 12 hours. It helps cut down the cook time and makes the beans easier to digest. If you forget, and trust me it happens, you can quick soak them by pouring boiling water over the beans and letting them sit for about an hour. They will plump up and be ready to cook! Just know they might need extra time on the stove compared to an overnight soak.
Full Southern Pinto Beans Recipe
Southern Pinto Bean Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 (11 ounce) package pinto beans picked through and soaked in lots of water overnight
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 1 quart water
- 1 onion halved or roughly chopped
- 2 halves smoked ham hock (about ¾ pound total)
- 2 bay leaves optional
- 1 tsp black pepper plus more to taste
- 1 tsp garlic powder plus more to taste
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Add the soaked beans, chicken stock, water, onion, ham hocks, and bay leaves (if using) to a large stock pot.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are nice and tender, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Season with pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Serve.
Notes
How to Store
- Fridge: Let the beans cool to room temp, then transfer them to an airtight container. Make sure the beans are fully submerged in the broth so they don’t dry out! They will keep in the fridge for about 4 days.
- Freezer: Cool completely and freeze in airtight containers with plenty of liquid. They will keep well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Reheating: Reheat the beans in a saucepan over medium heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally. If they look thick, splash in a little water or stock to loosen them back up.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Start with good dried beans. Pinto beans last a long time on the shelf, but the fresher they are, the faster they cook, and the more evenly they soften. If your beans have been sitting forever, they may take longer.
- Wash and sort through the beans. You will find twigs, rocks, and debris, and you don’t want to eat them.
- Build flavor from the jump. While old-schoolers like my mama used to use water, I find that you can create a richer broth with homemade chicken stock.
- Choose the right meat. Look for smoked ham hocks in the meat section and make sure they’re actually smoked and meaty.
- Let the beans cook just above a simmer. Low heat helps the beans break down, which gives you a creamier broth.
- Don’t forget to pick the meat! Once everything’s tender, pull that ham hock out, pick the meat off the bone, and stir it back into the pot. That’s good eatin boos!
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Serving Ideas
- Cornbread: Ain’t nothing like sopping up your beans with some hot water cornbread or even sweet potato cornbread for a sweet twist.
- Rice: I love ladling homemade pinto beans over simple steamed rice or, for even more flavor, Mexican rice or Jollof rice.
- Classic Southern Mains: Make some old school chicken gizzards or fried chicken or some delish smothered pork chops. And don’t forget a pot of mustard greens to get some down-home veggies in the mix.
- Southern Dessert: Finish everything off with some peach cobbler or cream cheese pound cake.
Recipe Help
Yep for sure boos. My mama took this shortcut plenty of times! I won’t lie, you will lose a bit of flavor and creaminess with this method, but it still gets the job done. Just add everything to the crockpot, stir, and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, until the ham is tender and falling apart.
Absolutely. You can use a smoked turkey leg, or add 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke to the pot if you want it vegetarian. I will always say ham hocks give the deepest flavor, but if you have a leftover ham bone, toss it in. Don’t waste good flavor, boos!
Yep! It used the entire package of beans I purchased and makes a large quantity, but can be scaled for smaller amounts.
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I’ve made these before (I kept your recipe) ~~ Love doing them in my crock pot. I soak my beans overnight, rinse them in a colander. Thank you for the recipe. Got any recipe for Hoppin’ John?
Do you know if this freezes well?
Yes it freezes incredibly well!!!
These sound delicious! I can’t wait to try them. Can you recommend a slow cooker version?
Yes you can do this on low heating for 8-10 hours for sure!!!
Followed the recipe to the letter and it came out perfect.
Wonderful! This makes me so happy. Do you mind leaving a star review as well for other readers?
If you don’t want to use either ham hocks or smoked turkey what else can you use? Bacon??
You can use bacon but you will certainly have different results.
Made this tonight(11/07/19); it was WONDERFUL.
The reason for 4 out of 5 stars – it took longer then 2 hrs for the Smoked Ham Hicks to tenderize, and melt into the beans and stock.
I started at 3:30 PM (PST), and pulled out the (FINALLY) cooked, softened and tenderized Ham Hicks to cool and chop up to add back to the Pinto Beans. It really is delicious.
The only addition I added to your recipie was 3/4 tsp of red pepper flakes after about the 90 minute mark of simmering. BTW, I added the cooked beans and ham hocks to a bowl that had Basmati Rice; along with the cornbread it was very filling, and … Repeat myself here … DELICIOUS … I truly recommend to ANYONE to make this!!!
I do plan on making this again. Thanks.
Wonderful Pat! So glad you enjoyed. My family personally adds the ham hock to water and boils covered for a full hour or an hour and a half based on size before adding beans so you can try doing that next time to make sure it is super tender.
Could not find a ham hock this week finally found smoked turkey wings at Mark’s Feed Store restaurant in Louisville, surprise, surprise. Just happened to mention them when I ordered my turkey meal, manager came out with eight of them packed, wrapped and ready! Added three to beans and froze rest for later! Always ask, you never know what you can find!
Yes fantastic!!!!!
Oh, how I miss ham hocks and beans! Dried limas or pintos were my favorites. Reading this recipe brought back sweet memories of cozy, warm family dinners when I was very young. Of course, there was cornbread and sweet tea, and lemon meringue pie…
But I digress. I’m a vegetarian now, and I’m always on the lookout for old favorites that could be made animal-free. It seems impossible to replace the savory-salty flavor of the ham hocks with anything plant-based, but can you think of anything we vegetarians could use? Maybe just a few splashes of liquid smoke, or…?
Hi yes, I totally understand. What I’ve been doing for vegetarian greens is adding additional ingredients like liquid smoke, soy sauce, and additional herbs and spices to really kick up the flavor.
I add GOYA HAM Flavored Concentrate. I believe it is animal free but check to make sure. It’s delicious!
Oh interesting!
You can boil the beans in lots of water for thirty minutes on top of stove in Dutch oven pot (lid off). Add more water or broth and add 3 Tbsp of brown gravy mix. Add chopped onion. Then preheat oven to 250 . Put dutch oven with bean mixture in oven and leave for 8 hours.
Sounds amazing!!
Can this be done in the slow cooker?
Yes absolutely! We make our beans in slow cookers all the time. You will more than likely need to mash some of the beans to thicken it however.