So, if you know me personally or have read my ‘About Me‘ page you know that I’m not originally from the south. With that being said, us midwesterners, if not well traveled, miss out on a lot fantastic food.

Just like this Slow Cooker Pinto Bean Soup, or at least I did!

I was not a well traveled Midwesterner. While the midwest has its share of good food, I never really knew great BBQ, rarely had cornbread, and Cajun food was just coming around when I was moving. I had never even heard of crawfish, literally had no idea what it was. LOL

Like the foods listed above, this is another one that I had never heard of before and it takes most of those elements into one recipe.

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The Origins of Slow Cooker Pinto Bean Soup.

In fact, this is my wife’s recipe for Slow Cooker Pinto Bean Soup and is absolutely delicious. This traditional meal has been passed down through over 4 generations of my Wife’s family. I see no signs of that stopping anytime soon! I definitely told her that I thought this sounded super bland and wasn’t really expecting much but she sure proved me wrong!

Based on a brief google search it seems like this is a very southern dish. It was made popular during the winters when food was scarce, obviously a long ass time ago. I believe it was traditionally a meatless dish but over time evolved to include sausage. From reading it seems that it was always served with Cornbread and Raw Onion. For good reason! I actually take that chunk of buttery cornbread and put it right in the bowl. It soaks up those amazing flavorful juices creating the perfect texture. That flavor mixed with the smoked sausage is literally something to write home about.

I really felt like this was the perfect time to share this recipe. While we are all stuck at home and hopefully feeding our families home cooked meals, this is an easy recipe to make for your whole family that will last for at least a few days. Depending on how many little humans you have running around.

SO HOW DO I MAKE IT?

This is literally a ‘set it and forget it’ recipe. You’re going to have to soak your beans overnight. Just follow the instructions on the bag and you’ll be good to go. The first time I ever did this and saw the bag said to check for pebbles, I was like what the hell? You mean I have to go through each one of these individual beans and see if they are actually rocks? NO! That is not necessary, I have never actually found a pebble, but if you do, don’t eat it.

So when you wake up in the morning your beans will have doubled in size. Now this is as simple as dumping everything except your sausage into your Slow Cooker. Set it on low and let it cook for 8 hours.

It’s time to add the sausage and this is where personal preference comes into play. My wife will slice up the sausage, turn the Slow Cooker off, and stir the sausage into the soup. She allows that to sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

On the other hand, prefer to put the sausage on the Grill/Smoker for about 30 minutes, slicing, and serving on top of the soup. That way the skin gets crisp and you get an extra smokey open fire flavor. I also prefer this because visually I think it looks nicer when served this way.

But you do you!

Either way, Let me know if you have any questions or how your Slow Cooker Pinto Bean Soup turned out!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit Chicken Fried Kitchen and I hope you and your family loved this recipe!

-Jeremy