In my Daybook Online Journal post a couple of days ago I mentioned one of our favorite large family recipes, easy Pinto beans. I make a large roasting pan full of these beans about once a month. You all wanted the recipe and here it is! This is the original recipe, but I triple or quadruple it all the time.
Do not let the name fool you though! You don’t have to have a large family to make these easy Pinto beans. They are so easy to throw together that you could make them one day, portion them out into single-serve size, and add them to meals that you want to freeze and enjoy throughout the month.
This is one of my favorite large family recipes because it makes a ton of yummy pinto beans that can be mashed up and frozen as refried beans, or left alone and frozen as beans to eat by themselves, added to chili, soups, or stews.
Large Family Recipes: Easy Pinto Beans
One of my favorite places to find large family recipes is church cookbooks and that’s where this recipe came from. Sometimes we make a batch of these and mash them all up–by hand or hand blender. Scoop into a bowl, top with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and jalapenos for a spicy refried bean dinner.
This easy Pinto bean recipe makes a great meal for Fridays in Lent where many people don’t eat meat. You could add some rice to the beans to make an even heartier meal. You could also serve cornbread or tortillas with these beans.
The mashed-up beans are perfect for bean and cheese quesadillas, bean enchiladas, and taco filling. No matter what you do with these easy pinto beans, once you’ve made them, they are perfect for freezing, so make a large batch and freeze the rest!
Easy Pinto Bean Recipe Kitchen Tools
Crock-Pot 7-Quart Oval Manual Slow Cooker | Stainless Steel
Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker, Warmer & Sterilizer, 6 Quart, Stainless Steel/Black
Oster Roaster Oven with Self-Basting Lid | 22 Qt, Stainless Steel
Hefty Slider Storage Bags, Gallon Size, 30 Count (3 Pack), 90 Total
Slap Ya Mama All Natural Cajun Seasoning from Louisiana, Original Blend, MSG Free and Kosher, 8 Ounce Can
Let me know if you make these and what you think! I’d love to know how you seasoned them in your own kitchen. I have a daughter who doesn’t like onions–I know when she makes these, she leaves the onions out.
My husband doesn’t really like spicy food…I do. I’ll make one batch a little spicier than the other; since I freeze the leftovers, I can mix them or keep them separately labeled. I can even freeze smaller bags of the spicier seasoned ones for me and the less spicy ones for him and the kids.
Share some of your favorite large family recipes in the comments.
To me, a large family recipe you love means it uses easy-to-find ingredients, be flexible in the ingredient list–above, if I don’t have a jalapeno or don’t like a jalapeno, I can leave it out or substitute another pepper with really no impact on the integrity of the recipe.
Large family recipes need to be easy to double–triple–or more. And kid-friendly never hurts, although sometimes it’s ok for kids to try something they don’t necessarily like..a sprinkle of cheese and dollop of sour cream can sometimes go a long way in making a dish a little more palatable.
Large family recipes also need to be economical. Whether I’m feeding a large family in my own home, taking a meal to a family after the birth of a baby, an illness, or a family death, or just taking food to the church potluck–the price needs to be right!
Here are some other large family recipes I’ve shared:
Breakfast Recipes for Big Families— Breakfast is one of my most favorite meals! I just hate that it is so early, LOL! There are a number of recipes in this post that can be made ahead and frozen or even just made the night before. This makes it super easy when the alarm goes off in the morning–alarm clock or child–if you know, you know!
Beef Recipes for Big Families–Here are some amazing dinner recipes! But don’t just think dinner, think of making them ahead of time and portioning them out for lunches. Like this pinto bean recipe, these recipes make great church potluck dishes or a meal to take to a family who could use a little comfort food. You could also use venison or ground turkey in many of these recipes.
Chicken Recipes for Big Families–I like to buy the big bag of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts to use in many of these recipes. Chicken is one of the easiest meats to cook in the crockpot or instapot I think!
I’d love to put together a post of desserts and snacks! I never understood why my mother-in-law didn’t make pie more often. After being a mother of a large family, I get it! Pie doesn’t go as far or last as long as a sheet cake or cookies.
Crockpot Easy Pinto Beans
3 cups dry pinto beans
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 dry red peppers (or crushed to taste) or 1 seeded, chopped jalapeno
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/3 cup olive oil
5 teaspoons salt
1.5 teaspoons black pepper
9 cups water or enough to cover beans
Place in the slow cooker and cook on high for eight hours. They can also be made in an Instant Pot or a large Roasting Pan–my preferred way to make them.
Sandy says
Thought I would never find anyone using a roaster oven for a big batch of pinto beans!!! LOL Big families or church dinners or funeral gatherings. What about fundraisers–red beans and rice? I have looked using all kinds of keywords. Hug yourself for me! Thank you so much for putting this out there and sharing some of the things to watch for when cooking them, such as playing with the temperature a bit. Jesus bless.
Megan H Garza says
do you cook for 8 hrs in the roaster?
Jenny says
I cook until fork tender. I’m not sure if that’s the full 8 hours? It depends on the temperature and how hot the roaster cooks.
Melissa says
Thanks for this recipe! I need to make beans for 50, so I’ve been looking for recipe that will scale! I’m thinking that tripling the recipe (about 4.5 lbs). Does that seem right? Also, I’m not very familiar with cooking in a roaster. Are there different setting to worry about, or just put it all in there, turn it on and let it do its thing?
Jenny says
I normally have to play around with the temperature the first hour or so maybe? If it’s too hot I’ll have to watch it closer to make sure the beans don’t go dry. I don’t want to babysit beans all day, lol! After about an hour I get a pretty good feel for nice and hot without boiling off all the juices.
Mary Brooks says
I was searching for a pinto bean recipe using a large oven roaster (not a crockpot) and this recipe appeared. It is it suitable for an oven roaster? I need a very large quantity
Jenny says
This recipe is PERFECT for the roaster! That’s my preferred way to make it so I can freeze some.
Anita Ojeda says
I have a recipe for a giant vegetable soup base on my blog–I make it up and then add things like tofu chunks or tortellini to make it ‘taste different’ each time I serve it. I’ll have to try your bean recipe–I recently bought a used foodsaver unit and I’m eager to try it out on something!
Jenny says
I keep thinking I want a Foodsaver, but I rarely make a huge enough quantity of something other than these beans–we’re a family of nine!
Bethany says
Ok…I will try this recipe! I confess…the past few adventures attempting these beans into our dinners have FAILED! Its a miracle to get one clean plate per meal in my house! So Im always trying new things! So, I know I still have some to try again! Thanks!
Jenny says
Bethany I heard a long time ago that with kids, sometimes they have to see a new food on their plate as many as 15 times before they will taste it. I don’t know about the 15 times, but I do know with my kids it may take a few tries.
Becky Keife says
Love it! I make pinto beans all the time! It’s such a great, inexpensive belly filler that goes great with so many things. Three cheers for pinto beans! 🙂
Jenny says
I love the cheer for the beans! I’ve also made this with black beans too.
Debra Alexander says
I am interested to freeze these! I think mashing them and using them for a Mexican dish, is a great idea.
Jenny says
It really is. There are many days for lunch we will pull one out of the freezer and reheat for a quick lunch.
Natalie says
My family isn’t that big, but I think this a fantastic idea. If I think of a recipe I have that might work, I’ll let you know.
Jenny says
This works great for smaller families as well–more to freeze!
Lysha says
Jenny, I LOVE that you’re sharing recipes. Making big batches of recipes to have for later makes me happy.
Jenny says
Thanks Lysha. Big batches are so handy and have saved many a weeknight meal around here!
Jennifer says
These look wonderful! I am going to try and make hem next week. I add beans to several recipes to stretch them, this way I will no what is in them! Thanks for sharing!
Jenny says
Let me know what you think Jennifer. Beans are an inexpensive way to stretch a meal. My husband’s aunt also adds shredded potato to stretch meals, lol!