These Southern pinto beans are the ultimate comfort food! They’re perfectly seasoned, ultra creamy, and full of flavor from the smoked ham hock. I love serving this hearty side dish with a slice of freshly baked cornbread.
Southern Pinto Beans
This Southern pinto beans recipe is seasoned simply with sauteed garlic and onions, dried parsley, salt, and pepper. Thanks to the smoked ham hock and chicken broth, it’s still packed with tons of delicious flavor.
Southern style pinto beans and ham hock are tender, creamy, and thick. I especially love shredding the meat from the hack hock and adding it back into the stove top pinto beans to make a hearty side dish.
If you’re used to eating canned pinto beans, the flavor and texture of this ham hock and beans recipe will especially wow you! Cooking dried pinto beans from scratch is so easy, and gives you the chance to layer in tons of flavor.
Ham Hock And Beans Ingredients
Dried Pinto Beans: Pinto beans have a relatively mild, earthy, nutty flavor. As they cook, they become tender and creamy, while maintaining enough of a bite that they don’t become mushy.
Butter: This is the fat that we’re using to saute the onion and garlic. It adds a rich and creamy flavor to the dish.
Onion and Garlic: Onion adds both a sweet and savory taste, while garlic adds an aromatic flavor. Together, they add a lot of depth of flavor to this dish.
Dried Parsley: The flavor this adds is subtle, but it adds a bit of freshness to the beans.
Chicken Broth: Cooking the beans in chicken broth gives you a chance to season them from the inside out, and adds a really delicious savory layer to the beans.
Water: Using a combination of water and chicken broth to cook the beans allows you to season the beans, without making the flavor overpowering.
Smoked Ham Hock: Cooking the beans with smoked hack hock adds a rich, smoky flavor that’s similar to bacon. It’s a great way to infuse a pot of beans, soup, or collard greens with tons of flavor.
Salt and Pepper: Salt enhances the rest of the flavors in this dish, while pepper balances out the rich flavors from the butter and ham hocks.
Alternative Ingredients
- Spice: If you like a bit of a kick, feel free to add in some cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes. You could also saute some diced jalapeno at the same time as the onion.
- Meat: Smoked ham hock adds a smoky flavor, but you can get a similar depth of flavor by using smoked turkey legs, bacon, or smoked sausage.
- Vegetarian Version: If you’d like to make a vegan version of this, omit the ham hock, add smoked paprika for a smoky flavor, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
How To Cook Southern Pinto Beans
Soak: Begin by placing the dried pinto beans in a large dutch oven. Sort through the beans to remove any dirt or debris. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches, cover, and let them soak overnight. (See the recipe card below for the full printable instructions.)
Prep: After the beans have soaked, drain them and set aside. Dry the pot and heat it over medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt before adding the onions.
Saute the onions until they’re almost translucent, then add the minced garlic and parsley. Stir and saute until the mixture is aromatic.
Cook: Transfer the soaked pinto beans back into the dutch oven. Pour in the chicken broth and water, stirring to combine.
Place the ham hock in the pot. Increase the heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and let it simmer. Stir occasionally and simmer until the beans are tender to your liking.
Season: After the beans have reached your desired tenderness, turn off the heat. Use tongs to remove the ham hock and place it in a medium bowl. Taste the beans and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Shred the Meat: If you like meat in your beans, shred the ham hock using two forks, removing any bones.
Add the shredded meat back to the pot and stir to combine. See the recipe card below for the full written instructions, including ingredient amounts, cooking times, and helpful tips, etc.
Pro Tips
- Soaking: If you don’t have time to soak the beans overnight, use the quick soak method. To use the quick soak method, cover the beans in the pot with 2” of water, bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and let rest with the lid on for one hour. After an hour, drain the beans and continue on with the recipe.
- Cooking Time: Older beans take longer to cook than newer beans because they lose more moisture, which makes them more resistant to absorbing water and becoming tender. That means that if you’re using beans from the back of your pantry that have been sitting around for a while, they’ll take towards the upper end of the cooking time range.
How Many Hours Should You Soak Pinto Beans Before Cooking?
Beans need to be soaked overnight, or for at least 8 hours. This shortens their cooking time and helps them cook more evenly.
How To Do The Quick Soak Method
Rinse the beans in a colander, picking out any old or shriveled looking beans, dirt, or debris. Place the beans in your Dutch oven, then cover with 2” of water. Bring the water to a boil, remove from the heat, and cover the pot with the lid. Let the beans rest in the hot water for an hour before draining them, then continue on with the rest of the recipe.
The quick soak method is super helpful when you’re short on time, but it doesn’t reduce the cook time as much as the regular overnight soaking does. Just be sure to plan for a little extra cooking time.
Why Do You Discard Bean Soaking Water?
I find that beans taste better when they’re soaked in water, and then cooked in clean water. It makes the “bean” flavor more mild, and overall gives them a cleaner flavor. The soaking water also contains any dust or dirt that was on the beans, so getting rid of it also helps minimize those.
How Do You Thicken Pinto Beans
The key is to cook the pinto beans until they’re tender enough that they just start falling apart, which helps thicken the liquid around the beans.
How Do You Add Flavor to Beans?
- Aromatics: Adding some sauteed aromatics, like the sauteed onion and garlic we’re using in this recipe, adds tons of flavor to beans.
- Broth: Cooking beans in broth instead of water gives you the chance to season them with flavor from the inside out.
- Spices: Try adding your favorite spices to elevate the flavor of your beans. Some of my favorites to use with beans are salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika.
Why Are My Pinto Beans Still Hard After Cooking?
- Old Beans: If your beans have been sitting in your pantry for a long time, they’ll be harder than fresh beans are, which means they’ll need more cooking time.
- You Didn’t Soak the Beans Long Enough: If you didn’t soak the beans long enough (or didn’t soak the beans at all), it will take a lot longer for them to become tender.
- Hard Water: The extra minerals in hard water interact with the beans in a way that makes it more difficult for them to soften, which leads to longer cooking times.
- You Didn’t Cook the Beans Long Enough: Depending on the exact level of simmer you had your beans on, they may take more towards the upper end of the cooking time instead of the lower end.
Can You Overcook Pinto Beans?
Yes, you can overcook beans. Overcooked beans will lose their shape, become too soft, and fall apart. That’s why it’s important to check on the beans periodically, because you want to stop cooking them at the sweet spot where they’re deliciously creamy and tender, but before they lose their shape.
Storing, Freezing, And Reheating Instructions
Let them cool completely before transferring them to an airtight container, then store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat them in a saucepan over medium heat until they’re heated through. Alternatively, you can store them in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months, then thaw them in the fridge overnight before reheating.
What To Serve With Southern Pinto Beans
My favorite way to serve this is with a slice of Jiffy cornbread with creamed corn and some collard greens. It also makes a great side dish for this Mexican Cornbread Casserole, an Instant Pot Ham, or some Crockpot Turkey Wings.
Keep In Touch
I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime
Side Dish Recipes
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out all of our other side dish recipes. Some reader favorites are:
- Great Northern Beans
- Jiffy Mexican Cornbread
- Sweet Potato Cornbread
- Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
- Baked Beans with Ground Beef
- Crockpot Baked Beans
BEST Southern Pinto Beans (Ham Hock and Pinto Beans)
Southern pinto beans are the ultimate comfort food! They’re perfectly seasoned, ultra creamy, and full of flavor from the smoked ham hock.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried pinto beans (soaked overnight)
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced, 1 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 4 cups chicken broth (1 quart)
- 4 cups water
- 1 smoked ham hock (3/4 pound)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Pour the dried pinto beans into a large dutch oven. Sort through the beans, removing any dirt and debris. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Cover, and let rest overnight (8 hours).
- Once the beans have soaked, drain them in a colander, and set aside. Dry the pot. Heat the dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and saute until almost translucent (about 4 minutes). Add the minced garlic and parsley, and stir. Saute until aromatic (about 30-60 seconds).
- Transfer the pinto beans to the dutch oven. Pour in the chicken broth and water, and stir together. Place the ham hock in the pot.
- Turn the heat up and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring periodically, for 2 to 3 hours (2 1/2 hours is normally about right for me), until the beans are tender to your preference. Keep in mind that older beans take longer to cook than fresher ones.
- Once the beans have reached your desired tenderness, turn the heat off. Use tongs to transfer the ham hock to a medium bowl. Carefully taste the beans, and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Optional (if you like meat in your beans): Shred the ham hock using two forks, removing the bones. Once shredded, add the ham hock meat back to the pot, and stir.
Notes
If you can’t find ham hock, you can use a ham bone, smoked turkey, ham, or bacon.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1/8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 195Total Fat: 8gCarbohydrates: 17.1gFiber: 5.4gSugar: 1.3gProtein: 14.3g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
I hope you love these Southern pinto beans as much as I do! Serve them with a side of cornbread, and I’m sure your family will ask for seconds.
