Drunken Beans Recipe Slow Cooker

These Slow Cooker Charro/Borracho Beans are a simplified version of this beloved Tex-Mex pinto bean dish.

Borracho beans are so great in the slow cooker!

So I know that there are going to be two types of people looking at this recipe. Half of you are going to look at the title and say "Heck yes! I love borracho beans!" and the other half are going to look at it and go "What on earth are borracho beans?" For those of you in camp number two, prepare to feast on the best Tex-Mex pinto beans you've ever tried.

Pinto beans are pretty big in Tex-Mex cuisine. I think my first experience with charro beans was eating with my dad at our local Mexican restaurant. Most of the dishes came with re-fried beans by default, but he'd always request a hot cup of charro beans. I'd always ask for a taste, and they always ended up being too spicy for my little kid taste buds. (I never gave up trying them though. I wanted to be just like dad!) Eventually, I grew to be able to handle more heat and ended up falling in love with charro beans. Now I make them to go along with most of my favorite Tex-Mex recipes.

Borracho beans are so great in the slow cooker!

You'll notice that there are two variations to this recipe: charro beans and borracho beans. They're pretty much the same dish with the exception of one ingredient: dark beer. The Spanish word "charro" translates to "cowboy" and refers to these traditional pinto beans cooked with onion, garlic, chilies, and pork. "Borracho" translates to "drunken" and refers to the addition of a dark beer into the traditional charro beans. Personally, I love the depth of flavor that a nice dark Mexican beer like Negra Modelo adds to these beans and hardly ever make them as just charro beans unless I need them to be gluten-free. I think you'll agree.

Borracho beans are so great in the slow cooker!

The recipe I started from came to me from a friend's abuelita (grandmother), so you know it's pretty darn authentic. The original recipe is fairly high maintenance involving several hours stirring on the stove and cooking the beans in 3 stages. It's super delicious, but a lot of work for a pot of beans, so I set out to adapt the recipe to work in the slow cooker where it can pretty much be ignored all day and cook up into deliciousness. Borracho beans are so great in the slow cooker!

As is typical for me with crock-pot recipe development, I prepped everything to go in first thing on Saturday morning and promptly forgot to start the recipe until 2pm. Cook time was a big unknown since I was adapting from a stove top recipe. Well, I definitely should have started it earlier in the day because Hubby was up late babysitting the beans to make sure they fully cooked and cooled down before going into the fridge for lunch today. Whoops! Thanks Hubby!

Borracho beans are so great in the slow cooker!

One last note before the recipe: You'll see that that the recipe calls for salt pork. It's a relative of bacon, only with much more flavor packed into a smaller amount. Normally you can find it near the bacon and it's at a much more affordable price. You are also more than welcome to swap in trimmings from a pork shoulder or bacon if you have them on hand. Just up the quantity a bit.

2lbs dry pinto beans
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
3 canned jalapenos, minced(this is a medium heat, add more or less to taste)
1/4 cup liquid from canned jalapenos
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped (affiliate link)
1/2 lb salt pork (found near the bacon)
1 medium onion, diced
8 cups water
1 14oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

For Borracho Beans

1 bottle dark Mexican beer or lager (like Negra Modelo or Shiner Bock)

Place beans in a large bowl, cover with 1 inch of water and soak overnight. This is optional, but it will reduce the cook time and reduce the gastric side effects of the beans.
In an 8 qt slow cooker, combine beans, salt, garlic, jalapenos, jalapeno juice, chipotles, salt pork, and onion.
Cover with water until it's about an inch above the beans. (Approximately 8 cups.)
Cook on High for 5-7 hours (or low for 10-14 hours), or until beans are fully cooked. Cook time may vary depending on freshness of the beans, altitude, crock pot, and climate, so monitor them the first time you try this recipe to make sure they remain under water. Add more water if necessary.
About 30 minutes before serving, add the can of crush tomatoes, cilantro, and beer (if making borracho beans)
Salt to taste before serving.
Makes approximately 12 cups of cooked beans.
Serve immediately or allow to cool and freeze in smaller portions for later. Recipe can be halved if a smaller amount is desired.

Notes

These beans are great on their own or used in burritos, burrito bowls, or mashed and re-fried.
Gluten-free: These are gluten-free if you leave out the dark beer (or use gf beer.)
Vegetarian/vegan: Swap the salt pork for a few bay leaves.