Pinto beans and ham on the stove top is a southern classic. By simmering ham hocks and dried beans for hours on the stove top, the salty, smoky goodness of the ham gives the beans incredible old fashioned flavor. The addition of leftover Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter ham adds not only more protein but also more flavor, making a bowl of beans even more satisfying. Served with cornbread or rice, a warm bowl of southern style ham and beans is very comforting on a cold fall or winter night. If you want to learn how to make the best version of this traditional southern style recipe, keep reading!
What are Pinto Beans?
Spanish for “speckled” or “spotted,” pinto describes these beans perfectly: small, multi-colored beans that appear to have spots. Originally from Mexico, Pinto Beans are popular in Southwestern and Southern Cuisine. In fact, they are the most popular bean in the United States.
There are many recipes for pinto beans depending on the region. However, since I am a southern chef, I am going to follow tradition and make southern style pinto beans seasoned with ham.
Southern Pinto Beans and Ham Hock on the Stove Top
Southern cuisine makes good use of smoked meats, especially ham hocks. In fact, it is hard to find a traditional southern collard greens recipe that does not include a ham hock or turkey wing to add flavor. Many southern pinto bean recipes use this same technique, ham hock being the most common type of smoked meat.
Although pinto beans are delicious on their own, boiling them with smoked ham takes them to another level. The smoky, salty flavor infuses into the beans and broth, enhancing their natural flavor. The fattiness adds a satisfying richness, and the meat adds a complete protein.
As you can see, cooking southern pinto beans with ham is one of the best ways to make them.
Served with cornbread, another staple of southern cuisine, a bowl of pinto beans and ham is a very satisfying meal.
Pinto Beans and Ham on the Stove Top
Although you can make pinto beans in an instant pop or crock pot, there is nothing like a pot of old fashioned pinto beans and ham on the stove top. The recipe takes a few hours from start to finish, but the result is definitely worth the effort.
Soaking the Pinto Beans
Just like with any other beans, most people recommend soaking pinto beans in water before cooking them. The purpose of soaking the beans is to soften them up a bit so that they cook faster. I soaked my pinto beans for 6 hours before beginning the recipe, but as I am about to explain, soaking the beans is not absolutely necessary.
How Long to Soak Pinto Beans Before Cooking on the Stove Top?
Most old fashioned pinto bean recipes call for soaking the beans before cooking.
To soak beans, put them in a pot and add enough water so that the beans are covered by at least 1 inch of water. Soaking the beans overnight (at least 8 hours) is ideal, but I soaked my beans for 6 hours when I made this recipe.
Make sure that the beans are covered by at least 1 inch of water. As beans soak, they absorb water. This will lower the water line in the pot. If the water in the pot is not deep enough, some of the beans may be above the water line in a few hours, decreasing the total soak time for the beans at the top. In fact, if you are soaking beans while doing something else, it is a good idea to check on them once in a while and add water if necessary.
If you forget to soak your beans, you can do a quick soak shortly before cooking. Bring some water to a boil and then pour the hot water over the beans. Let the pinto beans sit for 1 to 2 hours.
Do You Need to Soak Pinto Beans Before Cooking on the Stove Top?
No, soaking pinto beans before cooking them on the stove top–or instant pot or crock pot–is not necessary.
As I just said, most old fashioned recipes call for soaking the beans overnight so that they cook faster. However, cooking beans without soaking them is definitely possible: they just take a bit longer. If soaked beans cook in 1.5 – 2 hours, unsoaked pinto beans will take 2.5 hours to cook.
In general, unsoaked beans take about 30 minutes longer to cook.
How to Cook Pinto Beans On The Stove Without Soaking
So, if you forget to soak your beans, do not think you can’t make the recipe. A quick, 1 to 2 hours soak is a good idea, but even that is not necessary. Instead, you can simply pour dried beans into a pot, cover them with liquid, then start cooking them. Just expect to eat a bit later.
My recipe calls for first making a ham hock stock, then adding the beans to the finished stock. If using hard, unsoaked beans, add them to the finished ham hock stock, then follow the rest of the recipe as written.
Like I said, it will take longer to cook the beans, but they will be perfectly fine.
Pinto Beans and Ham on the Stove Top: Making the Ham Hock Stock
Whether or not you soak your beans, making the ham hock stock is a crucial part of cooking pinto beans with ham on the stove top.
To make the ham hock stock, place a large ham hock in a pot. My ham hock was about one pound. Then, fill the pot with vegetable stock and / or water, and bring the pot to a boil on high heat. Once the pot begins to boil, lower the heat to medium and boil for 1 hour.
After boiling the ham hock for one hour, add the beans. I turned off the heat before adding my soaked beans, but you do not have to let the ham hock stock cool off before adding the beans.
If you soaked your beans for 6-8 hours or overnight, start the ham hock stock 3 hours before you want to eat.
If you are using unsoaked beans, start the ham hock stock 3.5 to possibly 4 hours before you plan on eating.
Although you want to use enough water for the ham hock to float, do not add too much water to the pot. You are going to add beans to the pot later, so you want to leave some room in the pot. Adding beans, and perhaps a bit of soaking water, will add to what is already in the pot, raising the water level. So, make sure that the pot is not too full of stock before adding the beans.
Adding the Soaked Pinto Beans
Although some people through away the water in which they soaked the beans, I did not. I dumped everything in the soaking pot–beans and all–into the ham hock stock.
I love garlic and onion, so before adding the beans, I loaded the pot with plenty of freshly chopped garlic and onion. Garlic and onion can be strong, so after adding the garlic and onion, I first brought the pot to a boil before adding the beans. That way, the garlic and onions would have a bit more cooking time on their own to mellow out the flavors.
Once the pinto beans are added to the ham hock stock, boil for a little over an hour, stirring ever 15 to 20 minutes.
Adding Leftover Ham Shank to the Pinto Beans
Smoked ham hock adds a ton of flavor to beans, but not enough meat. That is why I recommend added some extra ham. I used leftover holiday ham shank: it’s absolutely perfect in this recipe.
After cooking the pinto beans and ham hock on their own for a little over an hour, I added half a pound (225g) of extra ham. It not only increased the protein content but also enhanced the salty, smoky flavor.
The extra ham is by no means necessary, but it really helps to put the beans over the top.
How Long to Cook Pinto Beans and Ham on the Stove Top
In total, soaked pinto beans should cook on the stove for 1.5 to 2 hours when cooked on medium heat. At that point, all of the beans will be soft and cooked through. Any broken beans or very small beans will have broken down, thickening the broth and starting to form a gravy. Most southern pinto bean recipes consider this point to be perfection.
Once the beans are done cooking, turn off the heat and left them cool down for a few minutes. Then, remove the ham shank, and let it cool for another 5-10 minutes. Take the meat off the bone and remove the skin. I do not like boiled ham hock skin, so I discard it, but you can add it back into the pot if you want.
I added both the meat and ham hock bone back into the pot. I think that the bone could contribute adding flavor, but putting the bone back in the pot is not necessary.
At this point, the beans will have been off the heat for about 15 minutes. You may want to turn the heat back on for 5 minutes after mixing in the ham hock meat, just so that everything is piping hot.
However, if you think the beans are warm enough, go ahead and serve.
How to Season Pinto Beans and Ham on the Stove
Smoked ham hock and ham shank are very flavorful. If you use enough, along with a good vegetable stock as a base, you may not have to add spices or seasonings to your pinto beans. I could have added spices to the beans, I honestly thought that the ham seasoned the pinto beans enough. I didn’t even add salt!
However, if you want to add extra spices, even just salt and pepper, I would wait until a few minutes before serving.
As you boil a pot of soup, stew, or beans, the liquid evaporates over time, reducing the volume. It takes more salt, for example, to flavor a large pot of beans than a smaller, reduced, more concentrated pot of beans.
If you add spices at the beginning of the cooking time, before the water has had time to evaporate, you might think that the pot needs more seasoning than it really does. Once some of the liquid evaporates, the flavors will become more concentrated, so the 2 teaspoons of salt you added at the beginning may now be too much.
That is why I generally recommend waiting until right before serving to add spices and seasonings to beans.
If you do decide to add extra spices, I think Tex-Mex spices would be good, perhaps cumin and / or coriander. I think that some sort of Taco or Southwestern blend would be good, too.
What to Serve with Pinto Beans and Ham on the Stove
Since this pinto beans and ham on the stove top recipe is southern style, I highly recommend serving it with skillet cornbread. I don’t know why, but the old fashioned combination is just perfect. Crumbling the cornbread into the beans is the perfect way to eat it.
Rice is a good side dish for pinto beans, too, the neutral flavor of the rice the perfect complement to the flavorful beans. I am sure that bread or crackers would be good, too.
I also tried a bowl with some sharp Cheddar cheese sprinkled on top. It was good, but I preferred the beans plain. Sometimes simple is best.
Likewise, a couple shakes of hot sauce are good, but definitely not necessary.
Tradition aside, whatever you serve with these pinto beans, I am sure your meal will be delicious!
Variations of Pinto Beans and Ham on the Stove Top
Although household recipes vary, there are three main styles of cooking pinto beans with ham: Mexican, Southern, and Texas. This is a southern style pinto beans recipe, but a quick overview of the three styles shows how easy and versatile these beans are.
Mexican Style Pinto Beans
Pinto beans are a staple in Mexican cuisine. Frijoles de la Olla, literally translated as “Beans of the Pot,” are simply beans that have been boiled in a large pot. According to muybuenocookbook.com, the basic recipe is very simple without many extra spices, the neutral flavor allowing you to use the beans in other recipes such as refried beans.
Other recipes are more flavorful. Nospoonnecessary.com has a recipe for Frijoles Charros, also known as Mexican Cowboy Beans, are flavored with spicy chorizo and jalapenos. The site also mentions Frijoles Borrachos, or drunken beans: pinto beans boiled in Mexican beer instead of water.
As you can see, pinto beans are a big part of Mexican cuisine.
Texas Pinto Beans
Texas is the home of Tex-Mex cooking, a cuisine that blends elements of southern food and Mexican food. Texas style pinto beans are no exception. Boiling beans with a smoked ham hock is very characteristic of southern cooking, and Texas pinto bean recipes often include smoked ham. The Mexican influence shows itself in the spicy factor, many recipes calling for jalapenos or cumin.
As you can see, there are many ways to make pinto beans. My recipe for pinto beans and ham on the stove top is definitely southern, but you can use elements of the other styles to modify the recipe if you want. Once you know the basic process, you can make your beans however you want.
Recipe Review
Appearance: 10 / 10
A big pot of southern style pinto beans and ham hock on the stove top is not pretentious, so don’t expect it to look like a chef spent hours arranging it perfectly on a plate. However, these beans looked homemade, hearty, and deliciously inviting. A big bowl of this on a cold fall or winter day would definitely make me feel safe, warm, comforted, and loved inside.
Taste: 10 / 10
These pinto beans were delicious. If you have never cooked beans with smoked ham before, you will be surprised how much flavor the ham hock and ham shank adds. The smoky, salty, and fatty flavor is the best.
Texture: 10 / 10
These beans were perfect. They weren’t hard, and they weren’t mushy. As I said earlier in this article, they were the perfect southern style texture.
Ease: 8 / 10
Honestly, making a pot of old fashioned southern pinto beans and ham hock on the stove is pretty easy. You don’t have to watch it constantly like fried chicken, and you don’t have to worry about it burning under a broiler in 30 seconds. All you have to do is add things to a pot and boil them. Pretty easy.
The only three things that make me downgrade this recipe slightly are that:
- Making pinto beans with ham on the stove takes at least 3 hours, even longer if you include soaking the beans.
- If you are impatient, you may be tempted to cut the cooking time short and serve the beans before they are soft.
- Although all steps of the recipe are easy, there is a certain order that you have to do them in, and timing them just right may be a bit hard for a beginner cook.
Those three caveats aside, making pinto beans with ham hocks on the stove is one of the easiest main dishes you can make.
Possible Changes to the Recipe:
The only thing I might change in the future is adding more spices. Considering Mexican and Tex-Mex recipes, adding a cut up jalapeno might be a good idea. Or, perhaps pickled jalapenos along with a bit of the vinegar.
I think that Tex-Mex spices such as cumin and / or coriander would be good as well. I would also be interested in trying out this pinto beans recipe with taco seasoning. Using a packet of low sodium taco seasoning would be quick and easy.
These thoughts aside, I was really pleased with how my pinto beans and ham on the stove to recipe turned out. These beans were easy to make, flavorful, and filling. With a side of cornbread or rice, a bowl of these pinto beans is the perfect southern meal for a fall or winter night.
Other Beans and Ham Recipes
If this looks good to you, take a look at my other southern-style beans and ham recipes:
Ham with Pineapple and Cherries
Southern Pinto Beans and Ham Recipe
Pinto Beans and Ham on the Stove Top
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry pinto beans (454g)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 large ham hock, about 1 pound in weight (454g)
- 1/2 pound of leftover ham shank (about 225g)
- 3 cups vegetable stock + extra water
Instructions
- Soak beans by putting them in a pot and adding enough water to cover the beans by at least 1 inch. Soak 6-8 hours, if not overnight.
- About 3 hours before your expected meal time, make a ham hock stock by boiling ham hock, vegetable stock, and needed water for 1 hour on medium heat.
- Add chopped garlic and onion to ham hock stock, then boil for 5-10 minutes.
- Once garlic and onion have softened a bit, add soaked pinto beans. Make sure that the pot is large enough.
- Boil pinto beans and ham hock for a little over 1 hour on medium heat.
- About 1 hour and 15 minutes later, add the extra ham shank meat. Cook for an addition 15 minutes.
- When the beans have cooked for 1.5 hours, turn off heat and let cool for 5-10 mintues.
- Remove ham hock from beans and take off skin and meat. Discard skin, but return meat and bone to pot.
- You may want to heat beans through again for a few minutes. If not, serve. I recommend cornbread.
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