Monday, September 16, 2013

Great Northern Beans - WOW!

Being Hispanic, I grew up eating boiled and refried pinto beans as a staple. We are talking beans every day. However, Great Northern Beans, or white beans, have become my absolute favorite kind of bean. If you make them with just water, they still taste like you fussed over them in preparation. When I do make a (minimal, very minimal) fuss preparing them, the flavor is out of this world. They taste like they have been cooked in stock. Serve as a meal by themselves, or with greens. No one can pass up these healthful, hearty, flavorful legumes!

Great Northern Beans

3-ish cups of great northern white beans
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder, or two cloves (or more if you love garlic) garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder, or 1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
FILTERED or BOTTLED water
standard 5-6 quart crockpot/slow cooker


Sort and rinse your beans, removing any blemished or discolored beans and rocks.


Rinse them in cold water, using a colander and rubbing beans together to scrub off any dirt.


Put beans into crock pot and fill 2/3-ish with clean, cold, FILTERED or BOTTLED water. Chlorine is NOT part of this recipe...hehehe



  Add remaining ingredients. Cook for about six hours on high heat setting, until beans are VERY soft and there is a nice golden broth. Add more salt as desired. If you have too much broth, remove the lid and let some of it cook away. Keep an eye on your beans if you remove the lid, as liquid can evaporate faster than you realize. Also, be careful when you stir the beans toward the end of the cooking time. As they get softer, these delicate beans are easy to crush, releasing their starch into the broth. If you want a thicker soup, go right ahead and let some of the beans get mashed.  I do that to pintos when they are done cooking. But for Great Northerns, I love the soupy broth!
My mother gave me this Rival crockpot when I started my own home 21 years ago. Who knows how long she had it before that. I have had newer, fancy schmancy slow cookers, but this has always been my favorite. You can see the years on the ole gal!


Look at the broth on those beans. These are the only beans I love to eat like a soup, with lots of golden broth. The beans turn out super soft, and cook pretty fast.  All morning while they cooked, my son and husband kept asking when they would be done, as the whole house had a wonderful aroma!


Countertop Cat, Spider, taste testing the filtered water. As I was sorting through the dry beans, he kept trying to paw at them in the bowl, like they were the strangest cat litter he had ever seen. Tried to get a pic, but they did not come out well.  He is so dang silly. 

10 comments:

  1. Ever think about just a pinch or two of fresh, finely chopped pear in there too? Love the Great Northerns! (But then, we are from Great Northern (RR) country!)

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    1. RG, I think you just have wayyy too many pears. You should send some this way, I would happily relieve you of your burden...

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  2. Brandi, I have my beans, and tomorrow they have a date with destiny - Brandi's recipe!

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  3. Seee Nick would love this but me not so much,not a fan of beans,xx Rachel

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  4. Brandi, my beans did not have their date with destiny yesterday. I can hear them grumbling. Is this going to affect the way they taste?

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  5. Beans are always happy; even their grumbling is light hearted.

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  6. Oh, thank goodness! This is really good stuff to know.

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  7. Not too late for a bit of chopped pear .... just sayin'

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