These Slow Cooker Charro/Borracho Beans are a simplified version of this beloved Tex-Mex pinto bean dish.
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.
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.
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. 
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!
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.
Slow Cooker Charro / Borracho Beans (Frijoles Charros y Borrachos)
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 7 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 Cups 1x
Ingredients
- 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)
Instructions
- 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.
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These look amazing!! I don’t have a slow cooking though waaaahhh!! I guess I could make them stove top and just simmer for a couple of hours rather than slow cook? I love beans so much and these look amazing!!
Well, the original recipe is for stovetop, not slow cooker, so you definitely could! It’s just a bit more labor intensive.
I think I can deal with that for a pot of beans like this!
What are the sizes of the 3 canned jalepenos?? Are they the pickled ones or ???
It’s 3 jalapenos from a can of whole jalapenos. I typically use the pickled kind but you can use the regular kind too. You can also use 2 fresh jalapenos instead. (Fresh tend to be much larger.)
Is the salt pork cut up and left in the beans and to be served or left whole to be removed after cooking ?
It really depends on your personal preference. I normally leave it in and it falls apart pretty nicely as it has been cooked down. My mom usually takes it out after cooking. It’s definitely more salty and fatty than bacon, so if you think you won’t like it, I’d take it out or swap it for bacon and salt the beans to taste instead.
I wonder what they would be like if I used just a regular bottle of beer vs. a dark Mexican one? Have you ever tried it this way? Thanks for any feedback.
You can technically use whatever type of beer you’d like, though I’d stick to lagers or dark ales and not use something hoppy like an IPA. The flavors would conflict with the beans. If you are looking for the most authentic flavor though, I’d stick with the Mexican beer. Alternatively, you can leave the beer out all together.
Will this fit in a 6 qt slow cooker?
I haven’t made it in a 6 qt slow cooker before. It will definitely be a super tight squeeze, but I think you could make it fit and just add a bit more water as it cooks off. You can also easily halve the recipe.
Thank you it did fit in my 6qt without any problems. They were delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for letting me know they fit in your 6qt slow cooker.
Do you add the tomatoes if you’re going to freeze or still wait until serving?
These were HOT! But great flavor. May need to re-evaluate next time around…I’ve got little ones!
Thanks for this recipe! I tried these for the first time at a local mexican restaurant. I had never heard of or tried them before. I’ve made this recipe 5x over the last year. I eat plant based so always swap the salt pork for bay leaves, and salt to taste. So yummy every time.