Slow Cooker White Beans cooked with Ham Hocks cook up so creamy and delicious with lots of smoky ham flavor. It’s winter comfort food in a bowl and makes me want to curl up on a couch in front of a roaring fire with a bowl of these beans in my lap.
With a side of cornbread. For a little kick, I love this Jalapeno Cornbread and these Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins are always a favorite.
How To Make Slow Cooker White Beans
To make these Slow Cooker White Beans you start with a pound of dried Northern Beans.
Sort the beans to remove any pebbles or debris, rinse them with water and then place them in a bowl and add enough water to cover. Soak them overnight. On the counter is fine.
The next morning, add the beans to a crock pot along with 2 to 3 ham hocks, red pepper flakes, thyme, and a bay leaf. They’ll need to cook on LOW for about 5 hours. Take the ham hocks out. The meat should fall right off the bone. Discard the bone and the grisly parts, shred the meat, and return it to the crock pot. Season the beans with salt and pepper.
If you want your beans spicy, serve with some Tabasco sauce.
Storage
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days and can be reheated in the microwave.
More Slow Cooker Side Dishes
- Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Potatoes
- Crock Pot Cauliflower and Cheese
- Slow Cooker Spicy Pinto Beans
- Slow Cooker Cheesy Squash
- Crock Pot Buttery Bacon Green Beans
- Crock Pot Sweet Potato Casserole
Slow Cooker White Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried northern beans
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 to 3 ham hocks
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Place beans in a large bowl and add water to cover. Let soak (on the counter) overnight.
- Drain beans and add to 6-quart crock pot.
- Add 5 cups water, onion, ham hocks, red pepper flakes, thyme, and bay leaf.
- Cover and cook on LOW 5 hours.
- Remove ham hocks from crock pot. Season beans to taste with salt and pepper.
- Remove meat from ham hocks, shred and return to crock pot. If beans aren’t tender, cover crock pot and continue to cook 30 mins or until beans are soft.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I add some baking soda to my beans (after water comes to a hard boil when I first put them on to cook. I start my beans in a saucepan to this point & then dump them into my crockpot to finish.) This helps to reduce the gassy effect beans tend to cause to some people. Only need a very small amount (1/4 tsp.). Be careful as this causes the water on the beans to froth up. Cook with baking soda for about 5 minutes, then drain, rinse with clean water. Then follow the recipe as directed from the beginning.
These beans were delicious! I used a bit of raw bacon instead of ham hocks, a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter; also accidentally added a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar at the start of cooking, thinking it was oil, and part way through cooking I added about a teaspoon of chicken bullion. They’re amazing! The red pepper gives it a great kick. I’ll make these again. I think I like them better than black beans and pinto beans, which are a staple in my kitchen.
I bring my beans to a hard boil for a few, short minutes. I pour that water off. I’ve read that that greatly reduces the amount of post gas.
My beans are hard as can be with 30 minutes left on the cook time of 6 hours on low. I have turned it to high in hopes we can eat some time tonight! My star reflect the time for cooking being off, the broth flavor is great, I didn’t have thyme or red pepper flakes. I used seasoned salt, crushed bay leaves, cayenne powder, garlic powder and pepper.
Aloha Michelle,
I was scrolling through the comments of this recipe and noticed yours. and thought I could maybe help you with this. I was told that salting your beans while they are cooking will make them hard. So, as a rule of thumb with beans, salt them after they are cooked. Hope this is helpful to you.
Also old beans will NEVER cook done. Check the date…but if bought in bulk, make sure it’s from a store that has a “bean” kinda customer. That way the turn over on the beans will be more frequent. I found that out the hard way!
Thank you. I greatly appreciate these kind of cooking tips…
If you use a whole package of beans, you will have enough to share. It’s a good opportunity to share with a neighbor.
Don’t forget the cornbread.
Just a question. What do you do with the onion? Cook it in the pot or use it to go with the beans afterward?
😂😂😂😂
Cook onion with the beans AND chop up some or slice some green onions to serve atop the beans.
Do you have more nutrition information, such as serving size, fat, carbohydrates, protein, fiber? That would be very helpful!
Self respecting southners always soak their beans to remove tannins in dry beans.
I’ve cooked beans many times without soaking them overnight. It’s really not necessary.
This looks like a perfect dish of comfort food, Christin! I would’ve never thought to make white beans in the slow cooker, let alone with ham. Looks SO good!