This recipe for pinto beans with ground beef that my mother used to make for us as kids is one that I have frequently used to serve my four boys. This is one of the recipes I used to help feed the hordes when the space shuttle crashed since our small town swelled over night with people looking for space shuttle debris. Every time, it was a success. We served it over a bed of rice or with cornbread and a side salad for a complete dinner. My mother would add her own sweet salsa to a dish of this. Yum!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs 5 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 11 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds dry pinto beans
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen bell pepper, celery, and onion blend (such as Pictsweet® Farms Seasoning Blend)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 (16 ounce) can chicken broth
- 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (such as RO*TEL®)
- 3 tablespoons real bacon bits
- 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning (such as Tony Chachere’s®)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 3 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 4 cups water to cover
Instructions
- Place pinto beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let soak, 8 hours to overnight.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef with vegetable blend and onion until beef is browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard grease.
- Combine the beef mixture and pinto beans in a large pot. Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, bacon bits, Creole seasoning, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, mustard, and red pepper flakes. Add enough water to cover. Simmer until beans are tender, adding more water as needed, 3 to 4 hours.
- Soak pinto beans as directed on the individual package instructions.
- You can use crushed tomatoes instead of diced, and garlic powder instead of minced garlic. Ground pork, or a mix of both pork and beef, is also a great variation.
- This recipe freezes well and is still great as leftovers the next day.
- If using a slow cooker, cook on High for 5 to 6 hours.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 483 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 64 g |
| Cholesterol | 45 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 16 g |
| Protein | 34 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 1454 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My local store didn’t have the frozen bell pepper, celery, and onion blend so I just chopped up a whole green pepper, a large onion, and 4 stalks of celery. I also used a pound each of ground beef and ground pork. Everyone liked it and we have plenty of leftovers. Cook time on the stovetop was 4 hours.