These Great Northern Slow Cooker Beans are made with dried beans and an assortment of vegetables. This is a versatile recipe, and you can easily change the seasoning vegetables. You can also add ham or bacon to the beans.
The beans pictured were cooked in the slow cooker without pre-soaking or cooking, and they cooked perfectly. If you regularly have trouble getting the beans tender, soak them overnight. Or soak them quickly (on the bean package) and let them simmer for a bit before adding them to the slow cooker. Although many say that salt does not affect the tenderness of the beans, add it near the end of the cooking time and after the beans have become tender.
Ingredients
1 – 16 oz. package dried Northern beans
3 to 4 ham hocks or ham bones (about 1 1/2 lbs)
1 small onion, diced enough water to cover the beans salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup light brown sugar
Instructions
The first step in preparing this delicious recipe is to sort the beans to remove any stones and rinse them in cold water.
Step Two: After all this, you need to add the rinsed beans, onion, salt, pepper and ham hocks or ham (cut into large pieces) to the slow cooker. Then add water to cover the beans by 2 inches. (between 6 and 8 cups)
Step 3: In this step, cover and cook on low and high for the first 2 hours, then on low and continue cooking for 4-5 hours or until beans are tender. Then remove the ham hocks and remove all the meat.
Step 4: Final Step In this step, you need to put the meat back into the slow cooker and then add the brown sugar. For me, I remove about a cup of juice before adding the brown sugar. It depends on how thick or thin you want the beans. Then, lightly mix it all together. Pour into bowls, serve and enjoy!