Nothing says southern like soup beans! Soup beans, cornbread, and spinach was one of my absolute favorite meals growing up and that hasn’t changed! This easy recipe from The Frugal Foodie Mama can be made in the slow cooker to make it even easier. Pair it with a great cornbread recipe (no, northerners… there’s no sugar or sweetener here… just bacon grease and cast iron skillets).

Ingredients

• 1 lb. of dry pinto
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 meaty ham bone (if you don’t have a ham bone ham pieces or diced ham will be fine)
• Diced ham (I prefer chopped pieces from leftover spiral ham, but any diced ham will work great)
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Soak the beans by covering the beans with about 2 inches of water in the refrigerator overnight. Drain the beans back in a colander, rinse, and then pour into the slow cooker.
2. Add the chicken broth, water, chopped onion, garlic, chili powder, & chopped ham into the slow cooker. Give a quick stir. Drop in the ham bone if you have one. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. If using a ham bone, the last 30 minutes of slow cooking, remove the ham bone and allow it to cool slightly. Remove any meat from the bone and add that to the slow cooker. Discard the ham bone.
4. Season with salt & pepper to taste before serving and serve with a piece of freshly baked cornbread.