5 Minute Black Beans and Rice with Freezer Beans
Black beans are a staple in our house. Black beans are not only a great source of fiber and protein, but they also supply kids with much needed iron and folate! Children ages 4-8 should be getting 200mcg of folate per day, and 1 cup of black beans provides 256mcg! Folate is a nutrient so essential, that it’s been supplemented in our cereals and juices found in grocery stores. But black beans is a natural source of this protective B Vitamin, so eat up!
So, how do we get beans into our diet? Two simple ways:
First, we cook a lot of beans and store them in the freezer.
With hundreds of pounds of dry black beans in our food storage, there is never a reason to get canned beans. They are cheaper to buy dry, we usually can get dried beans for $.68/lb. Plus, they are so easy to prepare. All we do is
- Dump about 4 cups of dried beans into the slow cooker.
- Cover with water, till the water reaches 2-3 inches above the beans.
- Turn on low and cook for about 5-6 hours.
Then, we portion the beans into freezer safe bags and freeze!
Tip: Freeze them flat on a cookie sheet, so they are stackable after they are frozen.
Last- Remove one bag and let sit on the counter until we are ready to use it.
On the counter, I take it out about 4 hours before I intend to use the beans.
We have a billion uses for black beans, but our favorite easy, healthy, and delicious dinner only takes about 5 minutes to put together, Black Beans and Rice! For this, we simply dump all ingredients into a rice cooker, and then set it to cook. No chopping, one dish, simple dinner- Which is perfect for Wednesday nights like yesterday, because we all had to be at the church for activities pretty early.
So, we dumped:
- 1 bag of our black beans (which had 11/2 cup of beans)
- 1 1/2 cup of rice
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes
All into a rice cooker. Then we turned it on the rice cooker and walked away! We all love this meal!
Top it with a little cheese and avocado and serve with home baked corn chips!
You could also, pack the rice into your bowl or ramekin, then turn it upside down for a mound like this:
BONUS:
Guess what else we like to do with our beans? Blend it up and use it to spread pizza!!
5 Minute Black Beans and Rice with Freezer Beans
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup black beans
- 1 1/2 cup rice
- 3 cups broth I use chicken broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Dump all ingredients into a rice cooker.
- Set to cook until all liquid is absorbed (varies depending on your rice cooker)
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
Learn More about Natalie
Sounds delicious! Easy and quick : ) i have not used chicken broth, do you prepare it or just buy it ready to eat.. Do you know what i mean?
Thanks : )
I actually buy bullion or chicken stock paste. My favorite is from Costco called Better Than Bouillon. I found a picture of it here:
http://www.abesmarket.com/better-than-bouillon-organic-chicken-base-8-oz.html
Great! I will buy this bullion .. Thank you very much : )
Can you use a crock pot or pot on the stove if you don’t have a rice cooker?
This sounds very delicious, but I was wondering if you can do it in a slow cooker instead? If so, what would the variation be? Thanks very much!
How could you cook this without a rice cooker?
Do we need to cook black beans separately in cooker and then add rice to it or everything together.
Yes, for this we use fully cooked black beans!
Yes, as long as you heat the contents long enough for the liquid to be absorbed by the rice, it shouldn’t matter what method you are using to cook it.. stovetop or crockpot should both work!
Let us know if you try it!
For all-
Yes, as long as you heat the contents long enough for the liquid to be absorbed by the rice, it shouldn’t matter what method you are using to cook it.. stovetop or crockpot should both work!
Let us know if you try it!
I am going to do this right now! I always used canned beans just because they are quicker. Thanks for the idea!
Amy,
Your food looked so amazing that I actually put this together for my two children last night! They LOVED IT and my wife couldn’t be happier that I made them something so good.
I look forward to trying more of your suggestions. Thanks for the great photos too, as they helped me a ton, versus just the text.
All the best and keep up the amazing work.
Dr. Graeme
What type of rice do you use?
Thanks for this great recipe idea! I was curious if you used brown or white rice. I prefer brown rice but I know if takes more liquid so I was curious how it would affect this recipe. Thanks!
Yes, as long as you heat the contents long enough for the liquid to be absorbed by the rice, it shouldn’t matter what method you are using to cook it.. stovetop or crockpot should both work! Let us know if you try it!
Thanks for the kind words Dr. Graeme!!
I did use white long grain rice for this, because it was quicker. Brown rice would work too, with 4 to 41/2 cups of liquid.
It would still be great- just adjust your liquid to 4 – 4 1/2 cups of liquid.
Could you give an approximate time frame in the rice cooker?
Hi Cami- each type of rice,and every rice cooker is going to be a little different. Generally, we just set it to cook, and it stops cooking when all the water is absorbed. Depending on how much we put in there, it’s anywhere from 15 minutes, to 45!
If I use canned beans, do I drain the liquide off first?
Yes! I normally drain and rinse them.
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Looks great, and thank you for the fantastic ideas. Beans cooked in a slow cooker do not reach a high enough heat to kill the lectins, a poisonous substance created by plants to prevent us from eatimg them. Likewise do you feel another bean cooking method maybe more healthy? Boiling, rinsing, boiling is a traditional Mexican cooking method and one that removes the majority of lectins.
My mother has been begging me to cook her black beans and rice for ages and I never knew how… until today! I just dumped everything in my rice cooker and I can’t wait till everything is cooked! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Do you drain the tomatoes first or add them with their juice?
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Do you drain the tomatos?
Jonesha= I did not drain the tomatoes.
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Very good article. I am going through some of these issues as well..
you are pretty and this meal sounds deliciousssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss i love it thank u sooooooooooooo much….. amy…….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What kind or brand tomatoes you use?
Would love to hear some of your other black bean meals!
@rini We can our own. We just planted our tomato plants this weekend, and by the end of summer, we’ll start canning.
@julie, we also like dips like this one https://www.superhealthykids.com/blog/kids-favorite-black-bean-spider-dip.php as well as adding beans to any ground beef meal.
Love beans & rice! I noticed your photo at the bottom for using beans, blending the & putting them on pizza! Yum! Do you have a recipe for this?
Melanie- That photo is from our meal planning site.. But it’s just mashed up beans with some cheese on top! Really- just that easy.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I’ve been looking far and wide for a good black beans & rice recipe for my super picky 2 year old. He loved it! Your pictures were really helpful – we’re vegetarian so I just used veggie broth in place of chicken broth. And my husband and I wanted to have the same thing, so we just sauteed the onions with a little bit of cumin before tossing it in!
Perfect Pav!
I used a crock pot and it came out very gummy. The rice completely dissolved : ( Flavor was good but texture a total flop.
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We just discovered your site and are LOVING the ideas and recipes. What brand of rice cooker do you have? How else do you use it? Thanks so much! Keep up the good work!
i would use vegetable broth instead and earth balance butter and brown rice or wild rice
Laura- I just had an inexpensive rice cooker (The aroma brand). Recently I bought a pressure cooker and have been cooking my rice in that! I love it!
I have left over brown rice from last night’s meal and a can of Low sodium black beans.
can I mix them together on the stove andServe or should I still crockpot cooked rice?
No need for the crockpot emily! We eat them mixed up like that often.
Great! Thank you! Can’t wait to try! =)
Could I make this recipe in a crock pot?
That should work Stephanie (maybe with some extra liquid though). Let us know how it goes.
Hey Amy!
I just stumbled across this recipe and absolutely love it! I’ve been trying to find foods that will improve my diet but are easy to make and am going to give this a try tomorrow night!
Thanks!
Perry
This looks delicious. Thank you for the Recipe Amy.
Yes, for this we use fully cooked black beans!
Amazing. I’ll definitely try this..
I haven’t made it however I plan to. There was no mention of spices so I’ll have to ad lib. Some salt and pepper, maybe some cumin, and a touch of cayenne sounds like a start.