Pinto Beans and Cornbread
intro
Hearty, smoky slow-simmered pinto beans paired with crusty, crumbly cast-iron cornbread: a beloved, budget-friendly Southern comfort food staple.
Ingredients
Steps
Sauté bacon and aromatics
Heat a 5.5L (5.8 quart) Dutch oven over medium stovetop heat (175°C/350°F). Add chopped smoked bacon, cook 6-7 minutes until crispy and fat fully renders. Add diced yellow onion, cook 5 minutes until soft and translucent, then stir in minced garlic and smoked paprika, cooking 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in low-sodium chicken broth, add rinsed sorted pinto beans, and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
Slow-simmer pinto beans
Once the bean mixture reaches a rolling boil, reduce heat to low (95°C/200°F), skim any grey foam from the surface with a spoon, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and simmer for 1 hour 45 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes to prevent beans from sticking to the pot bottom. After 1 hour 45 minutes, test beans for tenderness: they should crush easily between two fingers with no hard, starchy core. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the kosher salt and all the ground black pepper, adjust seasoning to taste, and keep warm over the lowest heat setting.
Prep cornbread components
When beans have 30 minutes of simmer time remaining, preheat oven to 220°C (425°F), place a 25cm (10-inch) cast-iron skillet on the middle oven rack to heat for 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of kosher salt until evenly combined. In a separate medium bowl, whisk beaten large eggs, buttermilk, and 3 tablespoons of the melted unsalted butter until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stirring just until combined—small lumps are expected, do not overmix.
Bake skillet cornbread
Carefully remove the preheated cast-iron skillet from the oven using oven mitts, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of melted unsalted butter, swirling to coat the skillet bottom and sides fully. Pour the cornbread batter directly into the hot skillet—you will hear a distinct sizzle as the batter hits the hot butter, which creates a crispy outer crust. Return the skillet to the middle oven rack, bake for 20-22 minutes, until the cornbread top is deep golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only 2-3 dry crumbs attached (no wet batter).
Rest and serve meal
Remove baked cornbread from the oven, let it rest in the skillet for 5 minutes to set, then slice into 8 equal wedges. Ladle 360ml (1.5 cups) of warm pinto beans with a small amount of pot liquor into each of 4 shallow bowls, and serve 2 cornbread wedges alongside each portion. Top beans with optional diced green onion or hot sauce if desired, and serve cornbread with extra softened butter for spreading.
Tips
2.Do not overmix cornbread batter: overstirring develops gluten in the flour, resulting in dense, tough cornbread instead of the desired light, crumbly texture. Small dry lumps in the batter are perfectly fine.
3.For a faster weeknight version, substitute 3 cans (425g each) of rinsed, drained pinto beans for dried, reducing simmer time to 20 minutes to let the bacon and spice flavors meld into the beans.
OMG y’all, this recipe tastes exactly like my grandma’s pinto beans and cornbread I grew up eating after church on Sundays! I added a smoked ham hock like she always did and let those beans simmer low, the cornbread had that perfect crispy edge from the cast iron. My whole family went back for seconds, even my picky 7 year old. SO good, will be making this for our next neighborhood potluck for sure!
Total game changer for my Sunday meal prep! I made a big batch on Sunday, portioned it out for lunches all week, and it held up so much better than I thought. The only tweak I made was adding a dash of cayenne to the beans for a little kick, and I used whole grain cornmeal for the cornbread to bump up the fiber. Definitely easy enough for a weeknight if you plan ahead, too.
Wait a second, I’ve been making pinto beans for YEARS and never thought to add a splash of apple cider vinegar at the end like the recipe says — that little tang cuts through the richness so perfectly! The cornbread had that perfect crumb, not too sweet, not too dry, exactly how Southern cornbread should be. 10/10, no notes.
Made this after a long day working on the property, and let me tell ya, it hit the spot. No fancy ingredients, nothing complicated, just straight up comfort food. I threw in a couple slices of thick cut bacon while the beans cooked, and slathered the cornbread with salted honey butter when it came out. My wife said it’s better than the version they serve at our local diner.
My kids loved it!!! I’ve been struggling to find side dishes that aren’t just chicken nuggets and mac and cheese that they’ll actually eat, and they both asked for seconds of the beans and cornbread. The cook time looks long but it’s mostly hands off, which is perfect when I’m helping with homework and folding laundry after work. So happy I found this recipe!
Brought this to my office potluck last week and it was gone in 20 minutes flat! The only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is I wish the recipe noted how much salt to add at the end — I ended up over-salting a little because the ham hock I used was saltier than I expected. Otherwise, super tasty, everyone asked for the recipe.
Made this vegan by swapping the ham hock for smoked paprika and a little liquid smoke, and used plant based butter in the cornbread — it turned out INCREDIBLE. I was worried it would lack that deep savory flavor but it was so rich and cozy, perfect for this rainy Chicago day. 10/10, will be on repeat all fall.
Guys, I’m a total beginner in the kitchen and I was so intimidated to make dried beans from scratch, but this recipe was so easy! I didn’t burn the cornbread, the beans were creamy, my roommate said it tasted like something from a Southern restaurant. I feel like a real chef now lmao.
This is the real deal, no frills, classic pinto beans and cornbread just like I’ve been making for my family for 50 years. It’s so nice to see a recipe online that doesn’t add a bunch of weird trendy ingredients to a dish that’s already perfect as is. My grandson ate three bowls last Sunday when he came over for dinner, said it tasted just like he remembered from when he was little.
Made this after a long cold hike this weekend and it was the perfect post-adventure meal. Warm, filling, not too heavy, and the leftovers made for a great quick breakfast this morning (don’t knock leftover cornbread with a little jam until you try it). Super easy to throw on the stove when you’re tired and don’t want to put a ton of effort into cooking.
Talk about a budget friendly meal! Dried pinto beans are so cheap, cornmeal is a pantry staple, the whole pot cost me less than $5 to make and fed me for 4 meals. Way better than spending money on takeout when I’m craving comfort food. The cornbread crust from the cast iron skillet is *chef’s kiss*, no store bought mix can compete.