This amazing Slow Cooker Pork and Black Bean Stew is hearty, cold weather comfort food at its best. A pork shoulder roast is cooked low and slow with beans, beer, peppers, and spices until it’s fall-apart tender. Serve with a variety of garnishes for a tummy warming treat.
Slow cookers are amazing kitchen tools. They’re inexpensive, versatile, and save us lots of time in the kitchen. Mine are used very often and all year round. A slow cooker is the perfect choice of appliances for long-cooking stews like my Slow Cooker Pork and Black Bean Stew.
We really enjoy this stew during the winter months, but honestly, it’s good any time of year. Add some hot, steamed rice, a few lime wedges, some fresh pico de gallo, and tortillas and you have a complete meal in a bowl.
If you want to expand your menu a bit, consider adding a refreshing tomato and avocado salad on the side.
Recipe Snapshot
Cuisine: American/Southwest
Cooking Method: Slow Cooker
Total Time: 4 Hours, 15 Minutes
Servings: 6
Primary Ingredient(s): Black beans, pork shoulder roast, dark beer (or stout), spices
Skill Level: Easy
What You’ll Like About This Recipe
- It’s so easy – you just “dump and go!”
- There are lots of options for serving.
- You can easily adjust the quantity to feed a crowd.
Ingredient Notes
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- Pork shoulder roast — Also called called “Boston Butt.” Any kind of pork roast will work.
- Black Beans – I prefer canned black beans only for convenience. You can certainly use black beans that you have soaked and pre-cooked.
- Dark beer — Use a dark beer or stout for this recipe. I always choose Guinness even though it may not be precisely in keeping with the southwestern flavors in the recipe. A good alternate choice would be Negra Modelo, a dark Mexican beer.
- Jalapeno — The jalapeno is optional, but highly recommended. Remove the seeds and ribs if you want a milder stew.
- Spices — I use a combination of garlic powder, cumin, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper.
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Slow Cooker Pork and Black Bean Stew
- Lightly spray or grease the inside of a medium (4-6 quart) slow cooker.
- Add the black beans, pork shoulder, beer or stout, red bell pepper, and jalapeno. Sprinkle evenly with the herbs and spices.
- Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
👉 PRO TIP: Keep in mind that it’s normal for the pork shoulder to shrink quite a bit during cooking. Also, remember that cooking times and heat settings vary from one brand of cooker to another. The times given are estimates only. You may need to shorten or lengthen your cooking time.
- Remove the pork from the slow cooker and let it cool enough to handle. Using two forks, pull or shred the pork into chunks. Remove and discard any excess fat.
- Return the pulled pork to the crockpot and stir well.
- Cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve with garnishes of lime wedges, diced green onion, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and cilantro with warm tortillas on the side. The stew is also delicious when served over hot, steamed rice.
Substitutes and Variations
- Add a chopped onion along with the peppers.
- Add a can of fire roasted tomatoes.
- Substitute a poblano pepper for the bell pepper.
- Serve with steamed white rice.
- Monterey Jack cheese also goes well as a garnish.
Storage
Store any leftovers in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat over low heat or in the microwave. May also be frozen for up to three months.
Have a question or thought to share?
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve made it and want to share how it turned out, I would truly enjoy hearing from you. Just scroll down to leave a comment or add your star rating.
Thank you for stopping by. It means a lot to have you here.
Questions About Slow Cooker Pork and Black Bean Stew
You can! This stew is even better when made a day ahead. Just store it covered in your refrigerator and reheat it when ready to serve. You may need to add a little water to get it back to the original consistency.
You can make pork and black bean stew with dried beans if you like. To use dried beans, either (1) soak them overnight and drain well before adding them to the slow cooker, or (2) add 1 pound of dried beans directly to the slow cooker along with 6 cups of water. Check the beans at the end of the cooking time to make sure they’re done. You may need to continue cooking for an additional hour.
Some cooks do brown the pork before adding it to the recipe, and it does make for a slightly richer flavor in the finished recipe. However, I personally don’t think it makes that much difference, so I skip the browning in this instance. If you’d prefer to brown the pork shoulder, feel free to do so.
Recipe
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Slow Cooker Pork and Black Bean Stew
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 30 ounces canned black beans lightly drained (2 15-ounce cans)
- 1 ½ pounds boneless pork shoulder roast or Boston Butt
- 12 ounces dark beer (or stout) recommend: Guinness (or substitute beef stock)
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Garnishes:
- Lime wedges
- Diced green onion
- Sour cream
- Diced tomatoes
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Lightly spray or grease the inside of a 4-6 quart (medium) slow cooker.
- Add the black beans, pork shoulder roast, beer, red bell pepper, and jalapeno. Sprinkle evenly with the spices.
- Cover and cook for 7-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
- Remove the pork from the slow cooker and let it cool enough to handle. Using two forks, pull or shred the pork. Remove and discard any excess fat.
- Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and stir well.
- Cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve with garnishes of lime, diced green onion, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and cilantro with warm tortillas on the side.
Notes
- The stew can be made a day ahead of serving. Store it covered in your refrigerator and reheat when ready to serve. You may need to add a little water to get it back to the original consistency.
- Store any leftovers in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat over low heat or in the microwave. May also be frozen for up to three months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
— This post was originally published on September 27, 2021. It has been updated with additional information.
I’m Lana Stuart, an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, and lifelong cook raised deep in Southwest Georgia. I started Lana’s Cooking in 2009 to share the tried-and-true recipes I grew up with. Around here, the food is full of flavor, the traditions run deep, and there’s always room at the table.
I made quite a similar recipe before I even read yours and mine was delicious. I think I learned to cook Mexican recipes back in the 70’s from a simple recipe I read. Anyway I’d bought some pork ribs and they were NOT tender! Into the slow cooker they went. I added a 12 oz bottle of Chelada, 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped bell pepper. Then 1 can of diced roasted chiles. Spices were garlic, cumin, and black pepper. Added 2 16 oz cans of black beans. Then I cooked on low heat for about 6 hours. I pulled out the ribs which were tender, but intact. I added another 8 oz can of unsalted tomato sauce as the sauce seemed rather thin, then cooked it for another 30 minutes on high. And then I adjusted the seasonings. I know this sounds tedious, but I had no recipe and was experimenting.
When the Sauce was done, I cut the ribs up into 3 ribs serving pieces and warmed them in the sauce. There was plenty of pork that had fallen off the ribs into the sauce. I served the sauce over Mexican rice with the ribs on the side.
I think my “stew” dish was very delicious and suspect our dishes tasted very similar. Certainly I’ll be making it again, but with pork butt like yours, not with the ribs. .
That sounds delicious, Karen! Hope you enjoy this recipe as well.