Crock Pot Refried Beans

Pin It Now!

This recipe for Crock Pot Refried Beans hails from the brilliant sisters over at Six Sisters' Stuff.

My family loves Mexican food, and we go through so many cans of refried beans a month it isn't even funny, between the tostadas, burritos, and tacos.  My husband has always wanted to try some homemade refried beans, preferably without the refry, which these do not have, and I decided it was time to try my hand at them.

I was skeptical that dried beans would cook in the 8 hours the recipe said, but low and behold, they were perfectly done, in the amount of time specified.  They required almost no extra liquid to be added and I thought they had fantastic flavor, so much better than the canned taste.  It does require some pre-planning, but by that I mean that you have to know in the morning that you are going to want to have beans for dinner that evening.  I think that is doable.  I would make note of the fact that although the recipe says it makes a ton, I made it for myself, my husband, my son, and my two sisters, and we only probably had about a serving left, (I swear, we weren't pigging out either), so if you plan on feeding a lot more people, keep that in mind.  I made it in my 6 qt crock pot and it was more than plenty big.  My last comment is that instead of leaving the onion halved, I would dice it up, unless you plan on taking it out.  I couldn't get it to mash up enough so I ended up pulling all the onion pieces I could get, out.  Don't skip out on the fresh onion or the fresh garlic, or the cumin, that is where the flavor is, it just won't be the same without it.

Bottom line, I would make this over and over in place of my canned refried beans.  They are cheap, make plenty, taste fantastic, and I know what is in them.  Can't beat that.

Slow Cooker Refried Beans

(From Six Sisters' Stuff)

Ingredients:

1 onion, peeled and halved (diced if you would prefer to have it incorporated with the beans at the end)
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/4-1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
5 cups water
4 cups chicken broth

Directions:

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and chicken broth and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency (I didn't have to add any really, so start with none until you get them mashed).