Slow Cooker Refried Beans (without the Refry!)
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We LOVE Mexican food at our house and I am always looking for a yummy side dish. I love refried beans, but when you buy them in a can, dump them out, and the beans retain the shape of the can . . . ew. It grosses me out. I then found this recipe and I am never going back!! Took 15 minutes to throw it together and THEY WERE AMAZING! My husband said that they were as good as the beans you get at a restaurant . . . and the recipe is so easy that you can’t go wrong!
**This recipe makes a lot, but you can also use it to make bean burritos, bean dip, topping for a salad, etc . . . you will definitely want to use a large 5-6 quart slow cooker for this recipe.
Slow Cooker Refried Beans
Ingredients:
1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/4-1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I used about 1/4 because I wanted my kids to eat it and not think it was too hot)
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:
-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. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
-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.
-If you want to turn this into a big batch of bean dip, add the following:
2 cups salsa
2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese
2 cups shredded pepperjack cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
16 oz. sour cream
2 Tbls chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Mix in with the beans and let cook a couple hours longer so flavors can blend. Makes a huge batch so just freeze leftovers!
Oh this looks FABULOUS! I have tried homemade refried beans once and it was great, it freezes really well too!
Carlee
http://www.ladybirdln.com
My girls love bean burritos and would eat them everyday if I let them. I have been using canned beans, but I can’t wait to try this recipe for homemade. I shared your recipe on my Must Try Tuesday blog post.
http://therickettchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/07/must-try-tuesday-july-26-2011.html
Thanks for sharing!
Wende
The Rickett Chronicles
Can you cook it on low all day or just high? I’m new to crock pot cooking
Hi Anonymous! Every time that I have made these, I have cooked them on high for 8 hours. I think that if you cooked them on low, I would probably do it for 12-15 hours, just to make sure they are cooked all the way.
Good luck with slow cooking! I would die without my crockpot! 
Made these tonight for dinner after seeing them on Pinterest. Wonderful! No more canned beans for us.
I have been making these for months and I love this recipe! Not only is it so simple, it is delicious.
I wrote about it on my blog today and shared your recipe.
http://therickettchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/10/recipe-crock-pot-pintos.html
Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
Wende
The Rickett Chronicles
This recipe sounds great! I haven’t been successful in making good refried beans. This is going to be my next attempt.
Can you sub vegetable stock for the chicken stock?
Recipe sounds wonderful!! What is the proper way to freeze them?
you don’t have to soak the beans? amazing!
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? But shouldn’t you soak them for a few hours jus to get all the junk out? (and you know, like when the skin comes off the beans as they sit?)
I have never, ever soaked them! After cooking so long at such a high temperature, everything just kinda mashes together, skins included!! I do rinse them before adding them to the slow cooker . . . they are delicious!
The purpose of soaking beans overnight (and then pouring off the soak water and replacing it) has nothing to do with cooking technique and everything to do with the intestinal comfort of those who eat LOL I tried going without soaking them ONCE and my guts paid dearly for the omission. So just be aware
I’ve tried only one other attempt at making homemade refrained beans and they didn’t come out very well. I plan to try this recipe soon ~ my son could eat them 3x a day and the cans are gross (and expensive!). Thanks for posting!!
~Jessica
http://jessicamauk.blogspot.com
Tried this today with a substitution of vegetable stock instead of chicken broth, turned out fantastic! Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Thanks for the recipe – I made it on the weekend, and it was delicious. best I have ever had. So easy too.
So excited to try this recipe! I think I will try cooking them overnight on low and see how that goes, and also sub veggie stock. Thanks!
Kristina, Did they come out okay by cooking them overnight on low?
These are the only refried beans we eat now. I made them for my in-laws and they turned out blah instead of amazing as they usually are but I used dried onions & garlic. Lesson learned, use FRESH garlic & onions…it’s worth the work.
I made these last night. I put them in my crock pot on low around 1am. After lunch today, I strained off the water and “refried” them. Twelve hours was just fine. I could smell the beans all the way upstairs when I woke up this morning. I don’t have a potato masher, so I used an immersion blender instead. It took a little longer, since I had to keep scraping it out, but it turned out well. Next time I think I might make these with black beans.
I don’t like chunks of onions or peppers or garlic in my beans, do you think they could go in a cheesecloth packet and thrown out after cooking the beans? or could I substitute powdered versions?
Hi! I have never tried the powdered versions, however we have had a couple of people tell us that it doesn’t work- the flavors are off. The high heat and long amount of cooking make the onions, peppers, and garlic completely disintegrate and when you mash the beans, they mash right along with them. There are never any chunks of onions or peppers left. I think that you could put them in a cheesecloth, but I don’t know if the beans would taste the same. Let us know if you try it!
Someone replied a few posts above saying not to substitute.
Tried these this week– Wonderful and smells sooo good cooking– I will never buy canned again- Thanks so much for the recipe!
thanks so much for this, looks easy and way less fat than refried beans with all the oil and stuff!
I have made these several times now and will NEVER go back to canned! These are now a staple in my freezer. Thanks for a great recipe!!!!!!!!
Want to make these tomorrow night! I was going to cut the recipe in half, would that change how long you cook them? thanks!
Everyone always says “soak your beans overnight” Is that not the case with the crock pot method? It sounds like you just rinse them and let them dry? I am exited to make this for dinner next week!
Yep! No soaking required! Just quick and easy . . . that’s how we roll.
When I let my beans soak, a lot of skins come off. What about that? I’d love to not have to soak them! Time saver!
just put these in the crock pot now for dinner tomorrow. did i read the recipe right and i only had to halve the onion? not dice or chop? do i need to remove the onion after cooking??
it already smells yummy and only 5 minutes in….
Yep! You read it right . . . just halve the onion and be done. The onion seriously disintegrates into the beans when you mash them up. You could remove it if you wanted to, but you definitely don’t have to.
I just made a batch a few days ago! We like a little more cumin and use veggie stock/broth. I freeze them in 2 cup containers. You need to thaw them in the fridge for about a dsy, but they’re still amazing. I start mine at 10 pm (just before I go to bed) and they are ready at 6 am when we get up. You do want to sort and rinse them well, as sometimes there are small rocks.
When jalapeños aren’t available, I add in a large can of diced green chile peppers.
These are fabulous! I also added cumin. I will never go back to canned refried beans!!
My 6 year old wanted nachos for his b-day. So I decided to try this recipe! So delish!!!!!
I am doing these tonight. Canned beans are so expensive!
I’ve been making these for the past few months and they are AWESOME!!! A single batch is divided into about 3 dinner servings for the four of us. I freeze them flat and line them up in my freezer door. I’ve defrosted them in the fridge overnight as well as defrosted them in the microwave – both work well.
I can’t tell you how awesome it is to hear my boys get all excited for homemade beans.
Thank you!!