So for the life of me, I hadn’t been able to make good refried beans. Every attempt had come out bland, thick and pastey…definitely not what you want in refried beans. But, no worries because I finally found the one! Sometimes it takes a lot of time and many epic fails to find the recipe that will wow you. And it was definitely worth the wait. These Crock Pot Refried Beans are creamy, flavorful and delicious.
The onion, bouillon and butter lent so much flavor to the beans and really put them over the top for me. Plus, the fact that they are made in the crock pot meant I could throw in all the ingredients and check on them occasionally rather than having to keep a close eye on them on the stovetop like I did in the past.
Ever since making them I have been trying to think up reasons to make them. I even bought a bag of dried pinto beans as big as your head so I don’t have to worry about not having beans when the craving strikes.
They were incredible on their own, topped with a little cheese as well as smeared on a tostada with some delish Cafe Rio Chicken. I will be attempting this recipe with black beans too. I’ll let you know how they turn out!
- Approximately 3 cups dried pinto beans, rinsed*
- Water
- 5 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 Tbsp. garlic salt
- 1/2 medium sweet onion (peel off skin but do not chop)
- 1/2 cup butter
- Place beans in crock pot then fill it nearly to the top with water. Add in bouillon cubes, garlic salt and onion half. Cook on high until beans are soft (took 5-6 hours for me). Stir occasionally during cooking process. You may have to add more water as beans absorb water.
- Strain beans or pour off juice, saving the juice in a separate bowl and removing the onion. Add butter and a small amount of juice that beans cooked in. Use a hand blender to mash beans. Add juice and blend to obtain desired consistency. You want to leave beans a little runny as they will set up quite fast.
- *This is assuming you are using a 5 qt. crock pot. If you are using a smaller one, fill it up about 2 inches with dried pinto beans.
February 15, 2013 at 9:34 am
What a great idea to mash them with butter! I make refried beans in a very similar way but just mash them with the bean juice. I’ll definitely try adding some butter in next time.
May 1, 2013 at 6:01 am
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