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Slow Cooker Refried Beans

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4.9 from 33 reviews

Skip the can and make these authentic and easy slow cooker refried beans instead! This hands-off recipe made with simple ingredients is packed with flavor, and easy to just dump and go. Pair with Instant Pot Spanish Rice and Homemade Tortillas for your next burrito night!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb dry pinto beans, thoroughly rinsed OR soaked overnight using this method, OR 6 cans cooked pinto beans, drained and rinsed 3 times
  • 1 onion, peeled and quartered
  • 1 jalapeno, top cut off and quartered
  • 2 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 9 cups water (up to half of the water can be substituted with chicken stock)

Instructions

  1. Place all the ingredients in a large slow cooker. I have this 6 quart slow cooker, but I wouldn’t use anything smaller than a 4 quart.
  2. Cook on high for 8 hours if using dry or soaked beans. Cook on high for 4 hours if using canned beans.
  3. Place a colander over a stock pot and drain as much water as you can from the beans.
  4. Using an immersion blender (or potato masher, or alternating in a blender), mash the beans until they reach your desired consistency, using some of the cooking water to help thin. Remember that you can always add more water to thin, but you cannot make them thicker again.
  5. Serve hot, or prepare for storage.

Notes

Adapted from allrecipes.

  • Make it mild. Substitute a 4 oz can of diced green chilies instead of the jalapeno. You can also keep the jalapeno for flavor but remove the membranes and seeds first for less of a kick.
  • Make it hotter. Keeping the membranes and seeds of the jalapeno will definitely make it hotter. You can also add a second jalapeno pepper or choose a hotter pepper altogether like a ghost pepper. As a general rule of thumb, the more wrinkly the pepper is, the hotter it is.
  • Use different beans. Like refried black beans? Swap them for the pinto beans and you have an entirely new, yet delicious, recipe.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/crock-pot-refried-beans/