A good friend of mine used to make, hands down, the very best taco dinners. And a big part of what made them so good was her refried beans. They were absolutely the best. Ever. She probably still does, but she up and moved half way across the country…. She used dried pinto beans and a pressure cooker. Then she would put all these little containers of beans, in the freezer to pull out as needed. Needed as in when we invited ourselves over for dinner, which was often. I didn’t own, nor have I ever even cooked with, a pressure cooker so I was always jealous of her “stash”.
Until now.
I’m always looking for easy ways to cut out the processed foods and this is easy. And cheap. And much like the difference between store-bought and homegrown tomatoes…homemade refried beans are light-years beyond the canned stuff! And talk about convenient. Just like having a can of refrieds in the pantry, you can have containers, of these, in the freezer, portioned up in the size perfect for your family!
Slow Cooker Refried Beans
a compilation of many recipes
- 1 onion, peeled and halved, don’t get fancy and cut it up any more.
- 1 # dry pinto beans, rinsed
- ½ fresh jalapeño, seeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- One big pinch of cumin and I mean BIG
- 6 cups water
- Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove the onion chunks.
- Scoop the beans, out of the liquid, into a flat-bottomed pan. Save the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher. Add back in as much of the juices as you need to get the consistency you prefer. Remember these are the juices these beans cooked in all day. It is tasty, pure flavor. For us, I used almost all the liquid, but I suppose it depends on how much heat you get from your slow cooker or even how dried (older are drier) your beans are.
- Now separate it into portion sizes, cool, and pop in to the freezer, thaw and heat as needed. For the two of us 1# of dried beans makes 3 12oz portions.
- For them to truly be considered refried you’ll need to scoop up some of your bacon fat, that I know you store in the refrigerator, and fry your beans as you mash them. But we are looking for healthy. That’s not to say I won’t still stir in a TBS or so of said bacon fat 😉 I just won’t fry them in it. We’re talking healthy. Remember?!!
Sewfrench 
This is a must TRY. Looks, an sounds good. Thanks for sharing the recipe. http://projectsbyMtetar.wordpress.com
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🙂 The best recipes are the ones shared with good friends. Xo
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So true, so true. And I bet you do the really, really good pressure cooker ones, though!
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oooh, thanks for sharing this. I am definitely going to try it!
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You are welcome, Becky, let me know what you think!
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What great memories. I love and miss those days dearly. Thanks for the fond memory ❤
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And watching you roll out homemade tortillas. And the perfect fried shell. And rice, oh the rice…. I’ve never been able to do it like you did!
Good food and great friends make the best memories.
Miss you bunches!!
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I might have to try this! I’ve been trying to eat more beans and I’m a big fan of making ahead and freezing the little suckers…
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We too, are trying for more fiber and beans are a tasty way to get more in! Let me know what you think if try them!
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Oh I should try this! Hubby would love them!
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I made the beans today! They are amazing!
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Yeah! I am so glad you liked them and it’s not just me, Maribeth!
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Got this recipe and made these, they were so good but a lot of dishes to wash afterwards
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Glad you liked them and yes a few more dishes to wash than opening a can, but I think it’s worth it. Especially when I am feeling a need for a quick meal and I can pull a dish of these, out of the freezer, along with some leftover crockpot chicken, or beef, and whip up a mexican dinner in no time!
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