This Restaurant Style Crockpot Refried Beans recipe is made in a crockpot, and you don’t need to soak the beans! As a result, the recipe is easy, and the beans come out creamy.
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Homemade Refried Beans Recipe
Warning: Once you make my Restaurant Style Refried Beans Recipe, you’ll never go back to canned beans because this is an easy, delicious Mexican refried beans recipe!
After a few months of tweaking, I’m thrilled to announce I’ve perfected my easy refried bean recipe! With a well-stocked pantry, I can whip up a batch of these whenever we crave Mexican food. The best part? My kids love them – they devour these homemade refried beans by the spoonful!
Ingredients and Estimated Cost
Per Serving Cost: $0.18
Recipe Cost: $2.13
You need just a few pantry staple ingredients to make these Crockpot Refried Beans.
- 3 cups of dried pinto beans – $1.11
- 7 cups of water – $0.00
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes – $0.16
- 1 medium white onion – $0.70
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder – $0.06
- 2 ½ teaspoons of ground cumin – $0.09
- Salt and pepper to taste – $0.01
NOTE: I calculate the recipe prices by using name-brand grocery prices on grocery store websites.
How To Make The Best Refried Beans
Making delicious, restaurant-style refried beans at home is so easy! Add everything to the crockpot, cook for 9 hours, and blend and serve.
- First, place your ingredients, minus the salt and pepper, into your slow cooker.
- Give everything a quick stir.
- Next, cook the beans on high for 9 hours. Yes, 9 hours. Please don’t cook them for less than that!
- Finally, using an immersion blender, puree the beans until smooth. Add water as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you’re feeling decadent, add a stick of butter to the beans!
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Homemade Refried Beans Recipe (Crockpot)
Video
Equipment
- slow cooker
- cutting board
- chef's knife
- immersion blender
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried pinto beans rinsed and picked over
- 7 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons chicken bouillon granules (or 2 bouillon cubes)
- 1 medium white onion diced (or 1 Tablespoon onion powder)
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
GARNISHES:
- Shredded Mexican cheese blend optional
- unsalted butter optional
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients, except for the salt and pepper to the crock-pot.
- Cook on high for 9 hours. At this point, the beans will be tender and a bunch of them will have popped open.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the beans until smooth.
- Add more water as needed, or if you're feeling decadent, add up to 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter to make creamy, out-of-this-world beans.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with shredded Mexican cheese (optional).
Notes
- This recipe makes about 6 cups of beans.
- Some readers have not cooked the beans for the full hours and end up with watery beans. You must cook the beans for the entire 9 hours. I cannot express the importance of this enough!
Storage Tips
SERVE: You can keep these out for about two hours before they need to be refrigerated. STORE: Cover and store the beans in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. FREEZE: You can freeze these beans in Ziploc bags in small batches. They will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. THAW: Thaw the frozen packets of beans overnight in the refrigerator. REHEAT: Heat the beans in a saucepan over medium heat until heated. You may need to loosen the beans with a couple of tablespoons of water when reheating them.Recipe Variations
- If you use Chicken broth instead of the chicken bouillon granules, you will need 6 cups of broth and 1 cup of water!
- To make this recipe, you’ll need an immersion blender. You can also use a standard blender and run small batches through it, but it will take a while. (If you go this route, you’ll need to hold the lid to the blender SUPER tight!)
- When rinsing the beans, discard any that float or are discolored. Also, look for small stones, especially if you buy cheaper pinto beans.
Nutrition
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Restaurant Style Refried Beans FAQs
I love them on a tortilla or with some tortilla chips. Add some salsa with the chips and tortillas, and you’re golden!
This Mexican Rice also goes great with the beans. You could even serve the beans alongside this Mexican Lasagna and have such a great meal.
In America, we might first think that refried beans mean that the beans have been fried twice. However, the word refried comes from the Spanish name frijoles refritos. The translation for this phrase means well fried. Therefore, they are not cooked twice but cooked well until soft enough to mash into the creamy beans we all love.
Most restaurants use lard in their refried beans. That is one reason I prefer to make them at home. I can get the same great taste from the seasonings without adding extra fat.
There are a few things you can add to refried beans to make them creamy:
– Fat: Adding fat to refried beans will also help to make them creamier. You can use butter, shortening, lard, or even olive oil.
– Dairy: Adding dairy products to refried beans is a great way to make them creamy and rich. You can use sour cream, Greek yogurt, or cream cheese.
– Cheese: Cheese is another great way to add creaminess and flavor to refried beans. You can use shredded cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, or queso fresco cheese.
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Thank you so much for this fabulous refried bean recipe! It’s so easy and delicious. I now make these beans about every two weeks and keep looking for any excuse to add them to a recipe or as a side dish. (eg. We eat a lot of breakfast burritos now that I have found these!) I follow the recipe exactly and it always comes out perfect.
I’m so glad you love the recipe! I make it almost weekly, too! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Hello, Jillian, LOVE this recipe, and so easy! I didn’t have chicken broth, but, had just cooked a pork hoch in my slow cooker the day before, so used some of the broth leftover from that (3 cups plus 4 cups water). I like to heat all liquids, and boil water before adding to crock pot, gets things going much faster. Cooked for 9 hours, last 5 hours on slow. And, of course, not all people in Mexico have immersion blenders (and I hate cleaning mine!), so I grabbed the manual potato masher, and they have a fantastic flavour and consistency. Easy, delicious refried beans, thank you, so much!!
Dallas, I’m SO glad you enjoyed the recipe! And I’m glad the potato masher worked for you. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I am very excited to try this recipe, but it’s just me and my husband, and my husband isn’t the biggest fan of beans, so I’m probably going to have to halve it. If I make half of this recipe do you think it would still do ok in a 4 / 6qt crockpot (I don’t remember the size!) for the full 9 hours? Or should I scale back the time since there is less to cook?
Hi Anne, you can definitely halve the recipe, and cooking it in a larger slow cooker will work, too. You can reduce the cooking time to 7 hours, but nothing shorter than that. I hope this helps! Enjoy!
Hey Jillian! These are my family’s FAVORITE refried beans! I have made them several times! Typically I can access your recipe through Pinterest so I have never written it down, but tonight every time I have tried it only brings me to the comments. No recipe.
Please help! My onions are lovingly diced and ready to mingle, I can just never remember how many cups of pintos….
Thanks.
Hi Heather, my site was down temporarily today but my tech support people helped me get it back up. You should be able to see the recipe now, sorry about the inconvenience!
Best beans ever. I soaked mine overnight and then drained and added fresh water. (And a touch extra water) Also added a diced seeded jalapeño, a tsp of chili powder, a tsp of liquid smoke, and 2 beef bouillon cubes I lieu of chicken bouillon. Best beans ever. I just used a hand held potato masher and it worked perfectly. This is our now forever fave for Mexican beans!! Thank you!
Kris, I am thrilled that you liked the recipe. I love your additions to the recipe, I’m going to have to try liquid smoke the next time I make these!
Hi Jillian, I’m on my second batch. The first batch we took to a potluck and they didn’t disappoint.
I used the Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base, 2 tablespoons, and two cloves of garlic with the onions. Otherwise followed the recipe verbatim. My West Bend Crock-pot took closer to ten hours.
We will find out this morning how well they freeze when they are added to our Huevos Rancheros. Thank you! I’ve already shared the recipe.
Cynthia
Cynthia, I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe1 It’s definitely one of my favorites! nd these with Huevos Rancheros would be YUM!!!
I made these beans last night for family taco night! The most delicious beans I have ever had in my life! Thank you so much
Yay! I’m SO glad you liked them! They are definitely a favorite at my house, too!
If you don’t have an immersion mixer can you just use a potato masher?
You absolutely can. It will just take a bit longer!
Can you just use a hand mixer? That’s how I make Mashed potatoes.
Yes, a hand mixer will definitely work!
Hi! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’ve never known what to do with those dry bags of beans. Do you have a suggestion of something tasty to replace the chicken (bullion or broth)? I’m deathly allergic to poultry. Thank you
You can use vegetable broth or bullion instead.
I made these exactly as described and after one bite threw them all away. The beans had one taste and that was onion. So much onion. Maybe we just grew up in different places eating refried beans with different flavor profiles, but this tasted like nothing I get anywhere in Texas or throughout the Midwest.
I’m giving two stars instead of one because i really liked the cooking method. I think I will try this method again but instead use just some onion powder, more cumin, and a smoked ham hock.
Oh man, the onions is what makes these beans SO good! And I don’t think they’re over-powering in this recipe. What kind of onion did you use?
Hi Jillian, was thinking of making this recipie. my crock pot only has 4 to 6 high and 8 to 10 low. What setting would you recommend?
I would recommend the highest setting. So from your description above–a 6?
I have made this recipe about 3 times and exactly as written. Perfect and I would not change a thing. I have also done a day ahead of time and “refried” in a pan which also turns out very good. Making again today for a Mexican themed party. Well done Jillian!
Curt,
I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe! It’s a family favorite around my house, too! Thanks for stopping by to let me know! 🙂
Could I use dry kidney beans instead of pinto? Usually I soak overnight & dump the water & add fresh before I cook them on the stove. Is it safe to do your crockpot recipe with kidney beans since I wouldn’t be dumping the water? It would just be absorbed.
Hi Ashley, I don’t think using kidney beans in place of pinto will work for refried beans.
Hi, for vegan option can I use vegetable broth?
You bet!
Made these for a Cinco de Mayo dinner and they turned out great. Really nice texture and flavour and the house smelled amazing while they were cooking. I didn’t have an immersion blender so it also provided a great excuse to go buy one. I plan to serve topped with crumbled queso fresco as well as shredded cheese.
I am thrilled the recipe was a hit–I’ll have to try then next time with the queso fresco, yum! And you’re right, this recipe is a great excuse to buy an immersion blender! I use mine ALL the time!
Bummer- I followed exactly and only did 8 hours and they are totally burned with no liquid at 7.5hrs. Needed these for tonight.
Oh no! I am so sorry this recipe didn’t work for you. It sounds like your slow cooker runs really hot if all of the liquid was cooked out and burned 7.5 hours in. Was your slow cooker set to low? What is the brand of your slow cooker?
Hi Jillian, Could I use beef bouillon instead of chicken or would that not be the same? We have some crazy allergies in my household..
That would totally work!
So I don’t have a stick blender, would a hand held electric beater do the trick?
They’ll work. It might be a little messy, but they’ll work. 🙂
Jillian,
Thanks for the great recipe. I must have made 10 different retried bean recipes in the last year, but this one is a hit. I did notice a little more sweetness then I like, but I think that is because I used a yellow onion instead of white. One other thing that I noticed, that was different from some other recipes is; just before the 9 hours cooking time was up, the liquid turned from a more watery solution, to an almost gravy or broth. One of my favorite breakfasts is a scoop of retried beans spread out on a plate with a fried egg on top.
Thanks again for the great recipe
You’re so welcome, glad you liked it! 🙂
Hi Jillian,
I’m planing on making these on Christmas Eve and eat them Christmas Day. I have some questions:
1) instead of using an immersion blender, would a hand blender (like for mashed potatoes, mixing cakes etc) work the same?
2) instead of freezing, I’m going to refridgerate them. So, what is the best way to reheat the beans?
3) I have a dial crockpot and the settings are Low, High and Warm..I do find my pot runs a little hot, is 9 hours too long for a pot like mine?
Thanks!
Hi Chelsea! Merry Christmas! I’ll be making these beans as well for Christmas Eve (we usually have a Mexican feast on Christmas Eve!)
Here are the answers to your questions, I hope it helps!
1) A hand blender would work great, it just might take a little longer to get the creamy refried beans consistency. I’ve also used a regular, old potato masher (this definitely takes a good 5 minutes of mashing to get the right consistency).
2) You can reheat the beans in the slow cooker insert; about 1 hour on low should do it. Or you can reheat them on the stovetop. Just note that you will probably have to add some more liquid when you reheat them because the beans would have absorbed some of the liquid while they sit in the refrigerator overnight.
3) If you know for a fact that your pot runs hot, I would cook them for 8 hours on High OR cook them for 9 hours on High and add 1/2 cup of extra water.
Can you have enough ads on your page?? Makes it really annoying to load and scroll through your site. Having to hit the X’s on everything that pops up is annoying too. So sick of greedy bloggers littering their pages with a gazillion ads.
Hi Lori, Bloggers create hundreds and even thousands of recipes on their sites for the public to use for FREE. Each recipe on my site takes me at least 12 hours to shop for, make, test at least twice, photograph, edit photos, write etc, etc. Yes, I use ads. It’s how I can continue to provide this FREE service while paying myself and my family for my hard work. Feel free to not use my F*R*E*E service. If you’re looking for a free recipe site with zero ads, good luck. A great paid recipe site with zero ads is America’s Test Kitchen, you might like it there better.