Homemade Refried Beans Recipe (Crockpot)

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A close up overhead picture of the finished restaurant style Refried Beans in a white serving bowl.

Homemade Refried Beans Recipe (Crockpot)

This Restaurant Style Refried Beans recipe is made in a slow cooker, and no bean soaking is required!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword beans, refried beans

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 9

Total Time 9 5

Servings people

Calories 177kcal

Author Jillian Wade

Cost $2.13

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

US Customary - Metric

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).

Video

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