I think I might be a little late getting on this bandwagon, but refried beans with melted cheese on a warm homemade whole-wheat tortilla is the bomb! Oh and don’t forget to top it with a little sour cream. I seriously cannot believe I am just figuring out how good this combination is. The reason why though is because I didn’t think I liked refried beans. That’s what happens when you only try them out of a can. But much like the difference between store-bought and homegrown tomatoes…homemade refried beans are light-years beyond the canned stuff! And with this super easy recipe below there is no excuse not to make them yourself. If you don’t already have one, you can buy the same slow cooker we have for about $25 and use it for this and other slow cooker recipes.
I am even going to pull out a bullet point list to tell you all the reasons why I like this recipe so much:
– Beans in general are super cheap and a good source of protein
– You don’t have to soak these dried beans overnight (which I often forget to do)
– They are sooo easy to make you could even do it with one hand tied behind your back :)
– You can freeze the leftovers for another day
– And for me, since I don’t normally love beans for textural reasons, this mashed up version is the perfect way to make them extra good
Easy Slow Cooker Refried Beans
Ingredients
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
Cook on high for 8 hours, or overnight while you're sleeping.
Remove the bigger onion chunks and drain the excess liquid. If desired, save the excess liquid to add back to the final product to get the optimal consistency (i.e. not too dry).
Mash remaining beans with a potato masher and voila! You have homemade refried beans.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Facts
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We love these beans! I’ve tweaked the ingredients a little to our taste preference (basically more of all of the ingredients except the water and beans), and make bean burritos to freeze. We eat them regularly and top with vegetables, meat, or eat plain with hot sauce. Definitely a staple in our meal rotation!
These were really bland.
The flavor of the beans were great! My kids loved them too. My only problem that I ran into was once they were done in the crockpot there was literally no water leftover to even take out. In fact I had to add new water so it wouldn’t taste so dry. Did I do something wrong?
I soak my beans overnight the night before. Drain the next morning and continue with recipe. They never cook dry. Enjoy
Hi there. Hard to say what happened there but the amount of moisture will vary. Some pots cook a bit faster than others.
I feel like this is the exact recipe on the NuPak bag but you added words of elaboration to directions.
It’s a great recipe but it’s weird you don’t mention its the one off the bag.
I have honestly never heard of NuPak (I buy my dried beans in bulk), but I am not surprised there are other similar bean recipes out there … it’s a staple food made from a few simple ingredients!
I’ve made this quite a few times. I live in Denver and things dry out quickly so I usually add 8 cups of water. Today I didn’t have a jalapeño on hand so I added a chipotle pepper in adobo. Worth a shot!
Could you also do this with black beans?
I was thinking the same thing. Kim did you try it? Any advise?
Other readers have made this with black beans.
I want to make these for a dinner party this weekend as a side dish. How many would you say one recipe feeds?
Hello. We usually get 8-10 servings.
I love this recipe. I have m
ade them many times. I recently got an Instant Pot. Have you ever tried making them in one? If so, do you have instructions?
Hi. We have not tried these in an Instant Pot.
I was having trouble getting the texture right w a hand held potato masher, but once I used my hand held electric mixture, the beans became smooth and creamy! Didn’t have to drain off any liquid either.
wow, this turned out great, even with a snag! I looked into the crock this morning and it was very watery, so I drained what I could, but still had the consistency of a watery soup. a number of things I did could have caused this, including having a slow cooker that can’t do 8 hours on high, so I might have got the times wrong.
Long story, it was watery, but i ended up adding some corn starch and it was perfect! great flavor :)
Love this recipe! Making them for a second time
Making this today but halving the recipe so smaller batch. :)
How many servings does this recipe make?
Hi. Lisa does not.
Hi there. It makes 6-8 servings as a side.
Do I need to soak the beans before cooking?
Nope. :)