So we have quite a few bean recipes on Our Best Bites–I mean, we’re not the beaniest blog out there, but I’ve come a long way from the newlywed looking at beans in the bean aisle, thinking I should buy them because they were dirt cheap but wondering what in the heck I would ever do with them. But one thing we haven’t had (until now) is refried beans, or even any pinto beans at all. And part of it is because this recipe is one of my FAVORITE recipes in my collection (and it’s not even mine, it’s from probably my favorite blogger cookbook, The Homesick Texan) and I felt like if I shared it, it would suddenly be less special to me or something.
One of the things that I find so amazing about this recipe is that it is SO simple and so cheap–I mean, the ingredients list is pretty sparse and things you likely already have in your refrigerator and pantry. And yet these are the most delicious refried beans I have ever eaten. This is just something everyone needs to learn to make so when payday is 3 days away or when you haven’t been to the grocery store in 2 weeks or when we’re in the throes of a zombie apocalypse, at least you’ll have something incredibly yummy to eat.
You’ll need 1 pound of dry pinto beans (rinsed and sorted for stones and shriveled beans), onions, garlic, a seeded jalapeno (which is notably missing from my pictures…my jalapeno was moldy and I had a kid with pink eye and another one cutting a canine, so I decided to forgo the jalapeno in order to not to subject the world to their delightfulness), vinegar or liquid from a jar of jalapenos or banana peppers, bacon drippings (or lard…or vegetable oil if you’re a vegetarian/vegan/not cool with saturated fat…but really, I mean bacon drippings), and salt to taste.
Place the rinsed beans in a medium saucepan. Fill the pan with water so there’s 1″ of water covering the beans. Cover, bring to a boil, and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and drain the beans.
Place the beans the pot of a slow cooker and fill the pot with water so there’s about 2″ of water covering the beans. Add the jalapeno, 1 onion, peeled and cut in half, and 4-6 cloves of smashed, peeled garlic.
Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours (high elevations may take longer, so plan accordingly).
When the beans are tender, reserve 1/3-1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and add the vinegar or liquid from the jarred peppers to the reserved liquid. Drain the beans, discarding the rest of the liquid. Place the beans (and cooked vegetables) in the jar of your blender. Add 1/3 cup of liquid and blend until the desired consistency is reached (I like mine pretty smooth), adding more liquid if necessary.
Mince the remaining 1/2 onion and 2-4 cloves of garlic. Heat the bacon drippings in a large cast iron skillet (if you have one) over medium heat. When the drippings are hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until tender. Add the bean puree and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently until the drippings and beans are incorporated and are light, fluffy, and hot. Salt to taste. Serve alongside Mexican food, wrapped in tortillas with cheese, or by themselves. Makes 8 1/2-cup servings.
Slow Cooker Refried Beans
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound pinto beans, dried rinsed and sorted for stones and sad-looking beans
- 1 1/2 white or yellow onions, medium divided
- 6-8 cloves garlic divided
- 1 jalapeno seeded
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar or liquid from a jar of jalapenos or banana peppers
- 4-5 tablespoons bacon drippings or lard or vegetable oil, but really, the bacon drippings
Instructions
- Place the rinsed beans in a medium saucepan. Fill the pan with water so there’s 1″ of water covering the beans. Cover, bring to a boil, and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and drain the beans.
- Place the beans the pot of a slow cooker and fill the pot with water so there’s about 2″ of water covering the beans. Add the jalapeno, 1 onion, peeled and cut in half, and 4-6 cloves of smashed, peeled garlic. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours (high elevations may take longer, so plan accordingly).
- When the beans are tender, reserve ⅓-½ cup of the cooking liquid and add the vinegar or liquid from the jarred peppers to the reserved liquid. Drain the beans, discarding the rest of the liquid. Place the beans (and cooked vegetables) in the jar of your blender. Add ⅓ cup of liquid and blend until the desired consistency is reached (I like mine pretty smooth), adding more liquid if necessary.
- Mince the remaining ½ onion and 2-4 cloves of garlic. Heat the bacon drippings in a large cast iron skillet (if you have one) over medium heat. When the drippings are hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until tender. Add the bean puree and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently until the drippings and beans are incorporated and are light, fluffy, and hot. Salt to taste. Serve alongside Mexican food, wrapped in tortillas with cheese, or by themselves.
Questions & Reviews
Hi, I’m an Australian, what do I do with Refried Beans? Love that fact that if could potentially could be a filling and cheap family meal. Please help 🙂
Put the refrained beans in a tortilla with a little cheese and you have a burrito. My kids will eat that a few times a week and love it!
Beans are a great side dish, or as stated as a burrito. I love to make a taco-rito with them. You make a regular hard shelled taco of your choosing, and take a soft tortilla, coat with a thin layer of beans, and a light sprinkle of cheese, and a little hot sauce, then seat that taco right in the center. It is my absolute favorite!
Kate, do you know why these are called refried beans? They’re supposed to be fried! Girl, let me tell you how to make pinto beans. Take that 1 lb. of beans and make sure you pick out all the debris, put them in a big pot and cover with water to 3 or 4 inches over the beans. You’ll probably need to add water frequently, so watch them. They take a lot of salt! Add a couple of big spoonfuls of Crisco. Probably 1/2 a cup or more, and just let them simmer for 4 to 6 hours. You have to watch them and stir them frequently, nothing will mess up your house worse than the smell of burned beans! DO NOT REMOVE ANY OF THE WATER! At least not yet. That stuff will thicken up and taste heavenly! Once the beans are cooked and creamy, at this point is make dumplings, it’s a southern thing. Most people have never heard of it. It’s just 1 cup of water, 1/2 a tsp of salt, and just enough water to make a ball. Roll it out like a pie crust, cut it in 2″ wide strips, and add them to the pot. Let them simmer for about 20 minutes. Just plate it up, top it with raw diced onions, and salsa. Pace is good. Now, to make refries, ladle out a couple of cups full, try not to get too much liquid, and mash them up. An immersion blender works well here. In a cast iron skillet, add a couple of tablespoons full of shortening, let it get hot, and add the mashed beans. Turn with a spatula till they get kinda crispy. Now does anyone have a good recipe for Spanish rice?
Perfect timing. I am making your carnitas for my daughters grad party next week and these will go perfectly with them! Thanks!
Nice! I have loads of dry beans sitting around. This is a perfect recipe for this weekend.
Is that vegetable oil in your picture or do you have a magic trick for making bacon drippings not look all bacon-fatty?
That’s actually my jalapeño vinegar…kinda forgot the bacon drippings, haha. 🙂
Forgot them in the picture, not in the beans. That would have been sad.
Quick question. In one of the paragraphs you say to put the beans and vegetables in the blender and the next paragraph you mention another half onion and more garlic. Are these the same ones you cook with the beans or more onion and garlic to mince?
Thanks
Nope, not the same ones–they’re listed together in the ingredients list, but divided so you use some at the beginning and some at the end. 🙂
Think an immersion blender would work?
You could definitely give it a whirl (hardy har) and switch to a regular blender if you need to. I think you’d probably need a little more liquid, though. 🙂
An immersion blender works awesome! I always use just my immersion blender and the beans turn out great (and my family likes them fairly smooth).
You’re a week too late for this recipe! I so needed this last week so I had to go else where to find it. I like the idea of using bacon drippings. I wasn’t about to buy a tub of lard for one recipe so I ended up using butter and they turned out soooo yummy! Much better than the can!
I love beans! This looks great, thanks so much!
This sounds soooo good (how can it NOT be with BACON?) and easy! Win-Win!
Not everyone at my house likes refried beans, so this would make quite a bit for us. I’m thinking these might freeze well….but does anyone know for sure? I’d hate to try and find out it’s not a good idea…I hate to waste good food 🙂
Thanks!
Yes, these definitely freeze well. Another commenter mentioned freezing a small amount of the cooking liquid with the beans (you could just put it in a ziploc bag and freeze it with the beans) so if they dry out a little during freezing and reheating, you can make them fluffy and moist again.