Have you ever had refried beans that were so good that you wanted to just eat them plain out of a bowl? If you’ve been getting your refried beans out of a can, I’m going to guess you haven’t.
These (not) refried beans are that delicious. They have an incredibly complex flavor thanks to the jalapeño, chili, and other spices. The beans are so good and so flavorful, you’ll be tempted to serve them as your main dish. Dress them up with some roasted corn, crumbly cheese, and maybe some grilled zucchini and you can make a bowl out of them!
How to Use (Not) Refried Beans
This recipe makes about the same amount as three standard 15oz. size cans of refried beans. The left overs can be frozen so don’t worry about the large volume. You can use them as a chip dip, in a quick batch of Weeknight Enchiladas, to fill burritos, layered into a 7 Layer Dip, or more. These beans are versastile, so you’ll be glad you made a big batch!
How to Freeze Refried Beans
To freeze these beans first make sure you cool them completely in the refrigerator. Then, simply spoon them into a freezer bag in recipe-sized portions, squeeze out the air, and transfer to the freezer. I suggest about 1.5 cups per bag because this is roughly the same amount as a can of refried beans. Oh, and don’t forget to label and date the bags!
How to Make The Beans Less Spicy
My batch was just a tad on the spicy side, but I know not everyone is as big of a fan of spicy as I am. So, to make your refried beans less spicy, use half of a jalapeño and making sure you scrape out ALL the seeds. The jalapeño brings a lot of flavor with its heat, so I wouldn’t suggest nixing it all together. Just be sure to remove ALL of the seeds and white ribs on the inside of the jalapeño because that is where most of the heat lives.
Serve With: Homemade Tortilla Chips, Weeknight Enchiladas, Spiced Chickpea Tostadas
(Not) Refried Beans
Servings 9 about 1/2 cup eachIngredients
- 1 lb. dry pinto beans ($1.45)
- 1 medium onion ($0.42)
- 1 medium jalapeno ($0.13)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbs chili powder ($0.15)
- 10-15 cranks cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 6 cups water ($0.00)
- 2-3 tsp salt ($0.05)
Instructions
- Spread the dry beans out onto a baking sheet to pick through them and remove any stones or bad pieces. Place the beans in a colander and rinse with cool water.
- Dice the onion. Cut the stem off the jalapeño, slice it open lengthwise, and remove the seeds and ribs by scraping with a spoon. Dice the jalapeño and mince the garlic. Place the onion, garlic, and jalapeño in the slow cooker along with the cumin, chili powder, and black pepper. Do not add the salt.
- Add the sorted and rinsed beans to the slow cooker along with 6 cups of water. Stir everything to distribute the seasoning. Secure the lid and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8. It’s okay if they cook longer, they’ll just be easier to mash.
- After cooking, remove about 1 cup of the water and reserve it in a bowl. Mash the beans and add the reserved water back in as needed. Make the beans a little thinner in texture than you’d expect because they will thicken as they cool. Season the mashed beans with salt, beginning with one teaspoon and adding more to taste. I used approximately 1 Tbsp but add a little at a time until you’re satisfied. Serve warm!
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Equipment
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!The slow cooker I use is an older model, but the newer version of the same model is this Hamilton Beach Stay or Go Slow Cooker, 6 qt.
How to Make Slow COoker Refried Beans – Step By Step Photos
Start by sorting through one pound pinto beans to remove any stones or debris. Transfer the beans to a colander and give them a good rinse.
Dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Cut the stem off one jalapeño, then slice it open lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and ribs. Dice the jalapeño. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño to the slow cooker along with 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 Tbsp chili powder, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill).
This is the chili powder that I use. It’s completely mild and contains very little salt. If you use another brand, it may have spicy red chiles in it, so be aware of the amount that you’re using and adjust accordingly.
Add the rinsed beans to the slow cooker.
Add six cups of water and give everything a stir.
Secure the lid and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8 hours. After, it will look a little something like this. The longer it goes, the better because the beans will become more tender and easier to mash.
Stir everything up to see how much extra liquid is in the pot. Remove about one cup of water, but don’t throw it away.
Mash the beans with a potato masher or even use a hand mixer. Add more of the reserved liquid back in as you mash if needed. Mash until the beans are fairly smooth. Make them a little thinner than you’d think because when they’ll thicken up some when they cool down to eating temperature. Once mashed, it’s time to finally season with salt. This is when you’ll see the flavors pop. Start by adding 1 tsp of salt at a time until they get to where you like. I ended up using about 1 tablespoon (or 3 teaspoons) of salt.
Eat them with chips, in a burrito, or just with a spoon like I did! :P
REALLY GOOD although something went a little wonky with mine. Full disclosure, I use a smaller slow cooker bc I’m lazy and cleaning the bigger one is hard. Put the recipe on at about 10pm on low and happened to wake up at 3am so I checked them… they weren’t very different from when I put them in… decided to just trust it. When I got out of bed at about 6:30 they didn’t look like they’d be done in time for me to leave for work so I turned them up to high for the last hour. That worked and they blended nicely with an immersion blender. They were a little bland to me, to be honest, so I think next time I’ll up the spice content a little. I also have had luck with other refried beans adding some chicken better n’ bouillon paste to make them taste a little more like restaurant beans. I didn’t try that this time bc I wanted to really try the recipe but I think I’ll go with that instead of the salt next time. A lovely base recipe! Thanks!
this was the best ever!! :) modified the recipe based on what i had on hand and yet, it turned out so good, I ended up eating it like you: out of the bowl with a spoon :)
I used canned kidney beans with 1 chopped onion, pickled jalapenos, red chili powder, cumin powder and a clove of garlic and just let it cook with some water in the microwave for 4-5 min. mashed it all up with a hand blender and it was just amazing.
I am sitting here waiting for it to cool down so I can make a proper burrito and it eat it with the salsa i made earlier.
thank you for all the awesome recipes! You are my go-to blog for everyday ideas.
These beans are really good! Ive made this recipe multiple times and they’ve turned out really well every time! Recently I have been using chipotles+adobo sauce instead of raw jalapeño and it still comes out really well. Thanks!
I’ve made these beans in the slow cooker & I loved them! I’d like to try making them in the instant pot as well. Any tips on how to adapt the recipe?
These beans are very tasty and easy to make. The only slightly hard part is mashing them. I love that they’re healthy since there’s no lard or oil. The beans also freeze well and taste good after thawing in the fridge.
I use an emersion blender. 5 seconds later and they’re a great consistency.
I’ve been dying to make these forever (love your site) and FINALLY got my hands on some pinto beans. I don’t have a slow cooker though, if I roasted the vegetables then dumped them in a big pot with the pinto beans would it still work? I adore refried beans in restaurants (especially vegan ones), but mine always kind of suck.
I don’t think you’d get the nice definition of flavor that you get with the roasted vegetables separate from the beans. They’ll all kind of blend together. I’d cook the beans separately for sure. :)
Thanks! Going to try it tomorrow :)
These are wonderful. The kids and the hubby love them too. Thanks for a great recipe. Doubled my batch and have them waiting for us in the freezer.
I actually put some beef in this (it was almost like these cubes, can’t remember what exactly they are called) just as I turned it on, the beef became like pulled pork after and it went so well with rice! I do prefer the vegan red beans and rice but this is splendid.
OMG, that sounds delicious!
I LOVE this recipe! Super easy – no tinned taste and I can control the heat and spice. My 8 year old eats them PLAIN and while they work beautifully in the weeknight enchiladas, we use them in quesadillas too. And the recipe makes enough for 2 giant enchilada batches and then some for quesadillas or nachos too.
These beans are EPIC. Never going to buy another can of refried beans again!
Serves 9? lol… nah This stuff is too good and I may have had a little more than that. This is too good. I was super upset that it wasn’t at first, but then remembered I forgot to add the salt. Then I ignored the whole “start with 1 tsp at a time” and went right to the Tbsp. Next time I’ll listen as it was a little too much for my liking, but still some of the best beans I’ve had. So thank you! I also browned some beef, garlic, and a Tbsp of your taco seasoning and added about 16oz of these beans and made some burritos.
These are so good! I actually cooked them in my oven because I didn’t feel like washing my slow cooker. They turned out great. I’ll make these from now on instead of buying canned.
I accidentally bought pinto beans with ham flavoring :/ …thoughts? Should I wait and buy plain pinto beans or give it a try with the ham flavored ones?
Are they dry beans or canned? This recipe calls for dry beans. If they’re dry beans that are labeled “ham flavored”, there’s a good chance that the flavoring is in a packet somewhere in the bag, kind of like how ramen noodles have a flavor packet. If that’s the case, you can just toss the packet. :) If they’re dry beans that are somehow flavored with ham another way, I don’t think that would be a bad flavor in this dish. I’d just go ahead and use ’em.
They are dry beans! I would have never thought that there is probably a packet in there to make them ham flavored?! Thanks for the tip. I just postponed the recipe to this week’s menu, but glad to know either way it will taste good and I don’t have to buy more. I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the quick response. Every recipe I have tried of yours has been a huge hit in my house!
So easy and delicious! I cooked them for 5 hours on HIGH in the crockpot. The house smelled delicious while these were cooking. Very quick to throw together, and the beans were so tender and mashed easily. I didn’t need to use too much of the cooking water to get a good consistency. I only needed to use about 1/2 tablespoon of the salt, and it was plenty salty for our tastes. This makes a huge bowl. I plan on using some in tonight’s Weeknight Enchiladas, and will likely freeze the extra beans in Ziploc bags.
Using soaked beans: I weighed the beans after an overnight soak and found that they take on about 2 cups of water. So. . . Use 4 cups of water instead of 6 to get the recipe results right. 1 lb of beans weighed 17 oz which is closed enough to 2 cups of water. Delicious!