Refried Beans {Crock-Pot} Recipe

Refried Bean Burritos

Refried beans in the slow cooker is a quick, healthy, and easy dish.  We have this easy meal regularly as part of our dinner menu.  

It’s budget-friendly, full of flavor, and perfect for feeding a hungry family. Just toss everything in the slow cooker and let it do the work while you go about your day.

This recipe makes enough that we usually use about half of it.  Then we have the leftovers the following day for lunch.  

You can also freeze the leftovers, if you’d rather not have them the next day, or if your family is smaller.

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 cups (or 2 lbs.) dry pinto or black beans (We get our bulk beans here.)
• About 3 – 3 1/2 quarts of water, as needed
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 T. chili powder
• 4 tsp. ground cumin
• 4 tsp. sea salt (or to taste). This is my favorite natural sea salt.

How to Make Refried Beans

I cook my beans in the Crock-Pot for convenience.  The night before, sort and rinse beans.  Put them in the Crock-Pot and cover with water.

In the morning, drain the soaking water off and cover beans with fresh water. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low (time may depend on your own slow cooker and how hot it gets).  I usually cook mine most of the day on high.

After the beans have softened and are done cooking, sauté onion and garlic in oil and butter.

Drain the beans, reserving bean liquid.  Add beans to a large mixing bowl.  Add sautéed onion and garlic to bowl.  Also add the chili powder, cumin, and salt.

Blend beans with electric mixer or by hand with a potato masher, adding reserved bean mixture until beans are the consistency desired.

Serve beans as main dish, in burritos or tostadas, or as a side dish.  If desired, top with grated cheddar cheese; heat in oven to melt cheese.  Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.  We usually make bean burritos with ours (recipe below).

How to Make Bean Burritos

Bean burritos are how I usually serve refried beans at our house.  It’s quick, easy, and economical.

Ingredients

• Refried beans (prepared using recipe above)
• Chopped onion
• Salsa
• Diced green chilis or jalapeno peppers, optional
• Grated cheddar or other cheese
• Tortillas (we’ve been using sprouted grain tortillas, from Azure)

Suggested Sides

• Shredded lettuce
• Tomato slices
• Avocado slices or guacamole
• Sprouts
• Sour cream

Bean Burritos Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Set each tortilla on a cookie sheet.  Spread desired amount of beans on tortilla.  Top with chopped onion, salsa, green chilis (opt.), and grated cheese.  I don’t measure any of this, I just decide how much I want on each tortilla.  I usually make them huge!

Fold the sides of the tortilla over beans so they overlap at center top; hold together with a toothpick.  Heat in oven until cheese melts and tortilla is hot, about 10 minutes.

To serve, place each burrito on individual plates and add lettuce, tomato, sour cream, avocado, and whatever else you want to add.  My husband always adds extra salsa, and one of our daughters always adds hot sauce!  The original recipe suggested cucumbers and mozzarella cheese, but we usually don’t serve it that way.  🙂

The core of this recipe comes from Sue Gregg’s cookbook, which I’ve had for many years now.  I did modify the instructions and the ingredients on this recipe.

Refried Beans in the Crock Pot

Make easy, healthy refried beans in the slow cooker! A budget-friendly, flavorful dish perfect for busy weeknights and family dinners.

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours hours

Soak time: 10 hours hours

Total Time: 16 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Calories: 201kcal

Author: Joy Kincaid

Equipment

• ▢
  slow cooker

Ingredients

• ▢ 5 1/2 cups dry pinto or black beans 2 lbs.
• ▢ 3 quarts water as needed
• ▢ 1/4 cup melted butter
• ▢ 1/4 cup olive oil
• ▢ 2 onions chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 3 T. chili powder
• ▢ 4 tsp. ground cumin
• ▢ 4 tsp. sea salt

Instructions

• I cook my beans in the Crock-Pot. The night before, sort and rinse beans. Put them in the Crock-Pot and cover with water.
• In the morning, drain the soaking water off and cover beans with fresh water. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low (time may depend on your own slow cooker and how hot it gets). I usually cook mine most of the day on high.
• After the beans have softened and are done cooking, sauté onion and garlic in oil and butter.
• Drain the beans, reserving bean liquid. Add beans to a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed onion and garlic to bowl. Also add the chili powder, cumin, and salt.
• Blend beans with electric mixer or by hand with a potato masher, adding reserved bean mixture until beans are the consistency desired.
• Serve beans as main dish, in burritos or tostadas, or as a side dish. If desired, top with grated cheddar cheese; heat in oven to melt cheese. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired. We usually make bean burritos with ours (recipe below).

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 688mg | Potassium: 406mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 214IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 3mg