this recipe for homemade refried beans is from {pennies and pancakes}. she is an LDS girl who blogs about some frugal recipes and ways to get out of debt. i tried this recipe and it was delicious. we have eaten it in quesadillas and as a chip dip so far, but you could also eat it in tacos. it makes a filling meal in a quesadilla and gives you the healthy protein. no extra lard or fat in this recipe, just flavor.
NOTE:
i did not take the time to soak the beans overnight before i made these; though it would be great to do so and will cut down on overall cooking time. it took a good 8-10 hours before they were soft enough to mash.
crockpot refried beans: makes 16 cups.
2 lbs. pinto beans (about 4 cups)
1 large onion, chopped
4 T. minced garlic
1 T. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. cumin
10 cups hot water (I boiled mine so it was extra hot and gave the beans a good head-start on cooking)
1) rinse beans in a colander. pick out any bad beans.
2) combine all ingredients in the crockpot. remove any floating beans. cover, and cook on HIGH for 4 hours and on LOW for 2 hours. (i cooked on HIGH 4 hours and then LOW 4-6 hours because i did not soak them first).
3) uncover, and remove extra liquid. leave enough liquid to reach the desired consistency when the beans are mashed. (we like our beans somewhere between the very-liquidy restaurant style beans, and the canned version of refried beans.)
4) mash beans with a potato masher to desired consistency. (i actually ran mine through the blender, reserving some whole to mix in with the pureed beans).
serve warm. store in air-tight containers in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks, or freeze in ziplock bags for later use. (we used half of ours within a few days and froze the rest, which we have thawed and taste great!)
