Unfried Refried Beans

cookiedog's Note:

This is a healthier version than most refried bean recipes. You can make this vegetarian by using all water.And the best part of all it cooks in the crockpot! This is adapted from allrecipes.com

• Total Time: 8 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 15

• 1 onion , peeled and halved
• 3 cups dry pinto beans , rinsed
• 1 -2 fresh jalapeno pepper , seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 ¾ teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄8; teaspoon ground cumin
• 9 cups water (or 9 cups an equivalent amount of half water and half broth)

Directions:

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker.
2. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed.
3. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
4. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Reviews

[ellanor1967]

Great recipe!! i used some of the other reviews as a guide. I added some more cumin/garlic/chili powder...but overall great!! will never used canned again!!

[Halcyon Eve]

I can't believe I forgot to review this! These were lovely, and smelled so good as they simmered away in the crockpot! It was so hard to keep the lid on and not lift it up for a better sniff! I skipped the jalepeno to make this more kid friendly. I didn't add enough of the cooking liquid afterwards, so they were very thick--especially leftovers--but that is my own fault. These kept very well in the fridge for the better part of a week. I've never had any luck making refried beans that I liked better than Rosarita's (canned), until now! Thanks so much for sharing, cookiedog!

[Hazelglaze]

This was okay but not as good as the reviews led me to think. A little bland. Next time I think I'll try making the non-vegetarian version and perhaps cutting back on the pepper. Maybe using chicken broth will give it more flavor.