Slow Cooker Refried Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried pinto beans rinsed well, look for darker colored dried pinto beans
- 4 tablespoons chicken bullion powder knorr recommend
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 small onion ends cut off and paper skin removed
- 14 cups water
- 1 stick butter
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
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In a 6 quart slow cooker, combine beans, chicken bullion powder, garlic powder, onion and water. Cook on high heat for 4 hours. Beans should be soft all the way through. Cooking times of slow cookers can really vary, so if beans still have any firmness continue cooking until completely soft.
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Once beans are soft, strain beans into a large colander nested inside a bowl to retain the liquid. Set onion aside and return cooked beans to slow cooker. Add butter and mash with potato masher. Stir reserved liquid back into beans by 1/2 cup measurements until desired consistency is reached. Season generously with salt and pepper to taste. Do not discard reserved liquid. The starch in the beans will continue to develop as the beans sit, so additional liquid can be stirred in. Save the liquid to stir into leftover beans when reheating.
Recipe Notes
I use powdered chicken bullion in this recipe instead of canned chicken broth since so much liquid is required to cook the beans. It's much more flavorful than using plain water but more budget friendly than using liquid chicken broth.