I’m all about finding easy, economical and healthy alternatives to processed foods! I’m always looking for easy recipes that I can cook up for my family that I know will be good for them. But it has to be delicious or they won’t eat it. If they don’t like it, I’ll just end up with leftovers that will never get eaten. Those leftovers will just get pushed further and further towards the back of the fridge until they are coated with a nasty layer of blue fuzz and get tossed in the trash. Ain’t nobody that wants that. This recipe isn’t one of those, for sure!!!
Start by rinsing beans under cold water, remove any rocks, stems or damaged beans.
I used Peruano beans for this recipe. They are also called Canary beans, or Peruvian beans. They are a mild bean that cooks up with a smooth, buttery taste. You end up with smoother, creamier refried beans than you do with Pinto beans. They can be a little hard to find, so if you can’t find Peruano beans you can most certainly use Pinto beans and still get excellent results.
Place rinsed beans in the bottom of a slow cooker and add the diced onion. I use a regular yellow onion for this recipe.
Add diced green chiles, including the juice in the can. I use mild chiles but you could add a can of spicy chiles if you want a little spicy heat.
Add the minced garlic, Cumin and Bay leaves to the slow cooker.
Add the chicken broth.
Stir to combine ingredients.
Add 2 strips bacon, or more if you like the smoky flavor it imparts in the beans. I usually add 3 to 4 strips. We are bacon loving fools around here and love the smokey bacon flavor.
Stir to combine everything together.
Cover slow cooker and cook on high heat.
Cook the beans for 5-6 hours or until they are nice and soft.
Beans are done when you can easy smoosh them on the side of the slow cooker with the back of a spoon.
After 5 hours, turn off heat and fish out the bay leaves and bacon slices and discard them. They have imparted their flavor goodness to the party and we no longer need them.
Spoon off 2 cups of the juices in the slow cooker and set aside.
Use an immersion blender to purée the beans. If you prefer chunky refried beans, skip this step and leave the beans whole or lightly mash them with a potato masher.
Add reserved juices to the beans as you purée them until you reach a consistency that you like. We like them nice and creamy so I blended them until they were nice and smooth with just a few chunks. I ended up using about a cup and a half of the reserved juices.
Taste and season with salt.
Top beans with a layer of shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
Cover the slow cooker and cook the beans and cheese on low heat for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.
These beans are the perfect side with these Quick & Easy To Make Crispy Pan Fried Beef Tacos. Such a delicious combo!
These beans are the perfect side with all your favorite Mexican meals or served with corn chips or tortilla chips as a delicious bean dip. No matter how you serve them, they are DELICIOUS! No chemical additives, no weird unpronounceable preservatives, just wholesome, good for you ingredients. It does my momma heart good knowing that I am serving my family nutritious food that’s not only easy to make, but tastes oh so very good too! Give this economical recipe a try. I think you will love it as much as we do!
Slow Cooker Refried Beans
Equipment
- Slow cooker
- immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 lb Peruano dried beans
- 6 cup chicken broth
- 4 oz can diced green chiles
- 1 large onion, diced
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 strips bacon
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Rinse beans under cold water, remove any rocks, stems or damaged beans.
- Place rinsed beans in the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Add the diced onion.
- Add diced green chiles, including the juice in the can.
- Add garlic, Cumin and Bay leaves to the slow cooker.
- Add the chicken broth.
- Stir to combine ingredients.
- Add 2 strips bacon.
- Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on high heat.
- Cook beans for 5 hours.
- After 5 hours, turn off heat and fish out bay leaves and bacon and discard.
- Spoon off 2 cups of the juices in the slow cooker and set aside.
- Use an immersion blender to purée the beans.
- Add reserved juices to the beans as you purée them until you reach the desired consistency.
- Taste and season with salt.
- Top beans with a layer of shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
- Cover and cook on low for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Serve with your favorite hot sauce.
Did You Make This?
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