My daughter married a Mexican man. Now she (or he) makes a pot of these “refried” beans every week. Her father-in-law claimed to not like refried beans. Said he never ate them. Eighteen months later, he’s eating these refried beans! I am too. Maybe not a pot a week…but I do make some occasionally. I portion out and freeze in usable portions, or I make bean and cheese burritos and freeze those for a quick-to-reheat lunch.
You will need a crockpot and an immersion blender for this recipe.
- Generous 1 lb. dried pinto beans
- Scant 6 cups water
- 2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes (or 2-3 Tbsp powdered bouillon)
- 1 small-ish white onion, quartered, outer peel/roots removed
- Optional: Add a seeded and halved jalapeno
- approx.1 stick butter (about 1/2 cup, to taste)
- Salt to taste
Crockpot Instructions
- Place beans in bowl of a crock pot
- Add 6 cups of water, chicken bouillon, and onion to pot
- Cook beans on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 6-7 hours (check the beans in the last hour to see if the beans are soft and easily mash between your fingers. If they do not feel easy to mash, then continue to cook them)
“Refrying”
Assess the amount of liquid in your pot; the ideal water level will look like most of the liquid has been absorbed by the beans during the cooking process. The amount of liquid left in the pot will affect the consistency of the beans; less water= thicker beans, more water = liquid-y beans
*Sometimes there is a lot of water left- double check that your beans truly are cooked (maybe by eating one or two); If they are cooked, I recommend removing as much liquid as you can with a small measuring cup or soup spoon. Keep in mind that if you are removing liquid- you may need to adjust seasoning because your lovely bean water is being taken out.
Consider whether you want completely smooth beans (restaurant style), or if you like to have a some whole beans mixed in (Traditional); every family likes a different consistency. We prefer whole beans mixed with the pureed beans, so we remove 1/3-1/2 of the beans from the crockpot before blending and set them aside. If you are ok with all the beans being pureed, then you can skip this step!
Add butter and stir the beans to melt.
* In hopes of being a little bit healthier (we eat these almost every week), I usually start with half a stick of butter; then blend and taste; it should be nice and creamy with no mouth dryness- sometimes you can get that creaminess with less butter and sometimes you need more (I have used as little as 4 Tbsp and as much as 10 Tbsp- but we average about 6 Tbsp).
Using an immersion blender, blend the beans with the butter until you have a smooth bean puree (I do this with the hot beans still in the crockpot).
Taste. Adjust. Taste Again
* If you get any sense of dryness, add more butter (1-2 Tbsp at a time), stir and taste again *Assess whether you need to add more salt (you likely will need more salt if you had to remove some liquid before blending, BUT if you didn’t remove liquid, keep in mind that the bullion is quite salty and you may not need extra salt)
Add in reserved whole beans (if using), stir until they are all incorporated! Serve warm! (this recipe usually makes 10-12 servings, but is completely dependent on how many Mexican men you are serving).
Refried beans are great to make ahead! To reheat, put on stove over medium heat, stir frequently until hot. Leftovers will keep for about a week in the fridge, and they freeze well (defrost in fridge overnight before reheating).
Extra Note **If you think your beans are too thin; remember that as they cool, they do thicken up quite a bit, and no matter how thin they are, they will taste great. But, if you are worried about it and feel you need an emergency intervention; you can add in a can of drained whole pinto beans and then use your immersion blender again to continue blending. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Thanks for stopping by my daughter’s newly created Mexican kitchen today,
