Homemade Slow Cooker Refried Beans

So Cinco de Mayo is coming up and this week I thought I would share a couple of Mexican recipes to get you ready! You can also check up this round up I did last year for some great ideas as well. I love refried beans! I especially love to dip chips into the beans and then into sour cream. I always buy the canned kind but I found this awesome recipe so I thought I would try and make them at home. And Bonus! It uses the slow cooker so that makes it super easy, plus you don’t have to soak the beans overnight before hand! These were so smooth and creamy. I don’t think I will ever go back to the canned version!

Homemade Slow Cooker Refried Beans
Source: Slightly Adapted from Chef In Training

Directions:
3 cups dry pinto beans (don’t have to soak)
4 cups (32 oz.) low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 tbsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/2 medium sweet onion
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
Juice of 1/2 lime

Directions:
Place dry beans in a strainer and rinse.  Add beans to Slow Cooker.  Add in chicken broth, water, salt, garlic powder, cumin, & cayenne.  Stir briefly. Place the half sweet onion on top of the beans (just place the whole thing on there, don’t chop).

Cook on high for approximately 5 hours until beans have softened.  Stir occasionally during the 5 hours (I stirred about once an hour).  Add in water if it looks like too much liquid is evaporating (you want beans to at least be mostly covered until the last hour of cooking). Once cooked, remove the onion.

After cooking, If there is an excess amount of liquid, drain off the excess, reserving the liquid in a bowl. (Mine didn’t have a lot of liquid, so I didn’t drain off).

Add butter to beans and stir until butter has melted.  If you drained off the liquid, add a small amount of the reserved liquid and the lime juice to the beans and stir.

Add bean mixture to a blender or food processor.  Blend and add additional reserved cooking liquid until it reaches smooth, creamy, slightly runny consistency.  The beans will thicken up quickly. Serve immediately. Store leftovers in airtight container in the refrigerator.  To reheat, add a little water to the beans and heat in the microwave or on the stovetop.