Non-Fried Refried Beans

In this house we can not have tacos without beans, but when I had planned to have tacos a few weeks ago I forgot to get a can. So I decided to search pinterest to see how hard it was to make your own. And to my disbelief it was a relatively easy task. The recipe I tried uses the crock pot, and so in my eyes that already means easy! Not only are these refried beans better for you, they taste just like ones from a restaurant. It made enough for us to have 3-4 meals, I just froze the extras.

I did modify the recipe a little. I used dried minced onion, and omitted the jalopeno.

(Not) Refried Beans

recipe and info taken from budgetbytes

Total Recipe cost: $2.75
Servings Per Recipe: 9 (equivalent to about 3 cans)
Cost per serving: $0.31
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 4-5 hrs. Total: 5 hrs.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 lb.	dry pinto beans	$1.32
1 medium	onion	$0.89
1 medium	jalapeno	$0.10
1 Tbsp	minced garlic	$0.24
1 tsp	cumin	$0.05
1/2 tsp	chili powder	$0.05
10-15 cranks	cracked black pepper	$0.05
1 Tbsp	salt	$0.05
6 cups	water	$0.00
TOTAL		$2.75

STEP 1: Spread the dry beans out onto a baking sheet to pick through them and remove any stones or bad pieces. Place the beans in a colander and rinse with cool water.

STEP 2: Slice open the jalapeno and remove the seeds and ribs by scraping with a spoon. Dice the jalapeno and the onion. Place the onion and jalapeno in the slow cooker along with the garlic, cumin, chili powder, and black pepper. Do not add the salt.

STEP 3: Add the sorted and rinsed beans to the slow cooker along with 6 cups of water. Give everything a good stir to distribute the seasoning. Secure the lid and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8. It's okay if they cook longer, they'll just be easier to mash.

STEP 4: After cooking, remove as much water as possible and reserve it in a bowl. Mash the beans and add the reserved water back in as needed. Make the beans a little thinner in texture than you'd expect because they will thicken as they cool. Season the beans with salt at this point. By adding salt at the end, you'll need to add less and the beans won't be so tough. I used approximately 1 Tbsp but add a little at a time until you're satisfied. Serve warm!

To freeze, divide the beans up and refrigerate until thoroughly cooled. Place in freezer safe containers, remove as much air as possible, label and date, and then transfer to the freezer.