Homemade Refried Beans

Let's talk Refried Beans... I love these little guys because they are good either by themselves or mixed with other ingredients and scooped with a tortilla chip. I love them, my family loves them, but what I don't like about them coming from a can, is the flavor and added ingredients like soybean oil, and yeast extract which has been linked to MSG and added sodium. Funny, I can make HOMEMADE REFRIED BEANS and not have any oil, msg and very little salt added to them and they are full of fabulous flavor that you won't find in a can.

Homemade Refried Beans

 My friend Rhonda, shared her recipe for making refried beans a while back. When I finally decided to try my hand at making them, I only used a small amount of beans that were left over from supper one night. I only added the spices which were called for and mixed everything until super smooth, and I was blown away by how good they were.

The next time I made a larger batch and cooked the spices and onions with the beans. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING ~ these things were AMAZING! The full flavor came through and I was HOOKED! I made bean and cheese burritos for my men and they wondered about the "different" taste. They didn't know I whipped up the beans myself, so they were surprised at how good they were.

Making your own refried beans is EASY! All you need is a bag of dried pinto beans, water and time. I pick through the beans and rinse them off and put them in the crockpot full of water on low before I go to bed, and by midmorning the next day those beans are cooked. When I cook my beans, I don't add all the spices in because I'm usually cooking a huge pot full to be used for supper and refried beans.  I'll scoop out what I need for supper and then add the spices and the onion and let it cook for about an hour longer.

I mix my beans up in the mixer, because my husband likes the beans with a little chunkiness, then I'll take some and continue mixing them until smoother with my stick blender. I then mix both the chunky and smooth beans together. These freeze beautifully!

Homemade Refried Beans

Ingredients:

3 cups dried pinto beans
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspon garlic powder
1/4 cup diced onion
salt to taste
enough water to cover beans
3 Tablespoons butter

Directions:
Rinse the beans in cook water and place in your crock pot. Fill with enough water to cover the beans with a little extra water. Add the spices and the onions, cover and cook on low for about 5 hours, or overnight.

When the beans are cooked, scoop out the beans and place them in the mixer or food processor
with the butter and procss until smooth. Add a little of the bean juice while mixing to keep
your beans juicy without drying out. Serve or place in containers for freezing.