Refried Beans--The Slow Cooker Way
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion peeled and quartered
- 3 cups dry black beans or pinto beans rinsed (check for stones/pebbles)
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and rough chopped (or leave seeds/ membrane in for extra HEAT)
- 2-3 cloves garlic peeled
- 1¾ teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 1-2 teaspoon ground cumin more or less to taste
- Zest and juice of 1 lime optional
- 3-5 teaspoons salt or seasoning salt
- 9 cups water
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro more to taste (optional)
Instructions
- PLACE the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, pepper, cumin and lime zest and juice into a slow cooker. ADD water. STIR to combine. COOK on High for 6 hours or Low for about 8. Check beans for doneness about 4 hours after starting as temperatures on low cookers can vary. (You can’t overcook these, though)
- STRAIN cooked beans and RESERVE about 2 cups of the liquid as you may need it to make the beans more blendable. MASH beans with a potato masher, immersion (stick) blender or even a regular blender (leave the middle plastic top off the lid to avoid exploding beans all over your kitchen). ADD reserved liquid as needed until desired smooth consistency is obtained. TASTE beans and ADD salt, 1 teaspoon at a time, until beans are salty to taste. ADD cilantro. Continue to BLEND until everything is mixed and smooth.