Turn a bag of pinto beans into creamy refried beans with the help of your crockpot. These flavorful beans are easy to make. This makes a lot of beans, but you can freeze the extras for even easier homemade refried beans later too!

Bowl of smooth homemade refried beans topped with cheese, jalapeno slices, and chopped cilantro, ready to eat.

Refried beans are such a versatile dish. They are great served as a side dish.

They are wonderful in burritos. Of course they are great in bean dip as well.

Yes, you can easily buy a can of beans. But canned refried beans tend to be pretty bland.

So, why not make your own? This recipe makes it really easy to do.

Using dry beans makes this recipe super affordable. You can make a lot of refried beans with a bag of dry pinto beans.

Ingredients including dried pinto beans, water, chicken stock, chopped onion, jalapeno pepper, garlic, taco seasoning, and salt.

Slow cooker filled with creamy refried beans after they have been processed.

You don’t even have to soak the beans. They cook for long enough that they will be tender.

If you really want to soak your beans, go ahead. You can soak them overnight and drain the water.

Then go ahead and follow the recipe as written other than reducing the water to 1 cup.

You are going to love how delicious these crockpot refried beans are. In fact, you may never buy a can again!

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Carlee’s Tips and Tricks

There are several ways that you can mash your beans after they have cooked. For the smoothest beans, use an immersion blender or a food processor.

For chunkier beans, use a potato masher. You can make them as smooth or chunky as you would like.

If your beans are thinner than you would like, continue to cook them for a bit with the lid off. Some of the water will evaporate off and the beans will thicken.

If your refried beans are too thick, try stirring in a splash of chicken broth. Or add a little nob of butter or spoon of lard or bacon grease if you have it.

Wooden spoon getting a scoop of homemade refried beans out of the slow cooker.

Bowl of refried beans next to the crockpot they were cooked in, ready to be served.

If you love black beans, try using them instead of the pinto beans. Refried black beans are delicious!

A scoop of beans with some cheese and a tortilla is a really affordable way to get some fiber and protein. It makes for a great snack or simple meal.

Alright, let’s make some beans already!

Bowl of creamy homemade refried beans topped with crumbled queso fresco, slices of jalapeno, and some cilantro.

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Crockpot Refried Beans

Author: Carlee

Servings: Servings

Making crockpot refried beans is so much easier to do than you might think. There's no soaking for the beans required, making it a true dump and go recipe. They have great flavor and are so much better than the canned options from the store.

Prep: 15

Cook: 6

Total: 6 15

Ingredients

Instructions

Sort and rinse 1 pound dried pinto beans. Place them in a 6-7 quart crockpot.
Add 3 cups chicken stock, 1½ cups water, 1 jalapeno, 1 medium onion, 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt to the crockpot.
Stir, cover, and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
Once the beans are soft, process them to your desired level of smoothness using an immersion blender, food processor, or potato masher.