Reviewed: Jul. 28, 2009

These beans are perfect. I have made them several times and no longer buy canned refried beans. Instead of bacon I season mine with cumin and a little chili powder and cayenne, sometimes adding a dash of canola oil. I have read that adding sugar while cooking dry beans will cause the skins to stay tough so I recommend waiting until the beans are soft to add any sweetener, if using.

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WISEGAL11

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Reviewed: Jun. 9, 2009

I have been looking for a good recipe for "refried beans" for a long time and have finally found one that is great. The only thing that I change was I added some cumin to give it a little more flavor. I will certainly make them again. Thanks for the great recipe.

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KAHWHO

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Gilbert, Arizona, USA

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Reviewed: May 31, 2009

Thanks for the great recipe, Brandi! For those who said the beans never softened...if the dried beans are old, they WILL NOT soften. I had 2 bags of beans that had been forgotten in the pantry for a long time. I tried cooking them in a crock pot after soaking overnight, but they never softened. After 18 hours in the crock pot, I gave up and threw them out. I usually use salt pork instead of bacon when cooking my beans. I freeze bacon drippings in 1 tablespoon batches all the time and if I don't have salt pork or bacon, I use the frozen bacon drippings for seasoning. I also add Cumin when cooking my beans. I have read that you should wait until the last minute to add salt, because if you add salt early in the cooking process, the skins of the beans can be tough. :-)

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tilt

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: May 31, 2009

You have to soak the beans overnight!

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hoca

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Reviewed: Jan. 19, 2009

I've never been able to perfect refried beans until this recipe came along. If nothing else, I found the slow-cooker to be revolutionary in the way that I attempt to prepare refried beans. I believe my main difficulties with this meal come from living at 7200 feet, so if you're a high altitude cook, the slow cooker just might be your answer for tender beans!

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MelissaReNae

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Laramie, Wyoming, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 8, 2008

These were very good. I omitted the bacon, otherwise I made it just how the recipe said.

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SLB1633

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: May 31, 2007

BLAND and really not worth all the time. I ended up refrying them after they cooked and adding some seasonings to pick it up a bit.

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rhondarella

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Seattle, Washington, USA

Living In: Poznan, Greater Poland, Poland

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Reviewed: Feb. 18, 2007

These beans smelled great while they were cooking and they cooked just fine, but they were way too bland. We added sour cream, taco seasoning, and pepper but it was still pasty and bland. We won't be making this again.

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Carrie

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Reviewed: Oct. 21, 2006

Reminded me of ham and beans (same flavor). I just wanted to remind anyone before adding the beans to the slow cooker that they should either be soaked overnight or as the instuction manual to the crock pot says " beans should be softened completely before combining with sugar or acid food. It may have a hardening effect on them and will prevent softening. Or you can boil beans for 10 min. reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer 1 1/2 hrs. or until beans are tender." I did this and they turned out being a good consistency when they came out of the crock .

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Anjilee

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Americus, Kansas, USA

Living In: Pratt, Kansas, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 5, 2006

Mine came out great! These were exactly what I wanted- refried beans. I had a whole bag of light red kidney beans so I had to scale and fudge this a bit. I’m not much for fooling with dried beans but someone gave them to me and I needed to use them up. I used 2 crock-pots. I soaked the beans overnight. I went by the recipe except I also added about a tsp. of Adobo Seasoning to each crock for a little Mexican flavor. I highly recommend this if you have some around. I also used about half the bacon that the recipe called for because it was less fat and I hate to use expensive bacon just for seasoning. I didn’t drain any water. When my crocks of beans were getting mushy and the water was soupy and thick I transferred all the beans to a big microwave casserole. At this stage I didn’t need to discard my bacon. It had virtually dissolved in the beans. I mashed the rest of the solid beans up, and nuked them on medium 20 mins. stirred and nuked again on medium another 15 mins. This dried the soupiness out and made them that pasty consistency of refried beans that I was wanting without burning them in the crocks.

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JUSTCYN

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Rochester, New York, USA

Living In: Bay Minette, Alabama, USA

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Reviewed: May 23, 2006

Muchas Gracias, this execellent way of cooking beans..

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Lissy Kathiria

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: La Romana, La Romana, Dominican Republic

Living In: Miami, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 9, 2006

Thanks for sharing this recipe!

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Ladybug76

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Reviewed: Oct. 3, 2005

Not as tasty as I would have liked and although I soaked and cooked them all day, they were still not soft enough for refried beans.

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KBOVER

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Lexington, Kentucky, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 5, 2005

I found these to be pretty bland. If I made them again, I'd add lots more seasonings to them.

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MDRUTAR

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 20, 2004

This is my first unfavorable review! I came home to a pile of burnt on the outside, uncooked on the inside beans. This recipe needs more water if it will be on high for 6 hours.

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LOVETHECOLD

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Reviewed: Jul. 30, 2004

They were ok. I soaked the beans for 14 hours and cooked on high for 8. Didn't touch them. They were really pastey and i don't think that they were cooked long enough. I will stick to my recipe.

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Kooking Kerry

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Gilbert, Arizona, USA

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Reviewed: May 11, 2004

this recipe is simply wonderful! some of the reviewers mentioned they preferred more spice so i took the hint, added extra garlic & doubled the onion. i also only drained off 1/2 the liquid, did a partial mash & topped the beans with a small amount of grated cheddar cheese. you'll discover this recipe comes out very similar to refried beans. the next time i'm planning to find out how good these beans will be if served whole. thank you brandi!

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LESLIE30

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

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Reviewed: May 9, 2004

This was the first time I have ever tried to make refried beans. I made them for my annual cinco de mayo party. I soaked the beans for 8hrs and then put them in the crock pot for 6hrs. The beans were very easy to make however I wasn't crazy about the taste. They could have used a litle more spice. Maybe next time I will add some more onion and some chiles. Overall not bad, just a little bland for my tastes.

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MLZ0922

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Reviewed: May 7, 2004

These were "Super", but could use alittle more spicing up! Needs lots of salt & more garlic. I also mashed them & put them in a cassarole & pu cheese on the top & baked in a warm oven untill the cheese melted.

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SQUIRLADY

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Somis, California, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 27, 2004

This was delicious! I tripled the recipe and cooked the beans on low for over 10 hours (started in the morning before I went to work). Please, note that I filled up the crock pot 3/4's full of water. I couldn't bring myself to smash them after I tasted the beans. I cooked a pound a hamburger mixed with picante salsa and used it for half the beans for a meal one night. The other beans I did mash and used it for burro's the next day. Thanks for the great recipe!

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