Slow Cooker Refried Black Beans with Roasted Garlic
Because while items conveniently made and packaged for you are lovely, things you make yourself from scratch are even better. For one thing you can control all of the ingredients and for another you can customize it to your liking. And when you use your slow cooker to make up a huge batch that will last forever (or at least a couple months) then it’s really not all that much work after all. So when you have just a bit of extra time and want to try to add to your stash of pre-(home)made items, I’ve got a simple yet tasty black bean recipe that will make so many meals come together for you with only a little effort.
I love the texture that comes along with hand mashing these. Yes, it takes a little elbow grease but then, hey, maybe it counts as your arm workout for the day, right?
You can even take some of these out before mashing and leave them whole for other recipes too! I use a lot of black beans in things like soups and enchiladas so this is a must for me!
For those that you “re-fry” or really just smash up to be like refried beans, you can customize them any way you want. Since apparently I like to ward off vampires, I added tons of roasted garlic. You can portion them off into separate baggies, freeze them, and have some pretty awesome beans ready to go for all your favorite recipes!
Slow Cooker Refried Black Beans with Roasted Garlic
Ingredients
- 2 pounds dried black beans
- 1 clove elephant garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
- 4 tablespoons butter (optional)
- water
Instructions
- Sort beans and place in slow cooker crock or large bowl to soak overnight
- Add enough water to cover by a couple of inches and cover loosly
- In the morning drain off the water, add beans to slow cooker and cover again with fresh water
- Cook on high for 8 hours or until beans are tender
- Drain and use a potato masher, mixer or immersion blender to mash beans, adding some water 1/4 cup at a time until beans are desired consistency
- Heat oven to 450 degrees
- Cut top off of elephant garlic and drizzle with olive oil
- Wrap tightly with foil and place on baking sheet in oven for 35-45 minutes or until garlic is tender
- Remove garlic and let cool
- Add 2-4 cloves of garlic, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt and butter (if desired) to beans and mix again until well combined
- Serve beans immediately or divide into bags or containers and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months
Notes
Nutrition
