Crock Pot Refried Beans

In.Credible. Never buy canned refried beans again. Never. Promise? So cheap and so good. I want to make Mexican food just so I can make these as a side dish. This makes quite a bit, but you can freeze the beans in smaller portions (I have). And there is nothing "fried" here ... but there is butter :)

3 C dry pinto beans
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1 TB garlic salt
1/2 medium sweet onion**
1/2 C (1 stick) butter

This is for a large 5 qt+ crock pot.

First, lay the beans out on a cookie sheet. Pick through to make sure there aren't any funky beans in there. Then rinse the beans.

Put beans in a crock pot and fill with at least 8 cups of water. You'll need to check the water level periodically to make sure the beans stay covered (although a few will start floating near the end).

Add bouillon cubes and garlic salt. You can either chop up the onion into big chunks, or leave it just one big chunk. I've done it both ways.

Cook on high for 4 hours (again, depends on your crock pot, beans need to be soft).

Strain beans, but keep the liquid! You'll want to save at least 1 Cup of "bean liquid".

Add 1/2 cup butter, and 1/2 cup of bean liquid. Use an immersion blender (or do this in batches) to blend the beans/butter/liquid. Gradually add more liquid until the beans are your desired consistency. I usually add 1 cup, maybe a little more. You don't want them too stiff, since they set up.

**If you leave the onion as a big chunk, you can just take all/most of the onion out before you blend. When I've cut it into chunks, I take out some, and blend the rest with the beans. I liked it both ways.