Easy Family Meals: Bean Burrito Night!

There is a meal that I've been using for years that has been a huge hit with my family. It's a slow cooker meal which means it's basically a dump-and-forget-about-it recipe! Who doesn't love a recipe that involves minimal prep time?!? The orginal recipe is from 100 Days Of Real Food, I take no credit for this but it has added immense value to my life. You can find the recipe below:

Easy Slow Cooker Refried Beans - 100 Days Of Real Food

I've made a few tweaks to it over the years to further cut down on the prep time and to take into account what I can find at the grocery store. For instance I often have a hard time finding dried pinto beans as called for in the original recipe so instead I use dried navy beans and it works well. I don't always have fresh jalapenos so I use a squeeze of Sriracha or a good number of dashes of Frank's Red Hot sauce, whatever I happen to have on hand.

Once the beans are ready to be served it's up to you how easy and/or difficult you want to make the toppings. I'm an advocate for keeping things simple so these are my preferred toppings:

1. Jarred salsa (no work)

2. Sour cream (no work)

3. Bottled hot sauce (no work)

4. Grated cheese (you decide - you can either grate yourself or buy pre-grated)

5. Shredded lettuce (either shred yourself or those bags of precut/washed iceberg salad mixes are great).

6. Guacamole - The only thing I really make from scratch is if I have ripe avocados on hand I make guacamole. I simply mix mashed avocado, lime juice, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

All of these toppings get enthusiastically dumped into the bean burritos and snatched up by hungry kids and adults alike!

I love this recipe because you can stick it in the slow cooker and let it do its magic all day while you work or accomplish other tasks. At the end of the day it's an instant meal! I've also used leftover refriend bean mixture as my protein source served with rice and vegeables for subsequent suppers. It works well as a spread on top of a baguette topped with cheese and put under the broiler for a quick breakfast. Enjoy!

* Vegetarian friendly

* Vegan friendly if not adding cheese/sour cream or using plant-based cheese/sour cream.