Chipotle Jalapeno Refried Beans

I love me some Mexican food baby.  We eat it at least once a week in some form.  One thing I always loved was a nice side of refried beans because it's filling and has a lot of fiber and protein.  But the canned stuff is like a salt lick depending on what brand you get.  My favorite jalapeno refried beans have almost 500mg of sodium per serving.  That's just not something I can afford in my "sodium bank account."  So I made my own for half the sodium and much more taste than I could ask for.

Chipotle Jalapeno Refried Beans
(6 servings)

1 bag small red beans, dried
2 jalapeno peppers
2 servings La Costena Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce (70g)
Juice of 1 lime
4 oz reserved bean liquid


In a large stockpot, add bag of dried beans to 8 cups of water.

Cook until beans are hydrated and fork tender.  (About an hour)

While the beans are cooking, cut up the jalapenos to give the food processor a bit of a head start on the breakdown.

Weigh out 2 servings (70g) of chipotle peppers from the can.

There are a LOT of seeds in there so unless you want to breathe fire, remove them.  If you're daring, leave 'em in.

Cut your lime in half and keep it on hand.

When the beans are done, reserve about 4 oz of the liquid before draining them.

Add the beans to your food processor/ blender.

 and give them a few whirls to break them up a bit.  Add the reserved liquid.  When they're almost to the consistency you want them, add all of the peppers and the lime juice.

Blend until the peppers are broken down, take a peek inside to make sure it's the consistency you want it.

When it's to your liking, dish it out and dig in!

I purposely don't add salt to this recipe because my main motivation in making recipes like this is to keep sodium on the lower side but if you add a tsp of salt to this, the sodium per serving will change to 515mg.  Obviously you can add some salt free spices to it if you like.  Garlic or onion powder would be a nice addition or even a hit of cumin would add to this already smoky dish.  Experiment and see what you like!

This can be broken down into 6 servings for a good side dish.  Or you can use less for a base on mexican pizzas, quesadillas, in burritos, etc.  A great item to freeze into individual servings for future use.

Nutritional Information per serving:  Calories 143  Sodium 201mg  Potassium 21mg  Total Carbs 51g  Fiber 28g  Sugars 3g  Protein 15g  Vitamin A 11% Vitamin C 9% Calcium 13% Iron 35%

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