About the beans:
- Dried beans (NO CANS!): The key to authentic refried beans is using dry beans. Canned beans will not result in the same texture or flavor and it’s just not the way Mexican refried beans are made! You can find dry beans in the Mexican food isle at the grocery store.
- Pinto beans: refried beans are usually made with pinto beans but black beans can also be used.
How to Make Refried Beans:
1. Rinse and soak beans. Sift through the dry beans, removing any unwanted pieces from the bag. Add the beans to a large pot, cover with water and soak overnight.
2. Boil beans. Drain beans, add them to a pot and cover them with fresh water. Add onion to the pot and a couple dashes of salt. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for one hour.
3. Fry beans.  Heat lard or oil in skillet. Add the garlic and stir. Add the beans, cumin, oregano and ¼ cup of reserved water from the bean broth.
4. Mash. Gently smash the beans with a potato masher or fork as they cook. Continue stirring and mashing until you get the texture you like and the beans are the consistency of soft mashed potatoes. Add more bean broth liquid if necessary. Taste and season with additional salt if needed.
5. Serve. Top with shredded cheese, if desired.
For Instant Pot Refried Beans (No Soaking):
1. Rinse beans. Rinse in a colander, removing any unwanted pieces that may be in the bag.
2. Add to Instant Pot. Add the beans, onion, and salt to the instant pot and fill the pot with about 7-8 cups of water.
3. Pressure cook. Turn valve to sealed and cook on high pressure/manual for 45 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 25 minutes. Remove lid and test beans to make sure they are tender.
4. Sauté beans. Drain the beans, removing the onion and reserving ½ cup of the bean broth water. On SAUTE mode, add lard or oil. Once hot, add the garlic and stir. Add the beans, cumin, oregano and ¼ cup of the bean broth. (You could also chop the reserved onion and add it to the pan).
5. Mash. Cook, gently smashing the beans as they cook with a potato masher or fork. Continue stirring and mashing until you get the texture you like and the beans are the consistency of soft mashed potatoes. Add more bean broth liquid if necessary. Taste and season with additional salt if needed.
6. Serve. Top with shredded cheese, if desired.
For Crockpot Refried Beans (No Soaking):
1. Combine Ingredients. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Cover with fresh water.
2. Cook on high for 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Drain. Drain the beans, removing the onion and reserving ½ cup of the bean broth water.
4. Sauté beans. Add lard or oil to a hot skillet. Add garlic, beans, cumin, oregano and ¼ cup of the bean broth. (You could also chop the reserved onion and add it to the pan).
5. Mash. Cook, gently smashing the beans as they cook with a potato masher or fork. Continue stirring and mashing until you get the texture you like and the beans are the consistency of soft mashed potatoes. Add more bean broth liquid if necessary. Taste and season with additional salt if needed.
6. Serve. Top with shredded cheese, if desired.
Adaptations:
To use canned pinto beans: substitute 2 cans of pinto beans, drained but liquid reserved.
Cheesy refried beans:Â Top your refried beans with Mexican cotija cheese or stir in your favorite shredded cheese.
Refried black beans-Â substitute one pound of dry black beans.
Add bell peppers- Finely chop bell pepper and sauté it with the garlic in step 7 of the recipe.
Spicy refried beans- remove the stem from a jalapeño peppers and finely dice it. Sauté it with the garlic in step 7 of the recipe.
Consider serving these with:
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Recipe
Homemade Refried Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry pinto beans , about 2 cups
- 1 large onion , quartered
- 2 Tablespoons lard or oil
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1-2 teaspoons salt , or more, to taste
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin , or more, to taste
- ½ teaspoon oregano , or more, to taste
Instructions
Stove-top Refried Beans:
- Rinse pinto beans in a colander, removing any unwanted pebbles or pieces that may be in the bag.
- Add the beans to a large pot, cover with water and soak overnight. Â
- Drain soaked beans and return them to the pot. Add fresh water to cover the beans up to two inches above them. Add onion to the pot and a couple dashes of salt.Â
- Bring beans to a boil, cover and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Check the beans and if they’re not completely cooked after one hour, let them simmer a few minutes longer until they’re done.Â
- Drain the beans, removing the onion and reserving the bean broth water.
- In a large skillet (preferably an iron skillet), heat lard or oil over medium heat.Â
- Add the garlic and stir. Add the beans, cumin, oregano and ¼ cup of the bean broth. (You could also chop the reserved onion and add it to the pan).
- Cook, gently smashing the beans as they cook with a potato masher or fork.Â
- Continue stirring and mashing, adding additional bean broth as needed until you get the texture you like and the beans are the consistency of soft mashed potatoes. Taste and season with additional salt, cumin and oregano, as needed. Top with shredded cheese, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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*I originally shared this recipe March 2013. Updated February 2020 with process photos and instructions for making refried beans in the instant pot and slow cooker.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Too bad I drained all the water off before I saw your comment on adding it later in the directions.
I’m glad I read your post. It would be nice if the reserved water could be added to the recipe. I’m also going to save my bacon grease after reading a comment below.
Love the flavor of the beans refried in the lard! A little lard adds so much richness, and so few recipes have that step! I pressure cooked my beans with onion, chili powder, cumin, cayenne and salt in veg broth….so I didn’t need to add additional seasoning to my beans. I did however, try adding the cumin, garlic and oregano in the frying process, and to my taste, the oregano tasted off. But I think just the refrying the seasoned cooked beans and liquid in the lard alone is SOLID and worth trying! THX!
This was so good! I used one quartered yellow onion and some chicken bouillon when the beans were coming to a boil. I also used bacon grease to fry them. Yum!
This recipient is delicious! I used bacon grease,beans were a great addition with chiliquiles!
I’ve made this recipe twice for big gatherings and it’s been a hit both times.
Absolutely delicious and tasty! Kids and I love this recipe and I’ll be using again when we have Mexican!
If I dont have a bean masher, can I put the beans in a food processor?
Sure!
Not nearly enough spices or salt for the amount of beans. Had to add at least 4-5x more to get any flavor. Other than that, this was fine.
How far in advance can I make this recipe? Can they be made and frozen until needed?
cooked beans can be refrigerated for up to 5 days as long as they are chilled within one hour of cooking. I don’t know of freezing them.
I’m in my late 40’s and had only the canned refried beans. Holy cow! This is so much better. I read the other reviews, but as with every ethnic food there is no one way to do “authentic” and recipes can vary wildly from region to region. I love this recipe. It’s simplicity makes it highly adaptable to one’s personal tastes.
Cumin is not it. Thought this was interesting so gave it a try but it’s not a usual flavor in authentic refried beans. It ruined the beans. Even at the recommended amount, I had to try watering beans down further and that did not help very much. I’ll stick to salt and chicken boullion. Not sure why it’s 5 stars.
this recipe isn’t the best. the instructions are vague and the ingredients used are questionable. Ive made it twice and its never come out. Im not sure how its got such high reviews personally. Definitely a disappointment.