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: Top your refried beans with Mexican cotija cheese or stir in your favorite shredded cheese.
Refried black beans- 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
Equipment
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 Dried 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
*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.
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This recipe is AMAZING! I’ve never made refried beans before, mainly because I don’t like them, but I’m turning away from buying premade foods and I needed some for a recipe. I followed the recipe exactly (unusual for me) since it’s a new process. These things are delicious. I also saved the bean water and will freeze it when it’s cool so I have it for when I make soup. Thank you for a fantastic recipe. You’ve turned me into a convert.
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.
came out perfectly! I omitted the oregano and used homemade chicken broth I had on hand instead of the bean liquid. thank you!
My kids and I have always strongly disliked refried beans – the look, smell, taste… it’s all yuck to us. My husband is Mexican, so I thought I’d be sweet and make these for him because I know HE likes refried beans. Oh… MY GOSH, I took a little taste out of curiosity (it smelled good) and WAH!!! This recipe is AMAZING! This recipe is, in fact, so good I need to make a double batch every time now because the kids and I can’t help but eat bowls of it! We skip the tortilla and just throw the chicken, cheese, lettuce and jalapenos on top of the beans. Thank you for sharing the recipe! It’s our families new fave!!!
Thank you. So tired of buying 3- 4 cans everyday.
You mentioned using black beans instead. Thought I might mention that my Honduran husband prefers the refried beans made with small red beans instead of black or pinto. I’ve been to several Central American restaurants and they mostly use the small red beans so that is an option also.
The instructions worked well for me! I did however end up adding quite a bit of additional seasoning (especially a hefty amount of additional cumin). I also substituted some beef drippings I had on hand for the lard.
Haven’t even made the beans yet, but will, and everything sounds like it’ll make some 5 star beans. My 5 stars now is for the fact that I didn’t have to scroll through your life story before getting to the recipe. 😉
Amen! I looked at several other recipes and would give up because you had to scroll forever to just find the recipe. Will be trying these today.
Do you soak the beans overnight with all three cooking options? Also, how much water do you add when cooking in the crockpot?
No soaking the beans if you use the IP or slow cooker methods. Cover the beans with water–you don’t need to measure it, just cover them by and inch of so.
Great I love the outcome of this recipe. Yum
Absolutely refrigerate or freeze in freezer bags. Beans are a great medium for bacteria.
Do they need to be refrigerated? I would love to store them in mason jars in my pantry, but am wary.
No, they would definitely need to be stored in the fridge!
How did you make it through life this far to post this question?
Dear Laura, wife and I came from Denver where we always had Mexican Food. Never made my own,always canned. Rosarita. Truly loved this recipe!!! Will never go back. Will try green chiles in them next time. How can I get my beans smoother without the skins. I mashed seemed forever. Thx. Five Star
I use my immersion blender when I make refriwd beans. I can control how smooth or chunky they are by taking out some before I make the rest smooth and smooth them and add them back in.
I made this recipe today. Since I am now on a low-sodium diet, canned beans are in my rear-view mirror. I did make some adjustments to the recipe for added flavor. I added 1/2 tsp salt during the cooking stage. I chopped the onion before adding it to the cooking pot with the beans and then left it in to be “smooshed” with the beans in the frying pan. I added 1/4 tsp. of cumin and a pinch of cayenne in the smooshing stage too. After tasting the finished beans, I decided to add 1/2 tsp. salt and a tsp. of white wine vinegar. The total sodium count is 2300 mg. But there are at least 10 servings from this batch so the amount of sodium per 1/2 cup serving is 230 mg, a far cry from the 540 mg in canned refried beans! I am very pleased with the results and am looking forward to using them on our tacos .
If you’re on a low sodium diet, try Benson’s Table Tasty. You’ll cut the 2300 mg of sodium to zero with no loss of flavor. Considering there is 231 mg of sodium in 4 oz. of pinto beans, and an onion has 430 mg of sodium your recipe is much higher in sodium than you are aware of.