If you’ve ever scraped a disappointingly grayish lump of store-bought refried beans onto your plate, you deserve to know there's a better way. And it only takes 5 minutes. I'm not even blogger-lying. FIVE minutes.
There is nothing to this. You can genuinely make refried beans in pretty much an instant. There's just a few spices and one trick to making them creamy.
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I understand there’s something vaguely unsettling about refried beans from a can. They hold the shape of their aluminum prison like a sad, bean-flavoured Jell-O mold. And yet, people keep buying them, oblivious to the fact that making your own takes roughly the same amount of effort as opening the can—but with significantly less existential dread.
To make them, I use homemade garlic and onion powder, ground cumin and salt. There are a couple of other things I sometimes add which you can read about in the recipe.
So how do I make refried beans in an instant(ish)? Like this ...
You don’t need lard or a laundry list of ingredients—just a jar of black beans, a few seasonings, and a bit of oil. Mash them into oblivion or leave them chunky, depending on your stance on texture. Either way, they’ll be better than whatever you’ve been settling for.
Homemade Refried Black Beans
I grow the beans, dry the beans, can the beans, then refry the beans. Which seems a bit much now that I've typed it out.
You can also just use a can of black beans.
Ingredients
- 1 jar (or can) of black beans, drained
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- ¼ cup water (or more as needed)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- OPTIONAL ADD INS
- cilantro
- pickled jalapeno peppers
Instructions
- Heat the Oil – In a pan over medium heat, warm the oil until it shimmers like it just got back from vacation.
- Add the Beans & Spices – Dump in the black beans, followed by the cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Stir them around so they get properly acquainted.
- Mash & Simmer – Pour in the water and start mashing with a fork or potato masher. Want them smoother? Keep going. Prefer them chunky? Stop when your heart says so.
- Adjust & Serve – Simmer for 5 minutes, adding more water if they start to thicken too much. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Notes
If you're using chopped pickled jalapenos, add them when you add the spices.
If you're adding cilantro, add it at the end and stir in.
Done. You now have a bowl of refried black beans, not a can of sadness. Eat them in tacos, burritos, or straight off the spoon.
phil shaffer
I cant seem to find canned black beans here, is there a préparation of dried beans before? Sounds good. !!! ;-)
KimW
Hi Phil -
Cooking any kind of dried bean is pretty easy; but it does take a little time, so you may want to get a bag of dried black beans and cook the whole batch up in one go, and then split it up into smaller containers and freeze some, so you can make these refried beans. One can of beans works out to about one and a a half to one and two-thirds cups of cooked beans; you could bump that up to two cups of cooked beans if it's easier.
I am a fan of the bougie bean brand Rancho Gordo, and here's how they say to cook beans on their site:
Soak the beans the night before only if you feel like it. Drain, and then dump them into a pot. Throw in some aromatics like a halved onion or a celery stalk or a garlic clove or two, if you feel like it as well. Add enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, and boil the hell out of them for ten minutes; then turn the heat down to low and simmer until the beans are soft enough for you (this can take anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple hours, depending on whether you soaked and on the age of your beans). Discard any aromatics.
....Soaking beans mainly just makes the cooking time a little shorter. The older a dried bean is, the longer it takes to cook, and most supermarket beans can be pretty old so soaking is a good bet unless you got seriously bougie beans. (Some people say soaking also washes away the stuff in beans that makes them repeat on you, but that is unproven.)
Beans freeze really well too; so as I mention above, you can cook up a whole pound and then divide it into smaller freezer-safe containers and have a stash of frozen precooked beans ready to go. One pound of dried beans should yield about 6 cups of cooked.
Tres Davis
"I'm not even blogger-lying" made me laugh. It is so true, bloggers often seem to list the preparation time assuming all ingredients are already peeled, diced, measured, blanched, seared, and basically done. I usually end up taking twice the amount listed for the prep.
Karen
Yep, that sounds about right. It always takes longer. ~ karen!
Phil Shaffer
Thanks for the information. I hate to say that I jumped too quickly, as I live in France, and not found this type of bean. I really rember the refried beans from my "home town" in southern Arizona!
Robin
"...sad, bean-flavoured Jell-O mold." That's quite possibly the funniest, truest description ever! Anyway this is my kind of recipe and can't wait to try it. Thanks, Karen!
Karen
Let me know if you try it! ~ karen
Laura Bee
Definitely trying this recipe. My daughter loves beans of all kinds including refried. I have a bag of dried black beans that I can use. Should I soak/cook drain and rinse? I always rinse my canned beans. Is that even necessary?
Karen
Hi Laura. I never rinse canned beans. I may drain them if they have excess liquid but I never rinse them. Especially if I'm adding them to chili or for refried beans. That liquid clinging to the beans is thick, creamy and flavourful. ~ karen!
ConCanDo
For Sonoran style beans - cook dry pinto beans and also include chile powder with the other spices. 🌶️
CathyR
Imma try this but first I need that masher you have!!
Link please, my Fella is toe tappin waitn for me to get on it!
Karen
Here you go Cathy! https://amzn.to/4gTHvrz It's for nonstick pans or surfaces. ~ karen!
Cara
I am going rogue. Thanks for info on refried beans BUT-
I was feeding the birds yesterday and realized their favorite treats are the sunflower seeds which are the most expensive to buy. Do you have or will you provide info on how to process the seeds from the sunflowers I grow (from seed) in my garden and how to prepare/preserve them for winter treats for tweets? Thank you. Back to the beans.
Karen
Hi Cara. All you need to do is grow the sunflowers. Once the seeds fully form, cut the heads down before the birds eat them all, put the in paper bags and wait for the heads and seeds to dry. Then you can remove them just by brushing your hand over the sunflower heads or by shaking them in the bag. But you'll need to grow a lot of sunfloweres to feed birds. You can also just leave the sunflowers where they grow and birds will find and pick the seeds from the heads throughout the fall. ~ karen!
Deb from Maryland
Huh. This recipe has made me re-think my aversion to refried beans. Cool!
Jean C.
Not Pinto beans!
Betta
Also wondering if pinto beans would work!
Grammy
I've made refried beans from pinto beans for close to 70 years. Usually I've cooked a pot of dried beans and use some for refried, but once in awhile I've used canned pinto beans because I had some in the cupboard for quickie use. My family and friends think they're delicious. I grew up in Southern California, and the beans in the kitchen of every one of my Mexican friends were pintos, so I just copied what I ate at their homes.
Toby
My review should be in the comments section - I did not scroll down to see this. Sorry.
RandyP
Sounds and looks simple enough. Dare I presume that a can of pinto beans would also work well? No soap leaves or tongue fire for me thanks, but the rest if the ingredients sound quite tasty. I 'confess' to be a lifelong canned refried beans diner but have no objection to giving this method a go. Thanks for sharing your method and for providing impetus for us to try it.
Carol B.
Randy, you are one of a small percentage of the population with two recessive alleles (one from each parent) of the olfactory gene OR6A2 on your chromosome 11. That's why cilantro tastes soapy to you. It is yummy to the rest of us!
CJ C.
Count me in also as a soap taster.
RandyP
Quite right - known about the condition since cilantro first appeared on the scene. From my perspective the majority of people have diminished senses and sadly don't realize they're eating soap. The poor souls. lol
Patti_is_knittinginflashes
I’m the same. Cilantro = soap.