With hardly any hands-on time you can have refried beans seasoned how you like for a fraction of the cost (plus, you can make them at the same time you're cooking up dry beans to store in the freezer!).
Oh my goodness, I just have to share this quick and easy way to have homemade, truly easy refried beans I figured out! It fits so seamlessly into making and planning our pantry basics that I can't believe I've been buying cans of refried beans while cooking and making all our dry beans to keep in the freezer. Why did the two not connect for me earlier?
Well, one reason is that I always thought making refried beans must be too much trouble - they had to be fried after all. Plus, the cans seem cheap and were almost my last convenience item, along with tortillas (because after three homemade attempts, they really are too much trouble!), so I told myself it wasn't a big deal.
Which, just to clarify - it's not. Buy canned beans if you need to.
But being aware how easy it is to make them on your own, save a little money, and control the ingredients are good things. Then when you can make them, do!
It's a wonderfully empowering to make your own, just like sandwich bread, ketchup, and granola bars, right?
Two things happened to make me think it may not be too much trouble to make easy refried beans after all:
- This article on how to make refried beans in a slow cooker without frying made me think they might actually taste good when simply mashed.
- My daughter came back from a youth trip to Mexico and said that the mom in her homestay family didn't fry her beans - she just mashed them in a pot, and "they were so good" according to my daughter (oh and this lady didn't make her own tortillas either, she bough the uncooked kinds you can find in stores and cooked them so they seemed like fresh!). If native Mexicans don't fry beans, then there must be something to this cook-and-mash method.
Which led to my lightbulb moment:
"Hey I cook beans and freeze them to use whenever I want already - and I cook them in a pot that I could easily mash them in like that lady in Mexico did!"
So making refried beans regularly could become part of something I already did and then I could use them right away and make enough to freeze for later.
And so I did.
Of course you've figured out by now that it was incredibly easy, but also the beans really are "so good" like in Mexico - and boy, do I wish I had figured this out earlier!
Homemade Easy Refried Beans
For the burritos above, I cooked a batch of Jacob's Cattle beans (they are similar to pinto) and froze half of them like I normally do in the freezer containers.
The other half stayed in the pot. I added some water and a few seasonings like garlic, onion powder, and salt and cooked for awhile, mashing every now and then with a potato masher until they were at a consistency I liked (an immersion blender would work as well).
You can add as much water as you need to get a consistency you like. Some people like runnier beans, others don't - it's one more reason to make your own, right?
Same with fat - if you'd like fat in your beans, add them at the cooking/mashing stage.
The beans turned out awesome! I made about 10 bean and cheese burritos from the beans - 5 for the freezer and 5 for dinner - and divided the rest of the beans into containers to freeze, too.
I've found the frozen refried beans keep for 2-3 months in the freezer. I use glass jars and sometimes freezer baggies if I don't have room for the jars. If freezing in jars, the top of the beans will look a bit dried after a month or so, but when thawed and mixed (adding a bit of water if needed), it's all just good refried beans again.
I'm so glad I figured this out - it's great to not have to worry about not having refried beans when we want to have tacos! Do you think you'll try this, too?
Incredibly Easy Refried Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound pinto beans soaked if desired
- 1/2 cup water or more as needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional seasonings like garlic powder onion powder, cayenne to taste*
Instructions
- Cook a pot of beans, covered with water until tender, but not falling apart (anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the freshness of your beans - test often). Drain the cooking liquid.**
- At this point, you can remove some whole beans to freezer containers- cover with water and freeze like this. Or use all the beans for refried beans.
- Return remaining drained beans to the pot, add about 1/2 cup water (double if mashing the whole pound) and any seasonings you're using and bring all to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Lower heat and cook for about 20 minutes, until very tender.
- Mash with potato masher (or immersion blender if you have enough beans) and continue cooking and mashing, adding more water as needed, until the beans reach the texture and consistency you desire (about 5-15 minutes more, mashing periodically).
- Use immediately, refrigerate for a week, or divide into freezer containers to freeze for longer storage.***
Notes
Nutrition
Other easy pantry basic recipes you may like:
Fast & Healthy Homemade Salad Dressings
Pantry Basics: Homemade Chocolate Syrup
Perfectly Salted DIY Roasted Almonds {seriously the BEST}
Easy 10 Minute Baked Tortilla Chips
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Leisa says
Morning Jami
I try to avoid plastic wrap but still use it to cover anything in a container that goes in the freezer. Press the wrap tight to the food and it will prevent freezer burn. That is why ice cream from the store is covered in a plastic film.
Jami says
Thanks for the tip, Leisa - that's a good idea! I wonder if waxed paper would work?
Leisa says
Yes waxed paper works for refried beans and anything that wouldn't leave air pockets.
Geni says
Thanks for this recipe! I think it would be good with a little salsa stirred into the refried beans or a little lime and chili peppers.
Jami says
Yes - yum!
Dee says
I've always been intrigued with refried beans...but how do you get your family to like them?? You don't have a blog for that, do you?! If they don't like beans, will they like refried beans? lol
Jami says
My family loves beans, Dee! I wonder if you started by adding them to other dishes a little at a time? And since you can put refried beans in burritos with meat and cheese, they might like them that way, who knows? 🙂
Ani says
I found your blog a few days ago and have just been skimming through it and have been tempted to comment several times, but this one pushes me to do so! 1) I am a displaced Eugenian, so I find myself suddenly only reading blogs that take place in the PNW. I haven't done this on purpose. I am jealous of your afternoon tea in the summer. I miss summers that include "appropriate" weather (50s and 60s) 😉 2) I find it so hard to find food blogs that don't trigger old disordered eating habits. It was only after sifting through this website for awhile that I realized that I haven't freaked out at any point yet.
and the real reason to comment, 3) I am a linguist. Which is to say that I have degrees in linguistics. No one care for the useless information that I have stored away, but I share it anyway because I love it and sharing is loving, right? "Refried" beans is actually an old mistranslation from the Spanish "frijoles refritos". The verb [freir] which is commonly used as "fry" these days, used to mean (50-60 years ago even) simply to cook, and [re-] used to mean "with emphasis/extra". So [refrito] just means "cooked a long time". Hence the reason that no one actually fries refried beans!
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to babble/share!
Jami says
Lovely, Ani! I'm so glad to know that, I really have always wondered about the refried part. And thanks for your kind words - I guess it takes getting out of the rain and 'mild' temps to appreciate them, huh? I sure hope that's a good thing that you haven't freaked out. 😉
kristine in wa says
Sometime try substituting chicken stock for the water... extra delicious!
Jami says
I bet! I will - thanks for the tip. 🙂
Sakura says
When we make them we just take some of the cooked beans with the bean "juice" and mash them. We buy our tortillas from the tortilla vendor freshly made, so delicious.
Jackie says
The refried beans sound great. What seasonings did you use & did you add any lard to them?
Jami says
I used salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder - just a few shakes of each, and then I tasted for salt levels. I may add some taco seasoning next time for the burritos, but it's pretty adaptable. I didn't add anything but water, but you certainly could, if you wanted that flavor or whatever lard might add to them. 🙂
Jackie says
Thanks. I was thinking I might add some enchilada sauce or chipotle chili.
Christy says
I can my beans in the pressure cooker - so so easy - then each time I want refried beans I dump a can in the pot, add some lard (I either make this or buy from the Amish) taco seasonings heat and mash. I like it mashed with an immersion blender, my husband likes it with a potato masher. Easy peasy! I am like you - why did it take me so long to realize how easy and delicious making my own is.