Incredibly Easy Refried Beans Recipe
With hardly any hands-on time you can have refried beans seasoned how you like for a fraction of the cost and you can make them at the same time you're cooking up dry beans to store in the freezer!
Servings: 3 cups
Calories: 108kcal
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
*If you wanted to add a bit more flavor, you could sauté onion, garlic, and any other seasonings together in a pan until very soft and then mash them with the beans. I would use an immersion blender for this, then, just to get them smoother.
**I use fresh water for mashing the beans because the liquid the beans have cooked in seems to cause my family intestinal troubles.
***I use glass mason jars and freezer baggies for freezing refried beans. When using jars, the tops may get a bit dried out looking, but when thawed and mixed again (adding a bit of water if needed), they are as good as new!
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 19.5g | Protein: 6.8g | Fat: 0.45g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 389mg | Potassium: 329mg | Fiber: 6.5g | Sugar: 0.25g | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 34.75mg | Iron: 1.5mg
