How are refried beans traditionally made?

While the name might be misleading, refried beans comes from the Spanish translation of frijoles refritos , which means “well fried”. The beans aren’t twice fried. Cooked beans are added to a pan to cook with a fat like lard, oil or butter and some onion and additional spice, then mashed into a paste.

Can you freeze refried beans?

Yes! Place your cooled beans in an airtight container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. It’s important to note that the beans might lose a little bit of their flavor when thawed. If this is the case, adjust the seasonings based on your preference when reheating them.

Why are my beans are still hard after cooking for the recommended time?

Make sure that you haven’t cooked your dry beans in salt. Salt will make it harder for your beans to soften as they cook. Add the salt in at the end of cooking. Also, check to make sure your beans aren’t really old. Beans that have been sitting in your pantry for 9 or more months can take much longer to cook and soften. In the event you are using old beans, try to soak them before cooking or cook them for longer until softened.

What can I do to reduce gas from beans?

Everyone's tolerance to beans is different. If you are not a regular bean eater, I do recommend soaking your beans before starting this recipe. This may help with making the beans more digestible. Another thing is to slowly introduce beans into your diet if it’s new to you as your gut is not used to it. Try a few tablespoons at first to see how you tolerate it, then work your way up to 1/4 cup, etc. In Mexican cuisine, black beans are often cooked with Epazote, an herb that helps with reducing bloat. You can read more about Epazote here .

Homemade Refried Beans - Plant Based RD

Name: Homemade Refried Beans
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 cup dry black beans; 1 small white or yellow onion, cut in half and save 1/2 for the boiled beans and dice up the other half for the refried beans; 7 cloves of garlic, crush 1 clove for the refried beans; 1 bay leaf; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeds removed if desired; 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube or 1/2 tsp Vegetable or Vegan Chicken Better than Bouillon; Salt to taste

Description

Better than canned Vegan Refried Black Beans. Easy to make from scratch with basic pantry staples and perfect for burritos, bowls or chips.

Ingredients

Scale

1 cup dry black beans
1 small white or yellow onion, cut in half and save 1/2 for the boiled beans and dice up the other half for the refried beans
7 cloves of garlic, crush 1 clove for the refried beans
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp olive oil
1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeds removed if desired
1/2 vegetable bouillon cube or 1/2 tsp Vegetable or Vegan Chicken Better than Bouillon
Salt to taste

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Instructions

If Cooking Beans From Scratch

Measure your beans then spread out on a sheet pan and sort, removing any extra debris, rocks or shriveled or broken pieces. Rinse the beans well and place the beans in a large pot with enough water to reach 3 inches above the beans.
Add in 1/2 your onion, 6 cloves of garlic and your bay leaf. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat, then simmer the beans and loosely cover the pot with a lid. Cook the beans for 2-3 hours or until the beans are tender. As the beans cook, stir occasionally and add additional hot water as needed, I often will add about 2 cups of extra hot water to the pot after an hour and a half. After cooking, add salt to taste.

Refried Beans

Heat up a large skillet on the stove top, add your oil and when hot add in the onion with a pinch of salt and cook down until softened. Then, if using jalapeño, add to the pan and sauté until the jalapeno starts to sear, about 2-3 minutes.
Add 3 cups of cooked beans with bean liquid OR 2, 15 oz cans of black beans with their liquid to the pan and mix in with the onion mixture. As the beans simmer, add in the bouillon base and use a potato masher to mash up the beans.
Continue to cook the beans until a nice puree forms. You can leave it as chunky as you like.

Notes

To make your beans in the Instant Pot, place your sorted and rinsed beans into the pressure cooker chamber along with 4 cups water, 1/2 onion, 6 garlic cloves and 1-2 bay leaves. Seal the pressure cooker then set to manual pressure for 35 minutes and allow the pressure to release naturally. Make sure to use newer dry beans and avoid beans that have then sitting in your cabinet for longer than 9 months.

When cooking the refried beans, use a medium heat to avoid drying out your refried beans. They will continue to thicken when they sit and cool, so if they are slightly runny that is okay.

To store, allow beans to cool, place in an airtight container and place in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can freeze these beans as well for up to 3 months.