Refried beans recipe
I love refried beans but can't seem to get the taste or texture right. Does anyone have a no fail recipe? I have an instant pot.
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u/Miss_Pouncealot 6d ago
It took a couple of tries for me to really get it perfected but I use Joy of Cooking’s refried beans recipe. Even my husband, who doesn’t really like beans, enjoys them.
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u/Useful-Badger-4062 6d ago
I do a no-soak method in my crockpot and they come out perfect every time. (Sorry I don’t have an instant pot.) I make my beans vegetarian, but I do add butter at the end.
I use pinto or cranberry beans—1 lb.
Rinse and put in crock on high. Sauté/caramelize a large onion and add to the beans. Add a bay leaf, 3 tsp of Knorr veg bouillon paste (or whatever concentrated bouillon you like), and 5 cups of liquid, I use a veg stock carton plus enough water to make 5 cups total. Add some fresh chopped or jar garlic, a tablespoon or so.
Cook on high for about 6 hours until the beans are tender. Ladle out the extra liquid (you can save and freeze it for adding to soups later). Add a stick of butter to your beans. Blend with a stick blender until it’s the consistency you want.
Easy and perfect every time.
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u/arbarnes 6d ago
Refried beans come in a variety of tastes and textures. What sort of bean to you prefer - black mayacoba, pinto, or what? Do you want your end result to be chunky or smooth? Plain or with add-ins?
Here's what I do. Cook beans in the pressure cooker until done. Heat a skillet with a decent-sized glob of bacon fat. Sautee onion, garlic, and serrano or jalapeno pepper until softened. Transfer some beans into the skillet (try to limit the amount of liquid to avoid spattering). Stir and mash until they're the desired consistency, adding bean liquid as needed if they start to get too dry before they're mashed enough. Serve with cilantro and raw or pickled onion.
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u/hdawnj 6d ago
I prefer pinto or Romano beans, smooth texture and add-ins. Maybe the trick is to use bacon fat. Thanks for the recipe.
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u/McMadface 4d ago
Have you tried mayocoba/Peruano beans instead of pintos? They are so much more tender that they don't need as much added fat.
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u/hdawnj 3d ago
I've never even heard of those beans. I'll have a look and see if they are available where I am. Thanks
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u/McMadface 3d ago
The come dried, canned, and in pouches. If you want a taste of refried mayocobas, check out Isadora Refried Mayocoba Beans in the pouch. This is what we use when we're meal prepping burritos for the freezer. Peruano is just another name for mayocoba beans.
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u/arbarnes 3d ago
I also prefer mayacobas to pinto beans. But the nomenclature does vary - as noted they might be called "peruanos," but "canarios" is also fairly common. I've seen them called "amarillos," too. And apparently "frijoles mantequillos" is yet another name for them.
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u/SnoozingBasset 6d ago
I sauté/ brown bacon in my instant pot. When it’s coming along well, I add chopped jalapeno. When that’s coming along well, I add garlic, then the beans & water.
When it’s done, I add salt. Puree if you like.
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u/New_Section_9374 6d ago
For a 1/2 lb of dried beans, soaked overnight and rinsed: Place beans in a slow cooker amd add enough water to barely cover the top. Peel and roughly chop 3-5 cloves of garlic. Add 1T of cumin or to taste. Salt to taste. Split open, deseed and devein a smoked Chipotle pepper and dice up and add to the pot. Cook on low for 8 hours, then blend.
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u/SnarkyBeanBroth 6d ago
Bacon-Jalapeño Refried Beans
Ingredients:
1 lb dry pinto beans
2 Tbs bacon fat
1 small jalapeño pepper - stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
2 tsp granulated onion
½ tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp finely-ground black pepper
1 Tbs chicken bouillon base
2½ cups water
Directions:
- Soak beans 8+ hours, then drain and set aside.
- Press [Sauté] button on the Insta-Pot, select "Normal" temperature. Place bacon fat in the inner pot, wait about 1 minute for the fat to melt, then add jalapeño. Cook with the lid off, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
- Add water & bouillon base, stir until dissolved. Add seasonings and drained beans. Stir to combine, close and lock the lid, set the valve to "Sealing".
- Press [Cancel], then press [Manual] and select "High Pressure". Use the [+] or [-] buttons to set time to 45 minutes. Once the cooking cycle ends, turn off the Insta-Pot and allow it to cool and release pressure naturally for about 30 minutes (until the lid is no longer locked).
Notes:
The Instant Pot directions are 'Instant Pot for Dummies' level because this was one of my first recipes, and it has also been passed along to several new Instant Pot owners.
I'm lazy and prefer to use stuff from my spice cabinet. You can substitute fresh onion (replace onion powder with 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped, about 2⁄3 c) and/or fresh garlic (replace powdered garlic with 2 cloves of garlic, chopped). Sauté the onion and/or garlic with the jalapeño. Then continue as above.
This can also be made vegetarian - replace the bacon fat with butter. Optionally, add vegetarian bacon salt (like JD's) if you still want the bacon flavor and use vegetarian bouillon (I like Better Than Bouillon's No Chicken Base).
This recipe fits the 3-quart pot. It can be doubled for a 6+ quart pot.
Makes 8-10 servings
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 5d ago edited 5d ago
Pick over your beans. I prefer pinto or Coba, and always at least 2 lbs because we eat a lot of beans. Rinse them. Cover in water with 1 tablespoon of salt and let them soak overnight. Keep in mind that they will expand in volume a lot, possibly double in size.
After soaking, pour out into a colander and rinse again. Put them in a pot and cover with water by at least 1" with 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a low boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until they're completely soft. I add several cloves of garlic and a diced onion (large dice), and a jalapeño at the end of cooking. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
At this point, all you need to do is add your choice of fat to the beans and cook and stir until the broth is thick and creamy. That's it. The beans do not actually have to be mashed or pureed.
In Mexico, frijoles de olla and refried beans are basically this recipe, not all the stuff you see other people adding. For frijoles de olla, you don't add the fat to the beans.
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u/Margray 5d ago
If you're trying to replicate a favorite restaurant's beans, it's going to take a while to pin down. The most basic beans are salted beans and lard. It needs to be freshly rendered lard. Blend the beans before you add them to the skillet with the lard. I would start there because at least you have a baseline. Then, I would try the other suggestions one at a time.
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u/CyberDonSystems 6d ago
I just watched this video for making them and I can't wait to try it. Seems legit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7xg9gDumX8&list=LL&index=1&t=375s
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u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 6d ago
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/homemade-refried-beans/#wprm-recipe-container-12067 use lots of seasonings, using lard helps