Description
The best refried beans recipe: Discover the savory world of Mexican cuisine with this easy recipe. Made with traditional pinto beans, onions, garlic, and lard, these creamy, flavorful beans are perfect as a side or main dish for just about any Mexican meal.
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium white or yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 to 1 jalapeño (halved if whole), deseeded or seeds left in (your choice!)
- 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 1 pound dried pinto beans, picked through and rinsed
- 5 ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 quarts water
- 1/2 cup pork lard*
Instructions
- Bring the onion, jalapeno, garlic, beans, bacon, salt, and water to a boil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, or until the beans are completely tender. You may need to top off your beans with hot water if the liquid falls below the level of the beans.
- Here’s where you can decide what you want to do with your jalapeño. If you’d like your beans spicy, you can puree some or all of the jalapeño with the beans, or you can remove and discard it. Using an immersion blender, begin to puree your beans with their cooking liquid to your desired consistency. I like mine pretty smooth with a few small chunks, but you can make them as thick and chunky or smooth and creamy as you like. Alternatively, you can use a potato masher to mash your beans.
- Heat the lard in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the mashed beans and stir to combine. Take care when frying your beans! They will spatter, bubble, and “spit” throughout the cooking process, and hot beans on your skin hurt like hell. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to fry the beans, stirring often, until your desired consistency is reached; how long you cook your beans depends on how thick or thin you’d like them. This can take between 15–25 minutes, depending on how thick you want them to be and how much bean cooking liquid you end with before pureeing your beans. Remember, they will thicken as they cool, so take them off the heat a few minutes before your final desired consistency is reached. If you overthicken them, you can add a bit of warm water to bring them back. Season to taste with additional salt (you may not need it, but they should be highly seasoned).
Notes
Inspiration: Homemade Refried Beans on bonappetit.com
*I have both soaked my beans overnight and not soaked them at all before cooking; both will work. Unsoaked beans will generally take longer to cook, but if you have fresh unsoaked beans, they will still cook relatively close to the amount of time indicated. If you do want to soak your beans overnight, cover the beans with water, stirring in 1 tablespoon of kosher salt per quart of water you add.
**You can use up to 1 cup of lard if desired—this quantity is a bit more traditional for the quantity of beans used, but I found I preferred it with half the amount.
INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS: I have also made these in the Instant Pot with great results. To make refried beans in the Instant Pot, you will use 4-1/2 cups water (in place of the 3 quarts called for above). Add all the ingredients, including the water, to the Instant Pot. The water should completely cover the beans. Cook on high pressure for 50 minutes, then allow the pressure to release naturally. Reserve 2 cups of the bean cooking liquid and drain off the rest. Proceed from Step 2 in the recipe instructions above, adding 1 cup of the cooking liquid when pureeing and added more if needed to achieve your desired consistency.
- Category: Beans, Mexican-Inspired