Easy Homemade Refried Beans

Homemade refried beans sound like a project, but they’re actually incredibly simple — and very flexible. This recipe walks you through making refried beans from dried beans or canned beans, depending on how much time you have. Same cozy flavor, same creamy texture, just two different paths to get there.

Author: Food with Feeling

Meal Type: Milk Free

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: EASY

Prep. Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 602 kcal per serving

Ingredients

8 ounces - dry pinto beans or black beans
3 cups - water
2 - dried chipotle peppers
½ - white onion
3 cloves - garlic
1 batch - cooked pinto beans from above
¼ cup - white onion
3 cloves - garlic
2 tablespoons - canola oil
½ - jalapeno
½ tsp - chili powder
1 tsp - cumin
½ tsp - paprika
Salt
½ cup - vegetable or chicken broth

Instructions

If using canned beans, skip this section and jump ahead to the "To Make the Refried Beans" section.
Cut onion in half, remove dry outer skin. Rinse beans in colander, check for broken beans or other debris and remove.
Place beans in a medium pot, cover with 3 cups water, add whole garlic cloves, dried chipotles, and half an onion. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, then reduce heat, cover with lid cracked, and simmer for 1.5 hours. Add hot water (ideally from a kettle) if more water is needed (I added ¾ cup of hot water during the simmer time).
Drain your cooked beans with a colander over a bowl to reserve cooking liquid. Throw away onion, garlic, and chipotle pepper.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the minced onion, jalapeno, chili powder, paprika, and cumin. Saute, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, be careful not to burn/blacken.
Add in your cooked beans, ¼ cup of reserved bean water (or 1/4 cup of broth if you're using canned beans), ½ teaspoon salt. Mix everything together and mash the beans to your preferred consistency. Simmer for 3 minutes, add more water/ broth to thin out, simmer longer to thicken.
Remove from heat and stir in ¼ cup of reserved bean water (or broth if using canned beans). Add salt to taste.
Store leftover refried beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water or broth to loosen.

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