The most amazingly creamy wonderfully flavored refried beans made at home in just 5 minutes (if you have cooked beans on hand). Seriously, these refried beans taste just as good or better than your favorite Mexican restaurant, but you can make them at home for a little bit of nothing!
If you’re starting from scratch with dried beans, you can make these refried beans hot and fresh in about 1 1/2 hours with a pressure cooker and a little mini chopper/food processor. I typically make up a pound of beans in my Instant Pot, then freeze a bunch of them for easy meals later.
I’m hopelessly addicted to these delicious, super creamy beans. I’ve been spreading them on tostadas almost daily, using them for a dip, putting them on my omelettes, in tacos, and just scooping up a spoonful straight from the fridge now and then just because they’re soooo yummy. I have always loved refried beans and, sure I’ve made them myself many a time, but never have I found myself so enthralled with homemade refried beans as I am with THIS recipe.
What type of beans to use?
While pinto beans are the traditional choice for refried beans, I’ve tried this refried beans recipe with mixed beans and also with pinto beans and both were exactly perfect and wonderful. I think they would turn out marvelous with just about any kind of bean you can imagine. I can’t wait to try them with black beans!
The other super awesome thing about using dried beans and cooking them at home is you can buy a big bag of beans for just a few dollars and that one bag can provide so many good meals!
What’s the secret to making these refried beans so flavorful?
- The best refried beans start with the best beans! For this recipe, you want really good tasting, well cooked beans. Beans that taste creamy BEFORE they are blended up to become “refried”. If you have a pressure cooker, I highly highly highly recommend my Instant Pot Beans recipe. You’ll end up with perfectly creamy beans that are loaded with flavor!
- Do NOT discard the aromatics! Other than the bay leaves, keep the onions, garlic and peppers right in there with the beans. They give them more flavor and I think they add to the amazing creamy texture, plus they’re good for you. Why on earth would you throw them away?
- The real trick to making these refried beans so super tasty is bouillon and taco seasoning mix. Two simple things you probably have on hand right now give these refried beans a depth of flavor that you will not believe.
Are these refried beans healthy?
Health-wise, these refried beans are a fabulous choice. Both dairy and gluten free, they’re a great source of fiber and protein and they can be completely vegan if you use vegetable bouillon (also, no meat juices or animal fat used in cooking the beans). The only downside is that bouillon can be quite high in sodium, so if you’re watching your sodium intake, keep that in mind.
Print
The Best Homemade Refried Beans
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 5 min
- Yield: About 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Super creamy refried beans with amazing flavor!
Ingredients
- 2 cups flavorful, well cooked beans (I highly highly recommend my Instant Pot Beans recipe)
- 2 – 3 teaspoons Better than Bouillon seasoning (vegetable (for vegan) or ham or chicken flavor … or to taste)
- 1 – 2 teaspoons low sodium taco seasoning mix (or to taste. I used my Qdoba taco seasoning)
- Cooking juice from the beans as needed, to thin
Instructions
- Drain the cooking juice from the beans, reserving it.
- Put the beans and seasonings in a mini food processor and blend until smooth, adding juices as needed to thin the beans to your desired consistency. Start with fewer seasonings.
- Taste and add more bouillon or taco seasoning as needed to achieve the desired taste for you.
Notes
Feel free to experiment and play with this! Add other seasonings or fresh or powdered chiles to give it more zest. I had a friend who used to put a little cinnamon in his beans and they were super scrumptious. If dairy is okay, you can stir in a bit of sour cream or melt some cheese on top.
© Copyright 2021, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Beans, Heart healthy, High fiber, Gluten free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Mexican
How to use refried beans?
Once you’ve got your refried beans ready, if you get tired of eating them “as is”, here are some more delightful ways to use your refried beans!
- On a Tostada – my latest obsession
- Copycat Taco Bell Enchirito – from An Affair from the Heart, who misses this Taco Bell classic
- Speedy Mexican Pizzas – from Fountain Avenue Kitchen
- Mexican Pizza – from Moore or Less Cooking
- Cheesy Baked Tacos or Baked Beef & Kale Tacos – from Moore or Less Cooking
- Beef & Bean Enchiladas – from Southern with a Twist
- Easy Baked Refried Bean Dip – from Fountain Avenue Ktchen
- Mexican Crunchwrap Supreme, my way – yeah, this one’s mine!
- Heuvos Rancheros – another one from yours truly
10 comments
Awesome recipe Ann! I love it and thanks for sharing mine!
I love homemade refried beans and your look fantastic! Thank you for also mentioning the many delicious ways to use them!
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