Refried Beans

Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you…. TOOT! Unless you soak them overnight or cook them in the instant pot that is.

I’ve been making refried beans for about a year now. It all started when I accidentally purchased 50 pounds of pinto beans during COVID. Despite that, they are absolutely delicious. My husband said he could live off these refried beans. We certainly made this several times this time last year. This recipe is adapted from Don’t Waste the Crumbs recipe, which you can look at here. The best thing about this is that the beans aren’t even fried at all, but you can’t taste the difference!

My recipe shows you how to make them in the crockpot and the instant pot. I’m a die hard crockpot fan, but I will say that the instant pot gets it done much faster, by about 6.5 hours. Also, something about the pressure cooker takes away the toots, so no need to soak them over night! Can anyone confirm this is true? To be honest with you, even when making them in the crockpot I never pre-soak. Just make sure to give your beans a nice rinse before cooking, picking out the nasty looking beans.

The spice: If you have been following me then you know I love spice. Not all do so don’t worry, you can easy adapt this. Regardless, this recipe isn’t super spicy. If you don’t want heat, just use 1 jalapeño and deseed. I typically keep the seeds. If I’m looking for heat I’ll add another jalapeño. This time I added 1/3 a cup of green chile. You can use the small hatch cans or purchase your own. I used spicy hatch chile and the spice wasn’t overwhelming. For you poor sensitive souls, start slow with the heat. You can always add more but you can’t take it away. Paprika and a bit of Cheyenne are also nice to add in if you are looking for an alternative.

The consistency: When the beans are done cooking, you dump out the liquid. In the video you can see that I kept some in, that is because I’ve done this enough times to know the consistency I like. Starting out, dump out as much of the liquid as you can in a bowl. Scoop back the beans, jalapeños or onions that fell out and then use your immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender, go to my amazon store. This set is currently 25% off! They are incredibly handy and way easier than transferring to a blender. After you blend the beans you can add in more liquid as needed to get the consistency you like. You could also mash them instead of blending, but I prefer the blended beans.

The liquid: This recipe needs 8 cups of liquid. I’ve used 8 cups of water with no problem. Using some or all broth may help the flavor but isn’t necessary. If you use water of veggie broth it will remain vegetarian. Typically I’ll grab 1 can of broth then use cups of water.

If you are wondering about the best way to eat your beans, the sky is the limit! It can be a bean dip with cheese, it’s great with enchiladas, or try serving on the side with this chicken mole recipe.

The recipe yields about 6 cups.

Print Recipe

Refried Beans

Author: Emily Rogers Courses: Crockpot

Ingredients

Servings

• 1 lb pinto beans (dry)
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1.5 tsp oregano
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 jalapeño (chopped)
• 1 white onion (chopped)
• 1 bay leaf
• ¹⁄₃ cup hatch green chile (optional)
• 8 cup liquid (water, broth or both)
• oil (for instant pot)

Instructions

Instant Pot

1. Measure 1 lb of pinto beans and rinse thoroughly, picking out any bad looking beans. Set aside.

2. Turn your instant pot to sauté, add the oil and once heated sauté the chopped onion and jalapeño for a few minutes. Then add in the minced garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes. 

3. Add some of the chicken broth  (or water) to the pan to deglaze, scrape up anything at the bottom. Add the rest of the broth then turn off the instant pot. 

4. Add your water, you need 8 cups of liquid total so if you used a can of broth (2 cups) you should use about 6 cups of water. 

5. Add the beans, seasoning and hatch chile if using. Stir and add a bay leaf on top. 

6. Cook on manual for 45 minutes in the instant pot. Make sure the vent is sealed. 

7. Once it's done, let it natural release for about 25 minutes.

8. After the 25 minutes, move the vent to release.

9. Carefully open the lip and remove the bay leaf. 

10. Get a large bowl and carefully dump as much of the liquid as you can into it. Scoop back any bits that fell out (beans, jalapeños etc). Set aside. 

11. Use your immersion blender to blend the beans until they are the consistency you like. Add more bean liquid as needed and serve!

Crockpot

1. Add the beans, liquid (8 cups), seasoning, onion, jalapeños , garlic and bay leaf to a crockpot.

2. Cook on high for 8 hours.

3. When done cooking, remove the bay leaf and dump out the liquid. 

4. Use your immersion blender and add liquid as needed to get the consistency you want.