Refried Beans
This is a very simple recipe to make homemade refried beans instead of buying the canned variety. Once you get this recipe down, it will be like night and day compared to eating store bought.I made my pinto beans in my Instant Pot. I kid you not, it took 25 minutes in total to boil unsealed beans. No more soaking of 8 hours and boiling for another hour for me. This has become a real game changer for me and beans. You can make the refried beans vegetarian if you'd like by using oil instead of lard. I happened to have a container of render pork fat from a whole pork belly that I made, so that was my fat of choice. There are many things you can add the the beans. You can add a little bit of cooked chorizo to your beans if you want them to have that flavor. Diced jalapeño would be great in your beans if you want a little spice. Refried beans are even better when topped off with some queso fresco cheese.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans
- 1/4 cup white onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp lard/vegetable oil/canola oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- salt to taste
- pinto bean broth
Instructions
- If using an Instant Pot, add a whole bag of dried pinto beans to 4-5 cups of water. Set to Pressure Cook on high for 25 minutes. If doing this on a stove top, soak your beans over night or for at least 8 hours. Fill a stock pot up with water and boil your beans for an hour or until tender.
- Drain your beans. Save a cup or two of the bean stock water.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, sauté the onions in the lipid of your choosing. I happened to have some rendered pork fat from a whole pork belly I saved. Cook until browned.
- Add in 2 1/2 cups of the cooked pinto beans. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Using either a bean masher or the bottom of something flat like a ramekin, start mashing the beans while slowly incorporating the bean stock water. Continue this process until all of the beans are smashed and run smooth and are creamy.
- Stir in smoked paprika. Salt to your liking.
