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These simple Refried Beans are thick, creamy and powerfully flavorful with just a handful of ingredients. You will never want to eat the canned version again! This recipe has been passed through the Herrera family for generations and are guaranteed to become your new favorite recipe.
I love serving these refried beans alongside some homemade Mexican rice with our meals. Or using these in some Wet Burritos. Or even in some tacos with the best taco meat.
Why We Love these Refried Beans
- Simplicity: This is such a simple recipe, only a handful of ingredients are needed. Plus you can skip the frying step and still enjoy flavorful refried beans.
- Family Recipe: This is a recipe that has been made in the Herrera family for several generations. Perfected in it’s simplicity. One of the most common experiences is walking into Gramma’s home and seeing a large cast iron pan of refried beans simmering away on the stovetop.
- Customizable: thanks to how simple this recipe is, it’s easy to adjust and make your own. If you want a bit of heat add a dash of cayenne. Add more garlic, or more salt. Maybe you want a dash of cumin. But with this base recipe you can make it your own.
- Healthy Side dish: beans are full of fiber and are a great option for serving alongside all your favorite Tex Mex meals.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pinto Beans: this recipe calls for dried pintos and walks through how to soak and prepare them. You can skip that step and use canned if needed, just make sure to grab cans that have no Salt. Drain and rinse the canned beans, season and mash while frying.
- Oil: Use an oil of your choice for frying in the last step, use a mild tasting oil since it will give flavor to the beans. Some common choices include: lard, corn or canola oil, vegetable oil, or leftover bacon grease (which has a strong flavor, but can be a tasty and fun option.) Pick what works for you, just keep in mind that what you use will flavor the beans, so keep it mild. For this reason, olive oil is not recommended.
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
How to Make Refried Beans
- Soak the pinto beans, it’s easiest to soak them overnight. If you did not soak them, you can still make this recipe by increasing the water and cooking time.
- Cook the pinto beans covered, then continue cooking uncovered for an hour until they are completely softened.
- Heat oil in a large skillet and fry them while mashing up. Spoon in the leftover broth as needed to reach desired consistency.
Storage
- Storing: Store refried beans in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. As they cool and sit the beans will thicken, you may need to add some broth during re-heating to get them back to the desired consistency.
- Freezing: Store beans in the freezer for 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Expert Tips
- Soaking: Soaking can save some time when it comes to cooking though. So if you soak them overnight, then you don’t need to cook them as long. If you decide the day of that you want to make this recipe, still go for it. Cooking time will be increased.
- Hot Water: If you are cooking your beans over too high of heat, then you may find that your water is evaporating too quickly. At this point you can add more water, just make sure it’s hot water so that the cooking process isn’t stopped or slowed by adding cold water.
- To mash or not to mash: If you do mash them, use a potato masher and really it’s up to you how much you mash them. Do you want them lumpy? No lumps? Not mashed at all? It’s completely up to you. Or add them to a blender or processor to make them completely smooth.
- Bean Broth: As the beans cook, the water will become broth-like. This is what you will spoon into the beans while mashing to get the consistency you want. If you want a thicker consistency, then use less water. If you want a thinner consistency, then you will use more broth.
- Save the leftover broth and use it to stir into your leftovers. As they sit in the refrigerator and chill, they will thicken. Using the broth when you reheat will ensure that you don’t lose any flavor when thinning them back out.
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Authentic Refried Beans
These Authentic Refried Beans are so simple, only a handful of ingredients are needed. These are the perfect side dish to any Mexican or Tex Mex meal.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare: Sort through the beans to ensure that they are good and no rocks are mixed in.
- Soak: Rinse with water in a stainer to clean. Or if soaking the beans, place in a medium size mixing bowl and cover completely with water. Let sit overnight. Strain the beans the next day after soaking.
- Cover: Add the beans smashed garlic and onion to a large pot or pan. Pour the water in. Beans should be fully submerged in water.
- Cook: Bring to a boil, stir in the salt, then turn the heat to low and continue to simmer covered. Allow to cook for about 30 minutes, remove lid, stir, and continue to cook an additional 30-60 minutes until the beans are softened and easily mashed.
- Fry: Once the beans are soft, heat lard or oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, carefully ladle the beans, garlic and some of the bean broth into the skillet. Allow the beans to "fry" in the oil while mashing. Add more bean broth as needed to get desired consistency to the beans.
Video
Notes
- Pinto Beans: this recipe calls for dried beans and walks through how to soak and prepare them. You can skip that step and use canned beans if needed, just make sure to grab cans that have No Salt.
- Soaking Beans: Soaking the beans can save some time when it comes to cooking though. So if you soak them overnight, then you don’t need to cook them as long. If starting with dried beans, increase cooking time to 2 -2.5 hours.
- Beans not softening: If the beans are old, they will take longer to cook and might not become soft enough to mash.
- Hot Water: Very important to this recipe. If you are cooking your beans hotter, then you may find that your water is evaporating too quickly. At this point you can add some more water, just make sure it’s hot water so that the cooking process isn’t stopped or slowed by adding cold water.
- Oil: this is used for frying the beans in the last step, use a mild tasting oil since it will give flavor to the beans. Some common choices include: lard, corn or canola oil, vegetable oil, or leftover bacon grease (which has a strong flavor, but can be a tasty and fun option.)
- To mash or not to mash: If you do mash them, use a potato masher and mash to desired consistency. You could also use a blender for a completely smooth texture.
- Consistency: save the bean broth from cooking the beans and spoon into the beans while mashing to get the consistency you want. If you want a thicker refried bean, then use less water. If you want thinner beans, then you will use more broth.
- Save the leftover bean broth and use it to stir into your leftover beans. As they sit in the refrigerator and chill, they will thicken. Using the broth when you reheat the beans will ensure that you don’t lose any flavor when thinning them back out.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 5g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Fiber: 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
The recipe for Homemade Refried Beans was originally published on January 29, 2016. Updated July, 16, 2021 and April 9, 2024.
Original instructions did not include any frying of the beans.
Photography done by the talented @KJandCompany.co
This sounds delicious. I plan on making them tomorrow. After being made, how long will the beans last in the fridge?
So, I don’t know how I lived 57 years without ever having made refried beans from scratch, but that’s beside the point. I made a half-batch of this recipe, scaling down all of the ingredients except the garlic. I like garlic. A lot.
I made the beans as specified, soaking for eight hours. I boiled them in a stock pot as indicated; mine were ready after 45 minutes of cooking uncovered. I probably simmer at a higher temperature than some.
I fried them in my cast iron dutch oven over medium heat while mashing with the back of a metal spoon, which took about 15 minutes.
I added 1/4 tsp more salt after mashing, which was personal preference. Cooking with the recommended amount is a good starting point.
I definitely added back more broth, so don’t miss the ‘save your broth’ part – it adds back all that flavor.
The result was some of the best basic refriend beans I’ve ever eaten. I’m keeping this recipe with my personal modifications for regular use. Excellent! Thank you so much for posting this.
So simple and delicious! I added two bay leaves during boiling for more flavor. It did need more salt in my family’s opinion.
How many servings does the single batch make?
Don’t kill me, I’m just sharing what I experienced. Made the recipe exactly as written, but when I was finishing up the beans in a skillet I thought they were quite bland. I added quite a bit of salt and black pepper. Then I googled ‘jazzing up homemade refried beans’ and one of the suggestions was to add half and half. So I did – about 1 cup for 2 lbs. of pinto beans as that is what I happened to have on hand. YUM!!! With the simple additions I think this will be great for my mexican-inspired fiesta tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Great and easy recipe! I enjoy the healthy version (no lard to refry) but I have to admit that the lard gives a unique flavor to the beans! I learned a trick from a friend – instead of the lard, add 1/2 cup of threaded Mexican style cheese at the end and the beans end up with a great flavor as well. But this recipe simplicity is better than any other I have seen in the internet. Thank you for sharing!
Never made beans from a bag of dry beans before, but let’s face it ladies times are hard! They turned out great! I used canola oil because it’s what I had and I was impressed. My husband even likes them which is a big deal. I added chili powder and cumin, next time going to add cilantro and lime juice while cooking and mashing to boost the flavor. GREAT RECIPE!
When we spent some time in Mexico, we bought refried beans in tiny booths attached to houses in a residential area. We were assured these refried beans did not have onion, and I ate them without reaction. I cannot digest onion. Is the inclusion of onion a regional preference?
It’s possible it’s a regional thing. I learned how to make beans from Grandma Herrera, who learned from her parents and so on. The family has been on Texas soil since before it was Texas. You can always leave the onion out of the recipe when making your own!
appreciate your Basic emphasis and opportunity to customize. learning to eat again after losing a third of my colon to cancer. grateful for any recipes that simplify prep and boost nutrition; that bring me closer to original source with least inconvenience. you’ve prompted me to do my own refried beans. actually, your pictures of ingredients were also persuasive. many thanks.
Recipe seems to be a decent starters, but in case of canned beans I can’t really understand why would you condemn them to use garlic and onion powders, begone, I’d use finely chopped fresh ones.
Also, broth is not really necessary.
You’d be surprised of what a pinch of achiote can do in this, as well as a mix of Chile de árbol, pasilla and malagueta instead of jalapeño, will bring out really good flavors without disturbing the beans’ taste.
Love this recipe! Searching for an easy and delicious refired beans recipe and stumbled on this. Some changes I made; whole onion, extra garlic, chicken stock instead of water, sea salt, bacon.
Soaked beans for 24 hours. Made recipe with ingredient changes. Cooked 5 pieces of bacon. Crumbled this and mixed into mashed beans. Cooked beans in bacon fat. Very delicious.
great recipe, but you don’t include which herb you use. Is that Espazote?