These delicious Easy Homemade Refried Beans are made with canned beans and are ready in just about 20 minutes! They’re great for burritos, nachos, tacos and even just a dinner side dish!
I’m so excited about this Easy Homemade Refried Beans Recipe today! I absolutely love cooking with refried beans and even eat them plain with chips sometimes 🙂 I figured it was about time I shared a recipe on how to make your own refried beans because they are so much better than most canned versions!
You see refried beans used a lot as side dishes as restaurants, but they also go great inside of recipes. I most like to use them in burritos, on nachos or in dips. I have nothing at all against store-bought refried beans, but if you’re looking for a little more flavor, you should defiantly make my homemade version!
Homemade Refried Bean Recipe Ingredients
- Pinto Beans – One of the reasons this refried bean recipe is so easy is because I use canned pinto beans. You can cook your own from dried if you prefer, it just takes a little more planning ahead time.
- Pinto Bean Liquid – I like to reserve the liquid from the pinto bean can to use in the recipe, you’ll need about 1 cup. You could also just use water or vegetable broth.
- Onion – I used an entire small yellow onion in this recipe, so if you have a large onion just use half.
- Garlic – I love garlic so I used 3 large cloves but you can use however much you prefer. If you’re not a big fan of garlic feel free to leave it out.
- Spices – I seasoned my homemade refried beans with cumin, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. I like to encourage people to adjust the spice amounts to their liking!
- Salt, to taste
How To Make Easy Homemade Refried Beans
There are only a few easy steps to these delicious Homemade Refried Beans!
- Open the pinto bean cans and pour them into a colander. Reserve about 1 cup of the liquid from the cans. Rinse the beans and set aside.
- Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat and add 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the diced onion and a pinch of salt. Cook onion until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes, and then add in the minced garlic. Cook the onion and garlic for another minute or so.
- Add in the pinto beans along with all the spices and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix everything together well and let cook over low heat for a few minutes.
- Pour in 1 cup of the reserved bean liquid, or water/stock, mix everything together and then cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and use a potato masher to mash the beans to your liking. I mashed mine for a couple of minutes and the texture turned out great. I like mine to be mostly smooth but still have some whole bean pieces. You could also put them in a food processor if you want them really smooth. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for later use.
Are Canned Refried Beans Vegetarian?
In short, some of them are! I love refried beans and use them regularly in my recipes. Over the years I have gotten a few comments on certain recipes that refried beans are, in fact, not vegetarian so I shouldn’t be using them. I just wanted to clear that up! It is true that a lot of canned refried beans are made with lard (which is an animal product) but there are so many vegetarian options out there!
My favorite brand of refried beans has a special vegetarian variety but I’ve also noticed a lot of the organic refried bean brands are just naturally vegetarian. So, don’t fret! You can still eat canned refried beans if you are vegetarian, just make sure to check the label to make sure they don’t contain lard.
Refried Beans Recipe Frequently Asked Questions
- Is this recipe gluten free? Yes, no gluten added!
- Is this recipe vegan? Yes, I do not use lard in my refried bean recipe.
- Can I use black beans instead of pinto beans? Of course! Black refried beans would be delicious!
- Can I use dried beans instead of canned? Yes, just make sure to cook them thoroughly before using in this recipe.
- How long will these homemade refried beans stay good in the refrigerator? I would recommend storing in an airtight container for about 5 days.
- Can these refried beans be frozen? I haven’t frozen them myself, but beans do freeze well so I think that these would be able to be frozen.
Have a question I didn’t answer? Ask me in the comment section below and I will get back to you ASAP!
Looking For More Easy Vegetarian Side Dish Recipes?
Stovetop Vegetarian Baked Beans
Green Rice with Roasted Sweet Potato
How To Make Easy Roasted Vegetables
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Easy Homemade Refried Beans
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 1/2 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Easy Homemade Refried Beans are full of flavor and so much better than most canned refried beans out there!
Ingredients
- 3 (15 oz) cans pinto beans (or about 4 cups cooked pinto beans)
- 2–3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt, to taste
- Cilantro and lime wedges for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- Open the pinto bean cans and pour them into a colander. Reserve about 1 cup of the liquid from the cans. Rinse the beans and set aside.
- Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat and add 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the diced onion and a pinch of salt. Cook onion until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes, and then add in the minced garlic. Cook the onion and garlic for another minute or so.
- Add in the pinto beans along with all the spices and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix everything together well and let cook over low heat for a few minutes.
- Pour in 1 cup of the reserved bean liquid, or water/stock, mix everything together and then cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and use a potato masher to mash the beans to your liking. I mashed mine for a couple of minutes and the texture turned out great. I like mine to be mostly smooth but still have some whole bean pieces. You could also put them in a food processor if you want them really smooth. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for later use.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side, Vegan
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
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