Easy Homemade Refried Beans

Add another tasty dish to your Mexican menu with this fabulously easy homemade refried beans recipe. Making it yourself was never so easy!

In under 30 minutes, you can serve them alongside nachos, guacamole, and salsa Roja for a perfect summertime dipping feast!

These homemade refried beans are ready in minutes, and they’re creamier and more flavorful than any you’d buy premade. They’re great as a side dish in a Mexican meal or as a delicious component in nachos, tacos, burritos, and so much more.

Ingredient Notes

• Beans: I used canned pinto beans for convenience, but you can cook your own dried beans. Black beans and Bayo beans also work well.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic is always best, but you can substitute it for a teaspoon of garlic powder if need be.
• Onion: Red, yellow and white onions are all great options, but shallots can be used as a replacement.
• Spices: I use cumin, ground chili pepper, and paprika in this recipe because I have a global audience, but if you are in the US and want to use cumin and chili powder instead (which is a blend of all the spices I use) you can do that too.
• Cilantro (coriander): Use fresh cilantro/coriander leaves for the best possible flavor.

Step By Step Instructions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium, until shimmering but not smoking. Add the onions and cook until the onions soften and become translucent about 5 minutes.

Add in the cumin, ground Chipotle Pepper, and paprika.

Cook while stirring to bloom the spices until they are fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Mix the drained pinto beans, stock, chopped cilantro/coriander, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and spoon out enough stock so that the beans are just covered. Set the reserved store aside.

Add the lime juice

Puree the mixture using a food processor or mash using a potato masher until you reach your desired consistency (adding some of the reserved stock as needed to loosen). Taste and season with salt as needed, and add more lime juice if necessary.

Garnish with crumbled queso fresco cheese, chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, and sliced jalapeños before serving.

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Let’s Make Easy Homemade Refried Beans

A quick, easy, and delicious recipe for refried beans flavored with onion, garlic, cumin, ground Chipotle Pepper, and paprika.

5 from 8 votes

Prep10 minutes minutes

Cook20 minutes minutes

Total30 minutes minutes

Serves: 4

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 tablespoons canola oil
• ▢ 1 onion chopped
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
• ▢ ½ teaspoon paprika
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (or cyan pepper) plus more to taste
• ▢ 30 oz canned pinto beans two 15oz cans
• ▢ ½ cup chicken stock
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cilantro/coriander leaves chopped (plus more for topping)
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ ½ a lime juiced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter optional
• ▢ 2 tablespoon queso fresco cheese crumbled for garnish, optional
• ▢ 1 tablespoon diced tomatoes for garnish, optional
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sliced jalapeños for garnish, optional

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium, until shimmering but not smoking.
• Add the onions and cook until the onions soften and become translucent about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the cumin, ground Chipotle Pepper, and paprika. Cook while stirring to bloom the spices until they are fragrant (about 30 seconds).
• Add the garlic and cook another minute.
• Mix the drained pinto beans, stock, chopped cilantro/coriander, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and spoon out enough stock so that the beans are just covered. Set the reserved stock aside.
• Add the lime juice and puree the mixture using a food processor or mash using a potato masher until you reach your desired consistency (adding some of the reserved stock as needed to loosen).
• Return to the heat, cook, stirring for an additional 3 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and finish with the butter.
• Taste and season with salt as needed, and add more lime juice if necessary.
• If the beans seem dry, mix in a splash of more stock to loosen garnish with crumbled queso fresco cheese, chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, and sliced jalapeños before serving.

Tips + Notes

This recipe yields about 2 ½ cups of refried beans enough for 4 to 5 servings.

• For the creamiest refried beans, cook the onions until soft, and if you’re mashing instead of using a food processor, cut them relatively small to ensure the mixture blends smooth.
• Mash or puree the beans as much as you like. I usually leave a little texture, but it is up to you how smooth you make them. 
• For an added kick, cook chopped jalapeño peppers in with the onions.
• Spices: I use cumin, ground chili pepper, and paprika in this recipe because I have a global audience, but if you are in the US and want to use cumin and chili powder instead (which is a blend of all the spices I use) you can do that too.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 304 (15%)| Carbohydrates: 37g (12%)| Protein: 12g (24%)| Fat: 13g (20%)| Saturated Fat: 4g (25%)| Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g| Monounsaturated Fat: 6g| Trans Fat: 1g| Cholesterol: 13mg (4%)| Sodium: 652mg (28%)| Potassium: 680mg (19%)| Fiber: 11g (46%)| Sugar: 4g (4%)| Vitamin A: 316IU (6%)| Vitamin C: 7mg (8%)| Calcium: 163mg (16%)| Iron: 4mg (22%)

Nutritional Data Disclaimer

Erren’s Kitchen is written and produced for informational intentions only. We are not certified nutritionists, and the nutritional information found on this site has not been assessed or authorized by a nutritionist or the FDA. The nutritional information found in our recipes is offered as an estimate and should not be considered a guarantee or fact. The estimated data is provided as a courtesy and calculated through a third-party online nutritional calculator, spoonacular API. Although we do our best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered rough estimates. Many factors, such as brands or products purchased and the nutritional fluctuations that naturally occur in fresh produce, can alter the effectiveness of the nutritional information in any recipe. Furthermore, various online calculators provide different results depending on their particular algorithms and nutrition fact sources. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Author:Erren Hart

Course:Dinner

Cuisine:Mexican

Keyword:easy refried beans, homemade refried beans, refried beans

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