Easy Refried Beans Recipe

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Once you’ve tried Easy Refried Beans Recipe you will never use a store-bought can of refried beans again! Not only are the beans easy to make, but they are also ready to go in 25 minutes. They’re a great meatless side dish made with pinto and red kidney beans, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and garlic that are perfect to serve with so many Mexican and Tex-Mex entrees.

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A red bowl filled with refried beans, topped with fresh herbs and jalapeno slices. Sat on a wooden board with lime wedges to the side and a bowl of salsa in the background. Text overlay says"25-Minute Recipe for Refried Beans". Similar photos of the recipe from various angles are used throughout but with different text overlays unless otherwise described.

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Easy Refried Beans Recipe

The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions; to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required, and to understand the steps and timings involved.

If you have only ever eaten refried beans from a can, you are missing out! Sure, it’s quick to open up a can, dump the contents and heat it up, but there is nothing quite like these homemade refried beans.

Refried beans (Spanish: frijoles refritos) is a dish of cooked and mashed beans and is a traditional staple of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine, although each cuisine has a different approach when making the dish. Refried beans are also popular in many other Latin American countries. –

Wikipedia

In northern Mexico and in Tex-Mex cuisine, refried beans are usually prepared with pinto beans, but many other varieties of bean are used in other parts of Mexico, such as black, Peruano, or red kidney beans.

This recipe uses a combination of both pinto beans and red kidney beans for an tasty alternative. It’s the sort of recipe you can easily customise to your own tastes too – add more or less chili to your heat tolerance, or even try different bean combinations!

Serve this bean dish as a side with tacos, carnitas, nachos, or other Mexican and Tex-Mex meals. Use the refried beans inside burritos, fajitas, or quesadillas, as they make a great vegetarian alternative to meat in these kinds of foods.

Or simply transfer to a bowl and enjoy as a dip with tortilla chips!

Once you’ve made this easy fried bean recipe, you’ll probably never want to buy the canned stuff ever again!

Dried Beans

Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe

While most ingredients can be bought in grocery stores, for your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients (and equipment) needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon, Amazon Fresh, or other stores if available online. The complete list of ingredients with measurements is found in the recipe card.

Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog. I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. You can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never mix imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).

Tex-Mex Refried Beans Recipe

More Recipes Using Beans

One of the hero ingredients in this dish is beans, so here are some more recipes using the same:

More Tex-Mex Recipes

Looking for more Tex-Mex recipe inspo? Check these recipes out next:

Refried Beans Recipe with Pinto & Red Kidney Beans

Recipe Tips

  • For a more flavorful and authentic variation, substitute bacon grease for the olive oil in this recipe.

How Do I Make Easy Refried Beans?

Just check out the printable recipe card below with full ingredients and instructions. Any demonstration photos do not print out to save your ink.

Refried Beans Recipe

Easy Refried Beans Recipe

Yield: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Once you've tried Easy Refried Beans Recipe you will never use a store-bought can of refried beans again!

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ medium yellow onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 2 (16oz/400g) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (15oz/400g) can red kidney beans, with liquid
  • 1 Tbps ground cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
  • Fresh cilantro (fresh coriander) and sliced jalapeño to serve, optional

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft and translucent.
  2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the beans, ground cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and crushed red pepper flakes, if using. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are heated through and start to break apart slightly.
  3. Remove from the heat and purée the beans with an immersion blender or a potato masher until almost smooth. Serve topped with fresh cilantro or sliced jalapeño, if desired. Enjoy!

    Refried Beans Recipe

Notes

For a more flavorful and authentic variation, substitute bacon grease for the olive oil in this recipe.

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 221Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 96mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 7gSugar: 1gProtein: 8g

This site uses Nutritionix to provide estimated nutrition. Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.

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