Mexican Refried Beans Recipe

If you have tried restaurant refried beans and are trying to recreate them at home…..The secret is to use lard

Yes.

Pork fat is the answer here….(whenever it’s not butter, lard is the answer)

And refried doesn’t mean they are re-fried technically. “Refrito” means fried till the caramelization of beans, thus the name.

Other sources say they are refried because others say, back in the day, when there was no refrigeration.

The beans kept getting refried to prevent them from going bad after every few hours, and thus the name

Lard or vegetable shortening is used to prevent the beans from burning

The lard keeps it from burning and doesn’t add much flavor.

The bean of choice is pinto beans; they are the most traditional, although black beans work just as well(and are more flavorful in my opinion here)

Ingredients

• Beans
• Garlic Cloves
• Garlic Powder (Optional)
• Lard
• Onions
• Salt
• Cumin
• Pepper

Ingredient Notes

If you don’t have pinto beans (which are recommended), then other bean varieties that work just as well are black and red kidney beans.

I highly recommend making your beans from scratch, since the cooking liquid just makes the refried beans so good!

If all you have are canned beans, then those work, but the recipe is different

You need a super-flavorful lard for this recipe. If you feel like your lard is not good enough, then substitute with vegetable shortening. (Vegetable Fat).

Or better yet, bacon grease works even better! As your last resort, you can use corn oil too.

But lard and bacon grease are the two best

As for the onions, they are diced thin and they just mash into the beans; you won’t taste them.

And if you’re wondering what binds the beans together, remember, beans are like 1/3 starch, so they bind to themselves upon mashing

Procedure

1. Soaking

Start by soaking your beans for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight. This is optional but strongly recommended.

Soaking beans is not just about making them cook faster; there are more benefits to soaking your beans.

Such as ensuring even cooking, and to remove toxins, and alleviating bloating

Read Full Post Here: Do You Really Have to Soak Beans?

2. Cooking Beans Till Soft

Once soaked, proceed to cook; you can use a stove top or an instant pot a crockpot till tender.

For water in an Instant Pot, I use 2 cups of water for 1 cup of beans

For an Instant Pot, it’s just 40 minutes. Do a natural release

For a crockpot, cook on low then about 2-3 hours for pre-soaked beans.

On a stove top, it’s the same time as using a crockpot

3. Frying

Melt your lard, while sizzling hot, your onion goes in, and we want to sweat them. Do this covered

Once translucent and fragrant, take the lid off, and let them start browning a little.

Add chili flakes, grated garlic, and cumin here if using

Now dump your beans here, but not with all the cooking liquid; you don’t want a soupy mess.

If needed, we will add more later

For now, just enough liquid to cover the top of your beans.

Let everything simmer

Once everything starts thickening, add garlic powder and adjust salt if needed.

Remember, salt will intensify when reduced further, so be conservative with salt here.

Now this is the point where you wanna start mashing, you can use a masher or just the back of a wooden spoon

You can mash all the way or leave some chunks if desired.

And if things start drying up quickly, add the boiling liquid we saved from earlier

After being mashed to your desired consistency, start folding with a spatula or spoon, and continue cooking till most of the moisture is evaporated.

Serve

Also Read: Making Lard from Pork Fat Scraps

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