Healthy Refried Beans Recipe

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This healthy refried beans recipe is easy to make and adjusts for using either dry beans or canned/pre-cooked beans.

The nice thing about this recipe is that it’s completely adjustable to your needs. You can make them plain or spiced, bland or spicy. It’s totally up to you! They make a great side dish for any Mexican-inspired meal and can be mixed with a whole grain to make a complete protein for vegans and plant-based folks. Plus, beans are so good for you! So eat up!

Did you know that refried beans aren’t fried at all? Yep, you read that right. Somewhere along the way, something got lost in translation. But I promise refried beans are not fried! 

Can you cook them in a skillet? Of course! But you won’t fry them the way we traditionally fry foods.

Traditional refried beans do often contain lard or even bacon fat. But we won’t be using either of those in today’s recipe. I prefer to skip all that unhealthy cholesterol!

So let me answer a few questions first about the refried bean-making process, and then we’ll move on to the recipe.

What Do I Do If My Healthy Refried Beans Are Too Thick?

Add water to beans that are thicker than you’d like. Stir until the water is incorporated into the beans. If they are still to thick, repeat until you reach your desired consistency.

What Do I Do If My Healthy Refried Beans Are Too Runny?

If your refried beans are too runny or “soupy”, simply simmer them longer on the stove until the water reduces enough for the beans to reach the consistency you want.

How Do I Get Chunky Refried Beans

If you like your refried beans on the chunkier side, you have two options:

1. Only mash them partway with a potato masher.
2. Mash half the beans completely, and then stir in the other half of your whole, cooked beans.

How Do I Get Smooth Refried Beans?

Blend, blend, blend, baby!! An immersion blender works wonders, as does a food processor or regular blender.

Can I Use Different Beans?

You can! The most popular would be black beans. But pretty much any bean will work here. While pinto beans are the traditional bean in refried beans, it can be fun to mix up flavors, especially when making things like tacos or burrito bowls. They can make a great dip for tortilla chips as well.

Is It Better To Use Dry Beans Or Canned Beans?

There is one main reason you would want to use dry beans. Doing so makes this dish very low sodium. So if that’s a concern for you, avoid canned beans which tend to have tons of sodium in them.

Canned beans are simply a convenience. It’s the cooking process already done for you. But either will work just fine.

What’s The Best Way To Season Healthy Refried Beans?

If you are cooking dry beans from scratch, you can add spices to the water you cook them in.

If you are using canned beans, you can add them to the pot with the beans and warm everything together.

If you use a lot of refried beans, just double the batch and put some in the freezer. Defrost as needed!

Suggested Spices For Refried Beans

While these are delicious made plain, adding spices is also pretty yummy. Here are some ideas. The measurements are only suggestions. Add spices with your heart.

• Taco seasoning
• Chili powder
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Ground cumin
• Garlic cloves – yummy if roasted first!
• Olive oil – More for consistency than flavor, if you like oil in your beans.
• Cilantro – Or garnish with fresh cilantro.
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• Chipotle seasoning
• A squeeze of lime juice – Usually directly on your plate instead of into the entire pot.

About The Ingredients

If Cooking From Dry Beans:

• 2 cups dry pinto beans
• 6 cups water

If Cooking From Canned Beans

• 30 oz. canned pinto beans – Including the liquid.
• ½ cup water (or more to adjust consistency)

How To Make Healthy Refried Beans

For Cooking From Dry Beans:

I cook my beans in a slow cooker or Instant Pot because I ALWAYS burn them in a regular pot. So combine the 2 cups beans and 6 cups water in a crock pot and turn on the crock pot. Cook until beans are soft. About 6-8 hours on low. If pressure cooking, use plenty of water and cook them for anywhere between 40 minutes to 1h 20m, depending on how old your beans are. The older they are, the longer they have to cook.

To cook this on the stovetop, combine the water and beans in a pot and bring to a gentle boil. Keep an eye on this, stir occasionally to keep anything from burning on the bottom of the pot, and be prepared to add more water as needed. (Just know I’ll be jealous if you can do it without burning the beans. I might even cry.)

For Cooking From Canned Beans

In a medium-sized pot, warm up the canned beans plus the liquid they are canned with. Once warm, mash them and adjust them to your liking. (See suggestions above)

Re-Frying The Beans

There is no actual frying involved here. Simply place your beans in a pot with about a half cup of drinking water.

Mash them with a potato masher or electric hand mixer until they reach your desired consistency. If you like chunky beans, reserve a few whole beans to mix or partially mash in at the end.

Once you have your desired consistency, season with some salt or any seasonings you’d like, and serve.

Instant Pot Refried Beans

For dry beans, first, you will thoroughly rinse your beans under running water. Then you’ll combine approximately 2 cups of dry beans with 8 cups of water. Cook on high pressure for about 40m to 1h 20m, depending on how old your beans are. Once cooked, you can drain off some of the cooking liquid if there is too much, but drain it into a bowl in case you need it for thinning your refried beans. Follow the blending instructions above.

For canned beans, you can simply press the sauté button and warm up the beans with the liquid. Then proceed as instructed above.

Storage

These will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Freezing

This freezes really well. But you’ll have a much easier time if you freeze this in portioned sizes instead of one big container. These are easily frozen in freezer bags. If you find that the texture changes after the beans have thawed again, simply blend them with a small amount of water to reinstate their prior consistency.

Reheating

From frozen – Thaw for 24 hours in the fridge.

From fridge – Heat in the microwave, or in a pot on the stovetop with a little water added. Stir constantly while heating this in a pot or the beans will burn on the bottom. Ask me how I know…

Recipe Supplies

More Healthy Mexican-Inspired Recipes

• Quinoa Tortillas
• BBQ Burritos

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Healthy Refried Beans Recipe Card

Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted on 6/16/11.