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refried beans

lenderjayne avatar
Recipe by
Jayne Cagle Combs
@lenderjayne
Pleasant Hill, CA

These are super easy to make and very tasty. You'll never buy canned beans again!

yield 12 serving(s)
prep time 10 Min
cook time 2 Hr
method Stove Top

Ingredients For refried beans

  • 3 c
    pinto beans, dried
  • 2 slice
    thick bacon or 3 thin sliced bacon cut 1 inch slices
  • 1 Tbsp
    heaping of chili powder
  • 1 tsp
    heaping of cuman
  • 1 tsp
    salt or more if needed
  • 2 tsp
    black pepper
  • 1/4 c
    bacon grease, butter, or lard
  • 1/2
    onion finely chopped
  • 2-3
    jarred jalepeno peppers finely chopped. if using fresh jalepno remove most of the seeds to prevent it from being so hot. jar peppers leave seeds in.
  • 1 c
    goat gouda shredded (or other goat cheese of your liking) i get mine at trader joes. could use manchango too.

How To Make refried beans

  • 1
    Rinse pinto beans thoroughly and remove any stones. Place washed beans into a big pot along with the cut bacon. Fill with water that is about 2 inches above the beans. Watch water carefully as you will most likely need to add more within 10-15 minutes once you start simmering. Once you reach a rolling boil, cover and turn the burner to simmer. Again, watch to make sure there is enough water in the pot. Mine took about 1 hour 45 min to cook the beans where they were soft enough to smash. Start watching around 1 1/2 hours. Once the beans can be smashed pretty easy with a fork, add the seasonings (chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper). Taste and add more if needed to fit your taste.
  • 2
    When your beans can be smashed with a fork, melt the bacon grease in a large pan. I used a 14 inch pan and it worked just fine. Do this over medium heat. Once the bacon has melted, saute the onions for about 2-3 minutes on low-med heat and then add the chopped jalepeno's. If you don't like a little spice then you can leave them out but to me jarred jalepeno's don't really carry much heat.
  • 3
    When the onions become translucent (about 5 minutes on a lower heat)then add the beans into the pan and stir. BEFORE you put beans in , there should only be a little water in the pot to the level of the beans. If there is a lot left in the pot, empty a little bit but be sure there is some in there because once you smash them it will be absorbed. If you end up with too much water you can always leave the burner on to absorb the excess water.
  • 4
    When you have mixed the beans with the onions and jalepeno's, turn off the burner (unless you need to reduce some water) and take out your potato masher and start to mash the pinto beans. Once they are all mashed you can add the gouda cheese (or whatever cheese you like) on top when you serve it on the plate.
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