Everytime I make refried beans I don't usually "fry" them. I have found that this recipe works just as well without the oil. Just keep the pan on low heat and it should come out just as good! : )

Hi! I'm a big fan of beans in all forms. Here are a few tips for great refried beans:

2 1/2 cups of boiled and mashed beans
2 Tbsp pork lard or olive oil
1 Chorizo or sausage
1 can of chipotles

Mash the beans and put them aside. Put a little oil/lard on a pan and fry some chopped onnion. Then add chorizo (spanish sausage) and fry it until it's almost done. Chop one or two chipotles (you can find these in the mexican food section at supermarkets) and remove the seeds. Add the chipotles to the onion and chorizo and stir for a few minutes until the flavors mix. Finally add the mashed beans and cook for a few more minutes.

Here is another recipe for Frijoles Rancheros:

2 1/2 cups of dry beans boiled as indicated above
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 slices of bacon
1 chopped jalapeno pepper

Boil the beans as indicated a bove. Don't mash them! and don't discard the boiling water. Set aside. In a large pot put the onion and the bacon and fry it until it's almost done. Then add the tomato and the jalapeno and keep frying for a few minutes. Finally add the beans with the water. Let it simmer for a few more minutes.

Enjoy!

Elise, I just made refried beans for the first time this weekend and posted about it here:

http://girottifamily.typepad.com/mountain_musings/2006/02/mexican_potluck.html

I did discard the soak water, but kept the cooking water and added that back into the beans for some liquid. But it sounds as if you did it exactly the opposite.

Is it better to add in fresh water? rather than the cooking water? What would be the difference? Seems like cooking water would add more flavor. Thanks.

I find that boiling the beans initially for half an hour, discarding that water, then adding fresh water for the remainder of the boiling, greatly cuts down on the 'gas' problems that can be associated with beans. This tends to make beans a less 'musical fruit'.

Great recipes on this site. Thanks!!

Rob.

I'm a Canadian currently living for the next few months in Utrecht, Holland. I've met a few other ex-pat English speakers and while lamenting the disgraceful absence of decent Mexican food here, muggins somehow volunteered to host a Tex-Mex afternoon at my house on Saturday, including refried beans. Normally at home in Vancouver, I would pop to the shop and pick up a few cans but here, no chance! So it's refried from scratch which looks like it is fairly simple except that I can't find pinto beans anywhere (or tortillas - but let's not go there!) however, there are plenty of 'Dutch brown beans.'

So here, finally, is my question: would dutch brown beans be a suitable sub for pinto beans? or if not, any other suggestions? I've looked around on the web but can't find anything about these brown beans :(

Great site btw. love it! :)

Beans are beans, it is in the seasoning, some oil, salt, onions, and a little heat,hot pepper,hot sauce, chili powder. I do mine in a pressure cooker, put beans in cooker bring to a boil with lid on, turn off let sit 1/2 hour, drain, fresh water bring to pressure cook 40 minutes. Drain, add oil, chopped onion, salt and whatever seasoning. Cook gently and mash with a potato masher. Cook, mash season and taste,cook mash season and taste, don't burn.

David

Thanks so much David. I must confess that I usually buy my beans canned rather than cooking them from scratch, but I'll give the Dutch browns a whirl! and I managed to find some decent tortillas so I won't have to resort to my plan B of substituting rotis :)

I would like to make the yellow-colored rice that is served with these beans at mexican resturants. Are there any good recipes for that?

Yellow colored rice is saffron based from Spain and is not the same as traditional Mexican rice. Mexican rice is the easiest thing in the world to make. The standard ratio is 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of liquid. Start by sautéing a few cloves of minced garlic and a 1/2 minced onion in olive oil until tender and fragrant - set aside. In stock pan, fry the dry rice in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on med high heat until starting to darken. Remove from heat and add cooked onions and garlic. Then add liquid. I typically prefer to use a combination of Chicken stock, water, and tomato paste. You can use water and tomato sauce or paste (remember 1:2 Rice:liquid). Then add seasonings such as a pinch of cumin, sage and coriander. Bring pot to a boil over high heat. As soon as it boils, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and time for 20 minutes. RESIST TEMPTATION TO LIFT LID For 20 minutes. If you have added ample liquid and have the burner on low, it will cook perfectly. Enjoy! For a variation, you can add frozen peas and carrots before boiling, or a shredded chicken breast.

Thank you both so much!

What a wonderful column this is, I have been cooking pinto beans for over 50 years and still am amazed at some of the new ideas that people come up with to make them more enticing, thanks for your ideas. Della from California

Hello Canadian living in Utrecht
I am a Dutch girl currently living in the USA.
My American boyfriend was also complaining about no decent Mexican food in Holland.
I thought refried beans are made out of black beans... I've been buying those from a can in Dirk van den Broek, they taste pretty good for canned beans. If that's not the right thing for you, in Amsterdam there was a Middle Eastern herb market/store in the Kinkerstraat and I found all kinds of beans there too.
If you were looking for a good Mexican restaurant, give up looking for it, you won't find it like in USA. We found one in Amsterdam that was ok according to my bf but still nowwhere near as good as here.
Good luck!

ps
As for the tortilla's I think you didn't search well enough. Most supermarkets have them, just the supply can be a little dodgy. Nature food stores definetely have them.
I'd be surprised if you still haven't found what you are looking for.
One more tip: fresh cilantro in the supermarket is very expensive. it comes in small plastic containers. Try a fresh market, vegetable stands or a turkish shop. There are plenty of them and the people working in them are usually very friendly!!!

Refritos actually means fried well or cooked well, hence the creamy mash.

If you are making black bean refritos add a few springs of epazote. The herbiness compliments the richness of black beans and pork fat.

I can attest to the great flavor of the other Spanish Rice Recipe on this site. Having grown up in Southern California I've tried a lot of so called authentic variations, the only changes that I add to their basic recipe is 1 chicken boulion cube or in a pinch,the chicken flavor packet from a Ramen package, and one can of Rotel (Canned Tomatos and Green Chilies) either Spicy, Regular or Hot. That and serve with a wedge of lime. This is out of this world paired with the Carne Asada recipe.

I'm French and I'm dying for a been and chesse burrito! But I only have cheese and tortillas. I can't find canned refried beans or pinto beans anywhere (just like you guys from Holland). It seems we only have white navy beans, flageolet beans and red kidney beans here. I guess I could find everything I need in Paris (I'm sure there are American or Mexican grocery stores there), but I live in Brittany and even if we have many Old El Paso or Casa Fiesta products, refried beans are not part of it.
I hope someone can help me! (by the way, I have a German friend who loves refried beans too, so if anyone can help...)
Thank you! ^^

Note from Elise: Hi Mel, we've made refried beans with white beans, when we were out of pinto beans. They're a little mild, but you can spice them up with some chipotle chiles or chili powder.

I grew up in Texas, and refried beans were a staple in our house as well. However, we also frequently used a canned product called "Ranch Beans," which were pinto beans already cooked and spiced.

Once I got out on my own and became a vegetarian (which I've slid off the wagon from recently) I'd recreate ranch-style gravy when I made pinto beans but didn't feel like mashing and frying.

I live in San Francisco now, but I still make these when it's cool out. Here's the recipe:

"Stacy's Ranch-Style Beans:"

1) Rinse and pick-over two cups of pinto beans
2) Add to pan and add filtered water to two inches above beans
3) Bring to a boil, turn off heat and let beans soak for an hour
4) Discard half the cooking water (to reduce the starch) and add more water to previous fill line
5) Bring to a boil again, lower heat and simmer for 1.5 - 2.0 hours, checking for skins to start splitting (you don't want to get them too soft; the goals is to catch them right before they split)
6) During the final 20 minutes of cooking, mix together the following and add to the water:
- 1 Tbs chili powder
- 1 Tbs paprika
- 1 Tbs McCormick's seasoning salt (which has no msg)
- 2 tsp of garlic powder (or a clove of minced fresh garlic)
- 1 tsp of cumin
7) As the cooking wraps up, stir in 1 - 2 tsps of cold-water blended corn-starch to thicken the water into a gravy as it cools
8) Turn off heat, keep sealed, and let sit for 20 minutes

SERVING SUGGESTION:
I sometimes cube a few potatoes, toss them in olive oil and spread them on a baking sheet in the oven for about 45 minutes while the beans are underway. If you time it right, the potatoes will be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle just as your beans finish.

Dump the crispy potatoes into a couple of pasta bowls, and pour the gravy rich beans over the top. Garnish with chopped onions. If you care how it looks, you can add a pinch of cilantro. (I'm usually a green onion fan, but for this dish, a strong white onion tastes best, even it the look is boring.)

I know it sounds weird, but I usually eat this with a small side of steamed broccoli. When I was a kid, though, we had our ranch-style beans with hamburgers.

This is a really cool column. I've been reading the threads for a couple hours now and I've become very hungry. I tuned in here because I was looking for a refried beans recipe on a search engine, and this is where I landed.

So I tried the recipe, turned out kinda dry. I threw some olive oil in the rough pureed beans and it helped out some.

This is the second time I've screwed up a refried beans recipe. Gods!! What am I doing wrong?

If it's dry, just add some water. ~Elise

Psyched to have found this recipe-- how far ahead could the beans be cooked/simmered before they get "refried"? I'm guessing they don't necessarily have to be cooked completely the same day? Thanks!

If you grew up on *canned beans* like I did, you might like the following recipe which is as close to Rosarita Refried Beans (Brand Name) as I've ever seen. Incredibly simple as well.

1/2 onion, peeled and halved
1 1/2 cup pinto beans
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 T garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Pinch of cumin
4 1/2 cup water

Rinse beans. Dump all in crockpot and cook on High 4 to 6 hours. Strain beans, reserving liquid, and mash to desired consistency (adding liquid as needed).

Makes 8 servings...

I made these tonight and they were delicious! I had already soaked the beans in preparation and they only took just under an hour to cook over the stove (no pressure cooker). I added a little cumin in the frying pan, and then at the end I stirred in a splash of lime juice and a few shakes of habanero hot sauce for a little kick. In my experience, the lime juice brightens up the flavor just enough to offset the potential blandness.

Does anyone know if these freeze well if I made a big batch? We do tacos almost weekly, and I love to use beans for my kids a fast, cheap, and healthy lunch. Since we'll use them so often, I hate to make each batch as needed. Thanks!

I don't know about freezing, but we always make a big batch and the leftovers keep for days in the refrigerator. ~Elise

I have made very large batches of refried beans and frozen them in quart sized plastic zipper bags or plastic containers. Works great.