Delicious, healthy Refried Beans using dry beans – a simple vegan recipe with sooooooo much flavor! These can be made on the stove-top or in an Instant Pot!
Ohhhhhhhh my goodness, I’m so in love with these! Creamy and luscious, these Refried Beans are so comforting! I know for many of you, the thought of making your own refried beans from scratch is probably the last thing you want to think about- and I get it, why make your own when you can so easily open up a can?
I understand completely and most of the time honestly, I do the same. But sometimes days come, like Sundays, when time is long and cooking feels pleasurable. Or you just bought a new Instant Pot and want to test it out! Or perhaps you are having guests over and want to create something a little extra special.
Or maybe, like me, you look at your overstuffed pantry and decide it’s time to start using some things up. In any case, this Refried Beans recipe is simple and the work easy. Make a batch on Sunday either on the stove top or in an instant pot….and use it during the busy workweek. Or freeze it in small batches. There is something very gratifying about making good use of pantry items.
With 10-15 minutes of hands-on time, the refried beans practically make themselves! And what you end up with is a luxurious pot of goodness that you can feel truly and utterly proud of. Plus they are vegan. And totally delicious.
Divide and freeze for later, or make a batch and use during the busy week.
Most any dried bean will work here, so feel free to experiment – pinto, kidney, black beans or specialty beans like you see here from my favorite bean company- Rancho Gordo.
Cook on the stove top or use an Instant Pot pressure cooker! Once they are cooked, simple puree with their own cooking liquid, a little olive oil and season to your liking.
No mashing required in this recipe. What I love about these beans is how creamy and luscious they are. They can be adapted to your own taste and heat tolerance. I love the hint of smoke from Smoked paprika and a little heat from chipotle – but leave these out if this is not your preference.
Place them back in the pot or instant pot and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Before serving, drizzle with olive oil or sprinkle with queso fresco cheese and fresh cilantro.
There are so many recipes on the blog these would pair well with….try them in these baked tacos, or in my new favorite dish ever – Tlayudas. Make a Bean Bowl with warm refried beans as the base, top with crumbled queso fresco ( or feta) tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, cilantro, drizzled with olive oil– or simply serve as a vegan, gluten-free side dish at your Cinco de Mayo gathering.
I hope you love them!
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Refried Beans (Instant Pot or Stove Top)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 mins
- Yield: 6 cups
- Category: vegan side dish
- Method: instant pot, stove top
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
How to make delicious, healthy, vegan Refried Beans from scratch using dry beans on the stove top or in your instant pot.
Ingredients
- 2 cups beans (pinto, black beans, or try something different!), soaked 8 hours.
- 5 cups water ( 7 cups if using Instant pot)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 bay leaves ( or 2 teaspoons dried oregano)
- ——–
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½–1 teaspoon chipotle powder ( optional)
- ½–1 teaspoon smoked paprika ( optional)
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil ( optional)
Instructions
- Place beans in a bowl or pot and pour 5 cups of water over top. Let them sit on the counter overnight or for 8 hours, until they will swell and double in size. Drain.
- Place soaked beans in a large pot with 5 cups of fresh water. Add salt, cumin, chili powder and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and turn heat to low then simmer gently until tender, about 2 hours.
- Drain the beans , reserving the cooking liquid, and removing the bay leaves.
- Place them in the food processor with the additional salt and spices. Add 1- 1 ½ cups of the cooking liquid into the food processor and puree until smooth. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the puree, if you like for extra richness and delicious flavor.
- Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve, or divide and freeze, or simply refrigerate for the week. They will keep for 3-4 days.
Notes
If making in an Instant Pot, place all ingredeints in the Instant pot with 7 cups water and pressure cook on high for 35 minutes. Let pressure naturally release. Continue following directions starting with draining the beans (saving the liquid).
Keywords: instant pot refried beans, refried beans, refried bean recipe, refried beans recipe, refried beans recipes, how to make refried beans, homemade refried beans, vegan refried beans
Fabulous recipe! Made me fall in love with my Instant Pot. Made the most delicious bean bowl in less than an hour, including cooking quinoa for the base… Wow! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes…
Love it! Great to hear Johanne!
Hello Sylvia: Do you think sprouted beans would work here? I’d cook them first, probably for less time than the dried ones. But I hope they wouldn’t spoil the flavor? Thank you.
I think they would be great!
If i want to halve the amount of beans to 1 cup, is the amount of liquid in the instant pot also halved?
Yes. 🙂
I made this recipe today exactly as written, with all the optional ingredients, and it is very flavorful! Thank you.
★★★★★
So satisfying and healthy!
★★★★★
Hi Sylvia! I just found your blog and am so happy I did 🙂 These are indeed the BEST EVER refried beans!
I used some dried pinto beans that have been in my pantry for probably 5 years (yikes!) but nonetheless they turned out amazing and are so, so simple with the Instant Pot and food processor. I was planning to add the oil but ended up forgetting it, and they were still so rich in flavor (I used 1t of all of the optional spices listed).
Thank you for this awesome recipe!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed this!
For the instant pot version, do you still soak the beans 8 hours (or overnight)?
Thanks,
Janet
Yes, I do.
These really are the BEST EVER refried beans! They are full of flavor and super easy to make – especially in the instant pot. We’ve been making them every week for the last 6 months and they just never get old. We leave out the oil and just mash them up with a potato masher. No more bland refried beans. So delicious!
★★★★★
Yay!!! Glad you liked them. 🙌
Delicious! Many thanks for the recipe and the method. Canned refried beans are hard to find and expensive where we live, so I’m using thepandemic as a perfect time to learn how to cook more things from scratch. You made my day!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed this!
My hubby loves black beans and beans of all kinds – we cook a lot of them – but as much as he also enjoys Mexican food he just has never been able to become a fan of refried beans. Until we made this pureed bean recipe (using Rancho Gordo beans and the stovetop method). These are great with your tleyuda (sp) recipe too. Thanks for taking the time to create and post this.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Michele! So happy he liked them. Hard to go wrong with Rancho Gordos!
Hi Sylvia, Thank you in advance for posting your recipes! My family and I are enjoying them very much! I love the sheet pan recipes and the vegan tofu ricotta. It saved me during the holidays since I am plant-based but my family isn’t 100% there yet.
I was hoping if you had any advice on preparing refried beans with beans that are already cooked. I make mine from scratch and freeze them. Love your blog!
Thank you again
I had over cooked some adzuki beans and they were mush. I was looking for a recipe to use them and tried this. I added some cumin since I hadn’t cooked them in spices and only used water to mix them. It is delicious, and so easy! Thank you!
★★★★★
Yum! Easy recipe to add to the Taco Tuesday rotation. Using the reserved cooking liquid is a must to whip up creamy beans. I use the same method for making hummus. Cooking liquid is also a great way to store any cooked beans in the refrigerator or freezer and a tasty liquid for making soups and chili. (PS, cooking liquid DOES NOT equal the liquid in the canned beans from the store ?.)
★★★★★
Thanks Robin!
Made a pot of theses last week and my…so delicious! I had pinto beans on hand and also added the optional smoked paprika and chipotle. The food processor method for mashing the beans was a revelation. Why didn’t I think of that? Thanks Sylvia, I now have a great recipe and new technique and couldn’t be happier.
Colleen
Oh Im so glad you gave these a try. Aren’t they so velvety and amazing? And EASY?? A great way to use up beans in the pantry. I seriously could just eat a bowlful with tomato, cilantro, a little cheese and hot sauce…so good!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I love Rancho Gordo’s beans and have been using them almost exclusively for several years.