Perfect Refried Beans Recipe

Name: Perfect Refried Beans Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Cuisine: American, Mexican, Latin American
Ingredients: 1/2 pound (226g) dried pinto beans or dried black beans (about 1 cup); 1/2 medium onion, peeled and left whole; 2 medium cloves garlic; 4 sprigs fresh cilantro; 1 bay leaf; Salt, to taste; 3 cups (470g) cooked pinto or black beans, see notes for canned; 3 tablespoons olive oil, butter, lard or bacon drippings; 1/2 cup chopped onion (1/2 medium onion); 1 teaspoon minced garlic (1 medium clove); 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, optional; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional; 2 to 3 lime wedges; Optional toppings: sliced or diced jalapeño, crumbled Mexican queso fresco or shredded cheese, diced white onion, diced tomato, or fresh cilantro

Instructions

Prep:10minCook:1h 30min

For the creamiest, most flavorful refried beans, start with dried beans. Cooking the beans from scratch allows us to add flavorful aromatics like onion, garlic, and cilantro to the cooking liquid. You can cook the dried beans on the stovetop, which takes 1 ½ to 2 hours, or in a pressure cooker (like an Instant Pot), which takes about 1 hour. If you are short on time, you can also make refried beans using canned beans, which takes less than 20 minutes. We’ve shared all of these cooking variations in the recipe below.

Updated at: Sun, 07 Sep 2025 14:09:18 GMT