Slow-cooked, super creamy refried beans

There's a lotta ways to make refried beans. The general idea is that after you've cooked the beans thoroughly, you cook up some aromatic vegetables in fat or oil, add the beans and their broth, and cook further.

The beans break down in the broth, and the fat (olive oil, lard, whatever) emulisifies to make everything super rich and creamy. It's a lot like how you'd make red beans and rice! But the amount of broth, what vegetables go in, the type and quantity of fat, and how everything gets cooked together are all up for grabs.

Many recipes will tell you to sauté your aromatics in fat, dump in the beans plus a splash of broth, and mash em' up, all on the stovetop. It's quick, and if that's what you wanna do, go for it!

Personally, I prefer to use the oven for most of the cook. It takes a little longer, but it's pretty hands-off. And since we're not in a rush, it lets us cook down all the delicious bean broth, nice and slow. Plus, it's less messy and I don't worry as much about my beans sticking to the pot and burning.

Oh, and the term “refried beans” is weird, it's a mistranslation of “frijoles refritos”. To an English speaker it implies that the beans have been fried once, and then fried again. But yeah, no, that's not the process. I've found it helpful to think of them as re-cooked, or, better, well-cooked beans.

Anyway! Here's how I do it.

Ingredients

• 1/2 batch beans (what kind? see below) with broth
• 1/2 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Olive oil (or, if you like 'em extra rich, try lard or bacon fat)
• Salt

Tools

• A large-ish, oven-safe pot (maybe the pot you previously cooked the beans in?)
• A skillet, frying pan, or small pot
• A stick blender (extremely optional)

Steps

First, cook a pot of beans

What kind of beans? Refried beans are a great way to use your leftovers, and pretty much any bean will work, so use whatever you've got in the fridge! Pintos or black beans are great choices. But if you like 'em extra creamy (like, milkshake-creamy, mmm) try mayocobas. They've got a fine texture and thin skins that pretty much melt into the pot.

For this post, I cooked a pot of mayocobas (the pretty yellow beans pictured above), and removed half of the beans with a slotted spoon, for use in another meal. The remaining beans, plus the full batch of broth, made for an extra rich pot once it all reduced down.

Chop and sauté

Dice the onion small, and thinly slice the garlic. Heat a few hefty glugs of olive oil (more than you'd usually use! at least a few tablespoons, or much more, depending on how rich you like them) in a skillet over medium heat and cook the veg with a small pinch of salt, until soft.

Cook down the beans and broth

In a large-ish oven-safe pot, combine the onions, garlic, etc. with your beans and broth and cover with a lid, slightly cracked so steam can escape for the beans to reduce.

Toss the pot into an oven set at 350F or so, and cook everything for an hour. Give the pot a good stir and toss 'em back in. You'll want to check on the beans every half hour or so, stirring each time.

Once the liquid has reduced significantly (a couple/three hours), give everything a really good stir. Unlike baked beans, we want the beans to break apart. So don't be shy with the spoon! The final consistency is up to you (and how you plan to eat them), but I'm happy when the beans are thick enough that you can see the bottom of the pot when you stir them.

At this point, if you like your beans really smooth, give 'em a serious mashing, or purée them with a stick blender. If they're too thick after you've mashed them, just add some water to loosen them up. (I rarely purée my beans, but it's nice!)

And that's it!

Make them your own

I really enjoy a dish of simply cooked refried beans, but if you wanna kick 'em up, try frying a half teaspoon of smoked paprika and/or ground cumin with the aromatics. For black beans, which I like on the chunky side, I'll often add diced carrots and/or green (bell, poblano, jalepeno, serrano) peppers, and skip the mashing.

What's next?

Tonight I'm eating refried mayocobas with rice and tacos. If you've got leftovers, smear 'em on toasted bread, or on a tostada with onions and cilantro. Or, for the ultimate leftovers move, empanadas! Stay tuned for that recipe, coming soon!

And I'd love to hear from you! What do you like to do with refried beans?