Homemade Refried Black Beans Recipe (10-Minutes) (2024)

FAQs

What is the shortest amount of time to soak black beans? ›

Short soak: Place the beans in a pot on the stove and cover with water by about 2 inches. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let the beans soak for an hour. Drain and rinse before cooking.

If you're wondering what is the secret ingredient for restaurant-quality refried beans, the answer is fat. Restaurant-made refried beans honor traditional Mexican culinary practices by adding a hearty helping of lard or bacon fat drippings to their recipe.

Add beans, broth, and remaining seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover, cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Lower the heat and add the beans and—here's the kicker—their liquid. Many recipes ask you to drain and rinse canned beans, but in this case, that liquid sort of replicates the starchy cooking broth you'd get if you had boiled the beans from dry.

If you don't have time to presoak, don't sweat it– your beans will still be tender and delicious. However, there is one exception: if you're starting with old beans that have suffered moisture loss (Primary Beans defines as beans older than 2 years from harvest), a presoak may help you achieve evenly cooked beans.

If you forgot to soak your beans the night before you plan to cook them, the hot soak method can come to the rescue. Cover the beans with water, bring to a boil and boil for three minutes. Remove them from the heat and let them soak in the hot water for an hour. Then drain, rinse, add fresh water and cook.

I like to sprinkle in some taco seasoning, but you could add whatever spices you like — garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder are all good calls. Then, you mash the beans up directly in the pan and add just a little bit of vinegar at the end to really make the beans sing.

Milk makes refried beans creamy

This liquid can help make your beans smoother and taste richer. Once the beans are tender, it's time to fry them. Garlic is cooked in the oil and then the beans are added. The beans are mashed, and this is where the milk comes in.

Lard – Here's where the secret ingredient comes in. Use lard to add a rich, savory thickness to the beans, or, use bacon fat like I do. Leftover bacon fat is extremely rich in salty, savory goodness, and it adds an entirely new depth of flavor to these Mexican refried beans — I can't recommend it enough!

If you don't want to rinse, consider at least draining them first. Draining alone will “reduce the sodium by a third,” says Reinagel. Bottom line: If you're watching your sodium intake for your health, it won't hurt to drain and rinse your can of beans before using them.

How to jazz up a can of black beans? ›

Add oregano and cumin and sauté, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender, adding a few drops of water if they begin to stick. Add contents of cans of black beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, to allow flavors to blend. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice and stir.

Tender beans are ideal, but if they lack firmness and don't keep their shape, they have probably simmered for too long. Overcooked beans will also start to lose their flavor, leaving a flat taste. If you overcook your beans, don't fear — you don't necessarily have to throw them out.

"If you rinse your beans thoroughly, you will have a consistently flavored product, but if you do not rinse them, different amounts of salt will remain in the dish each time you cook it, and it will be hard to cook consistently," he says.

Refried beans are healthy because they are high in protein, fiber, minerals, and other nutrients and they may help you lose weight. Refried beans are a delicious and versatile dish that appears on the menus of many Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. You can also easily make this meal at home or buy it in a can.

The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open. If the beans are still hard after 2 1/2 hours, add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda to the pot and cook a half hour or more longer.

To soak beans the traditional way, cover them with water by 2 inches, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine salt) per pound of beans, and let them soak for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain them and rinse before using.

Soak for 8 hours and then cook: Using the same ratios as the control above, soak the beans in the water and the salt for eight hours before cooking. The cooking, in this case, only took about an hour. I added salt to the soaking water because salt helps beans absorb more water while they are soaking.

How long does it take to cook beans without soaking? It depends on the cooking method. It takes two hours using the oven-baked method. It takes about an hour in the instant pot.

I usually soak the beans overnight, wash them and then depending on the type of bean simmer for 2 or more hours. One can speed this up by bring the beans in a pot of water to a boil and then let them soak in the hot water. They will hydrate in a few hours then wash and cook until done usually a few hours.