homemade refried beans

Answer yes or no to the following: Do you like homemade food? Do you hate canned sides? Do you love a good side dish to go with, say, your enchiladas or burrito? If you answered yes to all of the above, you must be wanting to make some HOMEMADE refried beans. I just read your mind. No? Well, I never said I was a psychic ;)

Seriously, people — easiest thing, ever to make and it makes a HUGE batch. I think I could’ve fed at least 10 people with the batch I made.

Don’t go the lazy route and buy canned, it just tastes completely processed and you can’t control what’s in it. Also, if you think going to the store and buying the canned version is “easy”, this is both easy and healthier. What more do you want? Oh, right, the recipe. You can grab that below.

Jason and I had friends over last Thursday night for Mexican night. I made beef enchiladas (will be posted on the blog next week) and refried beans were requested as the side dish. I was tempted to buy the canned stuff BECAUSE I SUCK but thought, “I really need to make homemade ones because they’re just that much better!” so I did. Pinto beans are cheap. $1.80 for a 16 oz. pack. Suh-weet. Since our friends and Jason LOVE heat, I decided to turn the heat up on these refried beans and add way too much red pepper flakes. Guys, I thought I was going to breathe fire when I first tasted them. I had to tone it down with sugar and flavor it up with salt. They were still spicy (like everyone sniffling, wiping their nose, spicy) but they were so worth that burn! I love refried beans with all my Mexican entrees :)

*Since these were so spicy, I already went ahead and tweaked the recipe below to reflect the right amount of red pepper flakes you should use so you won’t have to douse yours in sugar. To give you an idea: I used 2 tbsp. of red pepper flakes and it was 5 alarm hot!

Homemade Refried Beans

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Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups dry pinto beans

3 quarts of water

2 tbsp. light brown sugar

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 – 1 tbsp. red pepper flakes (I’d start with 1/2 and then move up if you want it spicier)

1/2 tbsp. paprika

1 cup of reserved pinto bean water (from boiling)

Salt

Instructions:

1. If possible, soak pinto beans overnight. This will cut down your cooking time a lot. If not, it’s okay. Instructions are the same, below.
2. Rinse the beans to get off any dirt.
3. Add the beans to a pot and cover with water. Make sure there is at least 3-4 inches of water above the beans.
4. Cook the beans for 2 1/2 hours, about 1 1/2 hours for pre-soaked beans.
5. Once the beans are cooked, reserve 1 cup of the water, then drain the rest. Set aside.
6. In a skillet, saute the onions, red pepper flakes and paprika for about 5 minutes. Add this to the pot where the beans are and add the reserved cup of water.
7. Using an immersion blender, lightly blend the beans until they’re the consistency you want. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a pastry blender (like I did). It gives a coarser consistency than the immersion blender since it’s harder to get every bean.
8. Season with salt as needed. Keep tasting it occasionally. This is also where you can add more red pepper flakes if 1/2 tbsp. wasn’t enough for you.
9. Serve immediately.