Homemade Refried Beans

The best beans are homemade refried beans! The texture and flavor are WAY better than canned: plus they’re healthier too (and plant based).

The best refried beans? Homemade refried beans! Yes, you can easily buy refried beans in a can. And Alex and I often do! But after you make them at home, you’ll immediately taste the difference. The flavor and texture are loads better than the canned ones you can find at the store. (At least, the brands we’ve tried!) So when we have time, we love making refried beans at home. It’s seriously simple, and you can do it with canned beans or beans that have been cooked from dry. Side bonus: they’re plant based (vegan) and healthier than most recipes, too. Let’s cook!

Got an Instant Pot? Make our Easy Instant Pot Refried Beans instead (using dried beans).
Got black beans? Go to Refried Black Beans.

How to make homemade refried beans (a tutorial)

These homemade refried beans are easy to make, and take about 20 minutes total time. We guarantee that you’ll find it’s worth the time when you take your first taste! These refried beans taste rich and buttery, though they don’t have any butter or lard like traditional recipes. In fact, they’re a whole food plant based (WFPB) version, with only a touch of oil. Of course if you want to substitute butter or add a little more…we wouldn’t judge! Here’s how to make homemade refried beans.

Here’s our video showing all the steps below…

Step 1: Mince the garlic & drain the beans.

If you’re not a knife skills whiz, check out our video on how to mince garlic to do it in just 1 minute! Next, drain the beans if you’re using canned beans. Here’s the important part: save that can liquid! You’ll use it in the recipe. If you forget, you can just use water: no big deal! That’s also what you can use if you’re making these refried beans with beans that you cooked from scratch.

Step 2: Saute the garlic, then cook the beans 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, then saute the garlic for 1 minute until just before it starts to brown. Very gently add the beans: be careful because liquid hitting the hot oil can cause it to spit! Then add about ½ cup of the can liquid and the cumin, chili powder and salt.

Cook over medium low heat, bubbling gently, until the beans become soft and easily fall apart when mashed. This will take between 10 to 15 minutes: the exact timing depends on the brand of bean or whether you’re using beans cooked from dry.

Step 3: Mash!

Here’s the fun part: mash the beans! Mash them with a potato masher until they come to the desired consistency (or a fork, if you don’t have a masher). You also can add a little water if you’d like the beans to have a thinner texture. Now you’re ready to go: delicious, healthy homemade refried beans in about 20 minutes!

5 best ways to serve homemade refried beans

There are so many great ways to serve homemade refried beans: we’d guess you don’t need a lot of help! BUT, if you’d like our favorite recipes…well, we hoped you’d ask! Here are our top ways to eat them:

1. As a side. They’re the perfect side to go with tacos. Garnish with quesco fresco, chopped cilantro and a little chili powder.
2. Taquitos! Make our Easy Baked Flautas (Taquitos!) as a tasty snack.
3. Tacos. Our Refried Bean Tacos are mighty tasty.
4. Refried bean dip. Wowza, this Easy Refried Bean Dip is good! And it’s vegan / plant-based.
5. Sopes. Ever tried Homemade Sopes? They’re a fun alternative to tacos that are easy to make at home.

This homemade refried beans recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.

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All the beans!

Because Alex and I eat mainly vegetarian and vegan recipes, we have lots and lots of recipes with beans! Beans provide vital plant based protein in our diet. Here are a few more bean resources for you:

• 45 Best Bean Recipes See, I said we have a lot of bean recipes! Here are all our favorites starring black, kidney, white, and pinto beans.
• 25+ Favorite Chickpea Recipes Chickpeas are really beans…garbanzo beans! Here’s all our favorite chickpea recipes, in case you thought we forgot about them.
• Instant Pot Black Beans Here’s how to cook black beans from dry in an instant.
• Easy Instant Pot Pinto Beans Here’s how to cook pinto beans in an Instant Pot!
• Black Beans and Rice A seriously tasty side dish that should be in your arsenal.
• Easy Cannellini Beans Make cannellini beans into a tasty side dish with this easy recipe! It’s packed with Mediterranean flavor and plant-based protein.