Ah, the weekends. A time to relax, work on house projects and cook beans for hours (no, not really, only about 1.25 hours). So fun. We recently had a Saturday taco night and I thought it would be a good idea to make my own refried beans. And it totally was. It takes a while but it’s mostly inactive time. The original recipe was a little bland, so I added a jalapeno and a little adobo sauce from a can of chipotle chiles that I had on hand. jwa helped mash and taste test. Teamwork!
The result was really very good. We had these with chicken and veggie soft shell tacos. We ate about a third of the beans and then I popped the remaining portion in the freezer for our next taco night. I’m not sure about the logistics of making our own beans every time we eat Mexican at home, but we’ll definitely do this on the weekends if we need some refried beans and really, that could happen fairly often with this bunch.
This was also the very first time I’ve ever bought lard — just thought I’d mention that.
Hand-Mashed Pinto Beans with Cheese
Modified from Bon Appétit magazine
1 pound dried pinto beans, rinsed
10 cups (or more) cold water
1 1/2 cups chopped green onions
1 tbsp plus 1/3 cup lard or corn oil
1 tsp salt + more to taste
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
2 garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeno, diced finely
2 tsp adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle in adobo)
2 cups (packed) coarsely grated queso manchego or Monterey Jack cheese
Fresh cilantro for garnish
Place beans in heavy large pot. Add 10 cups water, green onions, and 1 tablespoon lard. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially, and simmer until beans are just tender, about 55 minutes. Mix in 1 teaspoon salt. Cover partially and continue to simmer until beans are very soft, adding more water by cupfuls if water level falls below top of beans, about 20 minutes longer.
Heat remaining 1/3 cup lard in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add white onion and sauté until it begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno; stir 1 minute. Using slotted spoon, transfer beans to skillet.
Mash with potato masher to coarse, lumpy puree. Mix in enough bean cooking liquid (about 1/2 cup or more) to moisten. Mix in cheese and adobo sauce. Season to taste with salt (start with another teaspoon and go from there).
As I mentioned above, I froze what refried beans we had leftover. I am assuming this will be fine — we’ll find out for sure in a couple of weeks.
You can freeze refried beans for about three months, six if you’re like me and not terribly picky. Tho’ I’m wondering why green onions in so early in the game? Were they even recognizeable?
For the lard fearful, what what my mama and my grandma do is toss in two slices of fatty bacon instead of the lard and fry in olive oil. I don’t even use the bacon sometimes, just a couple tablespoons of olive oil.
I haven’t had been like this in quite a long time-maybe soon? Cheers!
That should have read: BEANS not been-hummmm!
Mary Sue: The first time, I just followed the recipe, especially since I know nothing about making refried beans! And uh, nope, green onions not really recognizable at the end. Good guess, ms! 🙂
I just figured they added some flavor or something. Next time, I’ll probably just add a few in the beginning and use the majority at the end, after the mashing.
Jann: Thanks! 🙂
I recently did my first try at refried beans with a can of whole pinto beans. I read on several sites that using pieces of bacon is the best way to go for flavor instead of a cooking oil or lard. I put extra and it was very flavorful. I also added some cumin and chili powder, but the bacon was the most powerful taste. I have to admit I was pretty happy about the results. Just found your site and love the step by step pictures. I’m a visual person. 🙂