Refried Beans
456kcal17.4g protein20.1g fat53.3g carbs~$0.60/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
only in an optional ingredient: dairy
Restrictions
Only if you add itdairy (cheese cotija)Leave that ingredient out and the dish does not have it.
Diets
No alcohol
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
Servings:
| ¾ cup |  pinto beans (dried, picked over) |
| 6 cup | water |
| 1 unit |  onion (halved, for the pot) |
| 3 clove |  garlic (whole, smashed) |
| 1 ½ tsp | salt |
| 3 tbsp |  lard |
| ½ cup | onion (finely diced, for frying) |
Optional
Not counted above. The dish works without them.
| 1 sprig |  epazote (fresh sprig) |
| 1 unit |  bay leaf |
| 1 unit |  jalapeño (minced) |
| ½ tsp |  cumin (ground) |
| 2 tbsp |  cotija (crumbled) |
| 3 tbsp | vegetable oil (in place of lard) |
Steps
- Rest10 mincold water, optional overnight soakbeans rinsed and covered — soaking shortens the simmer by roughly a third but changes nothing else; skip it if you have the afternoon. Discard any bean that floats, since it is hollow and will never soften
- Simmer105 minbare simmer, lid ajarbeans + water + halved onion + smashed garlic + epazote, topping up with hot water so the beans stay submerged. Add the salt once they are just tender — salt early is harmless, but any acid at all (tomato, lime, vinegar) sets the skins and they will stay chalky no matter how long you cook them. Done means a bean crushes to paste against the roof of your mouth with no grit
- Prep2 minoff heatfish out the onion halves and garlic, then reserve at least 1.5 cups of the cooking liquid = bean broth. This cloudy starch is the whole sauce; plain water added later will loosen the mash without ever thickening it back
- Saute6 minmedium, until the fat shimmerslard + diced onion + jalapeño + cumin, until the onion is translucent and beginning to color at the edges — the lard has to be hot and the onion cooked through before the beans go in, because nothing sautés once the pan is full of wet starch
- Mash8 minmedium, stirring+ beans lifted in with a slotted spoon + a splash of bean broth, crushing against the pan bottom with a masher or the back of a spoon. Mash while the beans are wet, not after they dry out, or the starch tears into a gluey paste instead of a purée. Leave a quarter of them whole for texture
- Fry10 minmedium, stirring oftenbeans + bean broth added a few tablespoons at a time, until a spoon drawn across the pan leaves a trail that closes slowly. This is the refry: the water leaves, the starch and lard bind, and the flavor concentrates. Pull them looser than you want to serve them — they stiffen noticeably as they cool, and reheating needs another splash of broth
- Top1 min+ cotija crumbled over the top