Have you ever gone to a south of the border restaurant and eaten their great refried beans then gone home and opened a can of refried beans and wondered how they could even be called by the same name? Beans out of a can and homemade refried beans are worlds apart. My mother-in-law showed me how it is done in El Salvador and they wonderful!
How to make great refried beans
You will need
- cooked whole beans. I usually use pinto beans but sometimes I use black beans. (Cook your own No-Soak, Easy, Crockpot Beans)
- a good blender
- a large skillet or wok
- cooking oil
- onion
- garlic
Onion infused oil
- Pour 2 or 3 tbs of oil into your skillet or wok.
- Add about 1/4 cup chopped onion.
- Fry the onion in the oil until it is black and burned.
- Remove the onion keeping as much of the oil as possible.
- Discard the burnt onion.
Blend Beans
- Fill your blender with beans. Add plenty of liquid, enough to cover the beans.
- Add 2 or 3 cloves of garlic.
- Blend well. They should be quite runny.
Fry Beans
Pour your blended beans into the hot oil in your skillet. Bring it to a boil and then turn down the heat and let it simmer. Stir the mixture often making sure to scrape the bottom and sides so that it doesn’t burn. Let it cook until it is a consistency you like. Don’t let it get super thick like canned refried beans. It should be a little runny.
When I do refried beans I like to do a big batch so that it will last a while. I do a few blender-fulls which will fill up my wok. I separate them into small containers and put one in the fridge and the rest in the freezer where they will be ready for lots of meals.
Refried Beans with Rice and Fried Eggs add a tortilla, a dollop of sour cream, some salad greens, and best of all sauerkraut, and you have a really quick and yummy meal.
