If you’ve got 5 bucks, an electric pressure cooker, and an hour then you can make this recipe TODAY. Onions, garlic, chipotle peppers, chicken broth, rendered chicken fat, some dried beans, and lots of salt = homemade refried beans. This is a mostly hands off recipe that you’ve gotta try!
There isn’t much to say about this recipe except that it is freakishly delicious. I honestly think the rendered chicken fat does magical things to any food it touches, so please try to use it if you can! My chicken fat is a byproduct of my homemade broth/stock making so I always have it on hand… lucky me! You can sub lard and I’m sure you’ll still get a really good fatty flavor.
I also encourage you to really try and get the canned chipotle peppers in adobo! They are wonderfully smoky and barely spicy, so don’t worry about the latter part. They add a little oomph to this recipe that truly makes it special. Also, they freeze really well so don’t worry about wasting the rest of the can, just toss it into an airtight bag and freeze away. Seriously, I freeze everything. My freezer is like my cooking laboratory and yours should be too.
Also… I’m about to insult some people reading this but who cares… if you ever complain about a bland recipe then you, yes YOU, are solely to blame. Think of the seasonings as recommendations. You should be bright enough to up (or lower) seasonings to taste. Cooking is not baking, this isn’t science y’all. Add some more damn salt if you want it. It really is not that hard.
Basically, you better salt the sh*t out of this refried beans recipe. Salt lifts up every single flavor in this. Think of it this way, salt makes food taste more like itself (ergo why salted cookies taste even sweeter and better than non-salted ones). Salt is your friend, so get friendly with it.
Since this is a classic Mexican dish, here are some of my other fave Mexican-ish recipes:
Zuchinni, Corn, and Chicken Salsa Verde Enchilada Bake
Salsa and Maseca Black Bean Soup (Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot)
One Pan Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
Homemade Refried Beans
1 hour, a handful of ingredients, and one quick blend creates the most luxurious refried beans you've ever had.
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried pinto beans
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 5 large garlic cloves, left whole
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo Note 1
- 6 cups chicken broth preferably homemade
- 3 tbsp rendered chicken fat or lard
- table salt add at the end, to taste. Note 2
- 1/3 cup diced pickled jalapenos and carrots or sub with 1-2 TBS of vinegar. or hot sauce Note 3
Instructions
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Sort through the dried beans and get rid of any debris, then rinse. Add all of the ingredients -except salt- into your electric pressure cooker.
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Attach lid to pressure cooker, make sure steam release is set to close, press the "Beans/Chili" button and cook for 45 minutes on HIGH Pressure. My pressure cooker takes about 10 minutes to come to pressure, making the total cooking time 55 minutes. After it’s cooked, manually release the steam. Use a towel to cover the hot water/steam that releases.
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Using a large soup spoon, remove most of the beans along with some water and place in a large 10 cup capacity blender. Add the diced pickled jalapeños and carrots (or sub with some vinegar). Make sure the blender top steam vent is open before blending. Blend for about a minute or until beans are thoroughly mashed.
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Place the blended beans back in the pressure cooker. On your multi cook pressure cooker, select the brown/sauté function and set to HIGH.* Cover with a lid and let it cook for 10-12 minutes. The beans will bubble a lot but don't worry, they are not burning! Turn off the brown/saute function and let the mixture cool so that it isn't bubbling much anymore.
**I find that I do not need to wait for my pot to heat up, it starts off pretty hot so I add my beans as it “heats up” and just cook for 10 minutes. Halfway into the cooking time the brown/sauté function will officially turn on.
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Mix the beans very well, they should be about the consistency of a thick stew. Add lots of salt at this point and mix well. Serve immediately and enjoy! This recipe makes 12 (½ cup) servings!
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These beans will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days (in a sealed container). Or in the freezer for up to 4 weeks (in an airtight container).
Recipe Notes
Note 1: you only want 2 peppers from a can, NOT two whole cans! In a pinch, you can sub this with a hefty dose of smoky paprika.
Note 2: Recently I’ve begun using sazon seasoning (a Latin spice blend) in leu of salt and it works fabulously. As always, season to taste!
Note 3: Make sure you add some pickled jalapenos and carrots or a few splashes of vinegar/hot sauce. The acidity really cuts through the creamy dip and makes the flavors come alive!