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Related Cooking Notes

Refried Beans

Ingredients

  • pressure cook
    • 1 lb dried pinto or black beans, picked over and rinsed
    • 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock or water
    • 2 tsp kosher salt (10g)
    • 1 medium white onions, halved
    • 4 cloves garlic
    • 4 sprigs fresh epazote or oregano (see note)
  • saute
    • 9 tablespoons lard, bacon drippings, vegetable oil, or butter (see note)
    • 1 medium white onions, minced

Directions

  1. Put beans, stock/water, salt, onion, garlic, and herbs into a pressure cooker. Cook on high for 28 minutes with a natural release.
  2. Drain beans, reserving bean-cooking liquid. Discard onion, garlic, and herbs.
  3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat lard, bacon drippings, or oil until shimmering, or butter until foaming. Add minced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and lightly golden (7 minutes)
  4. Stir in beans and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of reserved bean-cooking liquid. Using potato masher, smash the beans to form a chunky puree; alternatively, use a stick blender to make a smoother purée.
  5. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, until desired consistency is reached; if refried beans are too dry, add more bean-cooking liquid, 1 tbsp at a time, as needed.

Notes

  • Yield: XXX
  • Instead of using epazote or oregano you can try adding other flavors. For example, try sautéing a pinch of ground cumin or fresh chilis with the minced onion, or puréeing toasted dried chilis into the mixture.
  • Different cooking fats give different flavors to the beans: lard is one of the most traditional, and it adds a porky, funky depth to the beans that's hard to beat; bacon ups the ante even more by layering in a smoky flavor; vegetable oil keeps things neutral so you can really enjoy the flavor of the beans and the aromatics; and butter is decadent and rich without being overpowering

Estimated Nutrition

  • XXX