30 min · Vegan · Side dish · For beginners
Frijoles Refritos
In German: Refried Beans
For 4 servings · US units
Mashed, pan-fried pinto beans: creamy, savory and quick to make
Frijoles refritos are fried, mashed beans you can make as rustic and chunky or as silky smooth as you like. With canned beans they're on the table in half an hour, which makes them a natural fit for any ordinary weeknight, any time of year. Fried in olive oil they're vegan, and a little cotija with a squeeze of lime turns them into a really good bowl.
Ingredients
- 14⅛ ozcooked weight; canned or cooked from about 160 g dried beans; black or Peruano beans also workCaution: Dried pinto beans contain lectins that are toxic when raw, so they must be soaked and boiled thoroughly, as slow cooking at low temperature is not enough.Medium-sized beige beans with reddish-brown speckles that fade during cooking. Once cooked they turn soft, creamy and mildly earthy.Substitute: Borlotti beans are almost identical, just as creamy and mild. Kidney beans or black beans also work but have firmer skins and break down less, which shows in refried beans.Read more
- 2⅛ cupswaterfor cooking dried beans (optional)
- 1 tbspoilor lard; for frying
- 1oniondiced
- 2 clovesgarlicminced
- 1minced; for heat (optional)Medium-sized green chilli from Mexico, thick-fleshed and juicy, with a fresh, moderate heat.Substitute: Other fresh green chillies of medium heat work well, such as serrano, which is somewhat hotter, or sturdy green chillies from an Asian grocer used more sparingly. Mild Turkish long green peppers give a similar freshness but little heat.Read more
- 2with 1 tbsp adobo sauce; smoky heat instead of jalapeño (optional)Smoked, dried jalapeños packed in a dark, sweet-sour sauce of tomato, vinegar and spices, smoky and properly hot.Substitute: Dried chipotles, soaked and blended with a little tomato paste and a splash of vinegar, come closest; at a pinch, smoked paprika and a little cayenne with tomato paste give smoke and heat, but not the fleshy texture or the sweet-sour depth of the sauce.Read more
- ½ tspcuminground
- ½ tspOreganodried
- 1bay leafcooked with the dried beans (optional)
- ½ cupstockor bean cooking liquid or water; to loosen while mashing
- 1 tspsaltadjust to taste at the end
- sprinkled on top to serve, with a squeeze of lime (optional)A Mexican cow's milk cheese, salty and dry, crumbled or grated over finished dishes.Substitute: Ricotta salata comes closest in texture and saltiness. Feta also works but is moister and noticeably tangier; well drained and crumbled, it suits recipes calling for young cotija best. For aged cotija, a mild pecorino or Parmesan works, though it tastes nuttier and sharper, so use a little less.Read more
Method
- If you're using dried beans, pick through them carefully and remove any little stones or damaged beans. If you're using canned beans, rinse them in a sieve and let them drain well, then skip straight ahead to step three.
- Cook the dried beans with the water and the bay leaf until tender: about 50 minutes in a pressure cooker plus 15 minutes for the pressure to release naturally, or 1.5 to 2 hours in an open pot. Drain the beans, saving the cooking liquid. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. If you like some heat, mince the jalapeño too, or for a smoky kick use the chipotles in adobo instead, along with a little of the adobo sauce.
- Heat the olive oil or lard in a skillet. Add the onion, garlic, chile, cumin, Mexican oregano and salt and fry for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and everything smells wonderful.
- Add the beans to the skillet and let them cook briefly with the aromatics. Then pour in some of the vegetable stock, bean cooking liquid or a splash of water.
- Mash the beans with a potato masher for a chunky texture, or blend them for a smooth purée. If the mixture is too stiff, add a little more liquid bit by bit.
- Let the beans simmer in the skillet over medium heat until they're as thick as you like them, stirring now and then so nothing sticks.
- Season the frijoles refritos with salt to taste and serve right away, topped with crumbled cotija and a little lime juice if you like.
Tips and variations
Black beans or Peruano beans work just as well as pintos. For the purist version, make them with nothing but beans, lard and salt. You can also blend the cooked beans before frying, together with the onion, garlic, spices and stock, and only then cook them down in the skillet. Or simmer them with onion, garlic and chipotles in adobo, blend everything smooth and serve them without frying at all. Depending on your mood, the heat can come from jalapeño, chili powder or chipotles. My serving tip: scatter cotija over the top just before serving and add a squeeze of lime; that hit of freshness does wonders for the creamy beans. Leave off the cheese and fry them in oil, and the whole thing stays vegan.
Allergens
May contain if you use the optional ingredients: Milk (including lactose)
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
