My Refried Beans Recipe is Better Than Yours

You will never buy canned again once you taste this delicious, refried beans recipe that is simple to prepare and loaded with flavor. This traditional side dish is a staple to serve up with all your Mexican recipes.

Refried beans, also known as frijoles refritos, are a popular Mexican dish consisting of cooked beans such as pinto or black beans that are mashed and fried in onions and melted in rendered bacon fat. While they are cooked twice, they are only fried one time.

While you can purchase these pre-made in a can, the flavors are much more complex when homemaking them. In addition, there are more opportunities to add different ingredients and flavors when making it from scratch.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 1 pound dried pinto beans
• Water
• ½ peeled yellow onion
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon dry epazote
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/3 cup rendered bacon fat
• 1 seedless serrano pepper
• 1 peeled and small diced yellow onion
• cotija or queso fresco for garnish
• chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste

[rmando]

That is a very bold statement! I don't know your history but mine goes back to my ancestors in Mexico.

[jimf]

Chef BP taking some hits here in the comments section. I'm glad everyone is passionate about their beans and that their way is the best (for them). I think the chef was just having some fun saying his beans are better than yours. Remember, there is more than 1 person watching this video and he's correct many times and maybe off the mark for some who love beans. If you see enough of his uploads, it's clear to me he just wants to get viewers better at any particular dish. Basic skills to increase confidence to try and create something good in the kitchen. Maybe this video didn't help you but I'm sure it helped many. Maybe the next video will be on something you aren't nearly as familiar with. Maybe the chef will entertain accepting videos or similar on this topic and put it to the test. Have a great weekend everyone.

[randmayfield]

One important thing that is oftened overbooked when cooking beans from the dry state is how freash are they? The fresher the better because older beans can sometimes fail to soften. The best place to get pintos are a bulk bin in a Latin market because they move and are never in the store or on a shelf for very long. Another thing, keep an eye on the water level while simmering the beans. Ideally you want the level to be a half inch to an inch over the beans.
Iam a retired culinary arts instructor that taught cooking in the southwest for over 20 years. Theres an art to making good beans...trust me.

[davidmonge]

I was skeptical ngl because I’m Mexican but you killed it with those refried beans! I’ve made them before but not with the added spices, herbs, and aromatics so I’ll have to give this a try. They look amazing 🤩

[servantofjesus]

I made this recipe today-AMAZINGLY delicious-Thanks chef Parisi

[teeh]

I think you read my mind. After all your delicious Mexican recipes over on FB, I was thinking, Chef, I sure wish you would do a video of your version of refried beans. Then boom....here it is today. Quite different from my way so I'm really excited about trying it. Blessings to you and yours, Chef.
🙏🏻❤🙏🏻

[kalishajnz]

Love love refried beans. I like to smear them on a flour tortilla topped with cheese and broil in the oven for a little snack. I've made them from canned beans but haven't tried dried beans, I'm definitely gonna try this recipe.

[cherylwilson]

Probably is. Mine came from a can. I will definitely do this recipe.

[michaeleng]

I just tried your recipe and it came out great. However, as an Asian I added some umami rich chicken powder to another batch and it came out more amazing.

[JJ-inbc]

Thank you! So many great recommendations! ¡Que bueno!

[chilldude]

Have you ever used cannelini? Thwyre the only dry beans ive got so im giving them a go. I typically use kidney, black or pinto. Hopefully it will be tasty!

[benicio]

I live for onions but my family wont stand for the texture of onions in the beans and no one loves garlic more than I do but I’m trying to be sure I got it you put “8” garlic cloves in it? I used garlic powder and onion powder in mine yesterday and they turned out really nice. I’ll definitely try cumin next time. I’ve never tried that before. I’m trying to figure out how to reheat them the next day and make sure they don’t thicken up too much. I’m not sure I I can add butter to thin them back out or just add water.

[servantofjesus]

Can I ask if you put a lid on it to simmer for 1.5 hours or not? Thanks

[carlacogswell]

Your process sounds amazing. I'm going to try your recipe. But I'm curious why you didn't speak of soaking the beans.

[kurtjohnson]

My method is pretty similar, but I never add cumin; because I'm usually plating the beans with a cumin-flavored entree. Also, putting cheese in the beans makes no sense to me. Sprinkle cotija on top, or some crumbled feta.

[QuentinQuark]

How well do these keep in the fridge to use for leftovers? Mine always get all hard and dry/crumbly after keeping in the fridge :(

[MikeBacians]

I like refried beans. That’s why I want to try fried beans. Maybe they’re just as good and we’re wasting time

[Reinolds_Recipes]

Love it! Going to try this :) thank you again for sharing! New subscriber here!

[angelavette]

Here's a pro tip Chef. During cooking in water add a hamhock, couple pieces of good bacon or ham bone from a holiday ham. You can also use salt pork of you have it. If you are concerned about hamhock bones, just put the hock in cheese cloth. I've never had that problem. I don't add cumin or Mexican oregano. I will try it though.

[amy]

How would you make these vegan and keep it very flavorful?