Easy Refried Black Beans

Refried Black Beans are the bees knees when it comes to flavourful comfort food.

Traditionally, refried beans are usually made with pinto beans but I chose to use black beans as their nutrition profile is amazing and I also love the flavour. Here's something interesting I've noticed: I can really taste the difference between varieties of beans when I prepare them from their dried state compared to the taste of canned beans, which all seem to taste the same to me. So, if you can, use the dried beans instead of canned. Organic beans are also a good idea because they are heavily sprayed with pesticides, especially most that are grown in the US.

I've provided a few different cooking options for this recipe, including stovetop, pressure cooker/Instant Pot and slow cooker.

Black Bean Nutrition

After discovering both that I'm homozygous for the MTHFR polymorphism that has gotten so much attention of late, and that my gut bacteria were in desperate need of quality prebiotic fibre to munch on, I decided to do away with strict Paleo eating and embrace the world of legumes. Give me all the folate and all the prebiotic fibre please. I've quickly determined that I have a few favourite varieties - the rest I don't really care for. Obviously, I can't go past using chickpeas for a Smoky Hummus, French lentils in a salad and black beans in almost anything - they certainly top the list.

I've written about the various benefits of black beans here, and I'm happy to be able to provide a recipe for enjoying them. They have such a lovely unique flavour, I really look forward to cooking with them.

Refried Black Beans served with pickled red onions, browned mushrooms, mixed olives and tabouleh

Ingredients for this recipe

• Black beans - either dried or canned
• Spices
• Apple cider vinegar
• Brown onion
• Garlic cloves
• Olive oil
• Cooking salt

What you'll love about it

• Creaminess from the beans and olive oil
• Creamy texture with some texture from the beans
• Very easy to make
• Can be frozen in small portions
• Very quick - 20 minutes - if using canned beans
• Gluten free and vegan

How to serve Refried Black Beans

So, here is my recipe for Refried Black Beans. There's not much frying involved, so the name is a little confusing. What they are is delicious and comforting. They go perfectly with my purple sweet potato flatbread and condiments such as olives, quick pickled red onions, guacamole, baba ganoush, hot sauce...the list goes on! I like to make a big batch of this to last me through the week. I use my Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot to prepare the beans themselves in a lightning fast 28 minutes with no pre-soaking required. If you haven't gotten a pressure cooker yet, I highly recommend one. You can see my Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot recipes here and an article all about why pressure cooking is so great here.

Refried Black Beans

gluten free, dairy free, grain free

Comfort food at its finest. Black beans are an inexpensive superfood, delicious when prepared with a little know-how, such as in this recipe for Refried Black Beans.

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Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 3 cups

Author: Allison Jones

Ingredients

• 1 ½ C (300g) dried black beans, or 600g canned black beans (measured after draining)
• 1 medium brown onion diced
• 6 med-large cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ⅔ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• If using dried beans, cook according to your preferred method (options below) and the equipment you have. Or you can use canned beans instead - remember to drain and rinse first before using them and follow from Step 5.
• Option A: On the stove. Soak beans overnight for 8 hours with 10cm (4 inches) of water covering them. Rinse when ready to cook. Place in a large stockpot with 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat to medium-low, simmering partially covered for 30-40 minutes until they are tender. Drain with a colander when cooked.
• Option B: Slow cooker. You can use this method I've linked to here but no need to use the aromatics mentioned as my recipe has tons of flavour. Drain with a colander when cooked. http://cafejohnsonia.com/…/how-to-slow-cooker-black-beans.h…
• Option C: Pressure cooker/Instant Pot. Cover with water and cook on high pressure for 28 mins and let the pressure release naturally (don't release manually). Drain with a colander when cooked.
• Option D: use canned beans - simply drain and rinse in water
• Place 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan and add the diced onions, heat on medium until onions are softened (approx 7 minutes).
• Add the remaining oil, the spices and the garlic and stir for 2 minutes ensuring the garlic does not overcook.
• Add the boiled water and then the beans, stirring well to distribute the spices and garlic evenly.
• Cook for 5 minutes, add the apple cider vinegar and remove from the heat.
• Roughly mash the beans, leave some of the beans whole for texture.This might take a few minutes. This could also be done in a food processor by pulsing briefly, or with a stick/immersion blender. Remember to keep some of the texture of the beans rather than making the mixture smooth.
• Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley and serve immediately. Can also be frozen in individual portion sizes using a muffin tray.

Notes

Equipment: If using dried beans - pressure cooker (or large saucepan); potato masher, cooking knife, chopping board, measuring cups (or digital scales) and measuring spoons.

Cooking time given is an average of the different methods.

Using canned beans or pre-cooked leftover beans means the recipe will be much quicker to make - it will be ready in only 20 minutes.

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