Frijoles Refritos | Refried Beans

by Dawn T in Rouxbe Recipes

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Step 1: Cooking the Beans

Cooking the Beans

First sort through the beans and remove any stones. Rinse them well and cover with cold water. Soak the beans for up to 8 hours (or overnight).

If you have forgotten to soak the beans in advance, bring them to a boil over high heat for about 3 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and continue with the recipe.

To cook the beans, first drain the soaking liquid, rinse, and then place into a medium-sized pot. Mince the garlic and onion. Add these to the pot, along with the epazote. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for about an hour, or until the beans are almost cooked through.

Once the beans are almost done, add the salt. When tender, drain and reserve about one cup of the cooking liquid.

Place the beans into a food processor. Add the reserved liquid, a few tablespoons at a time. Add just enough to help blend the beans. They should still be a bit chunky.

  • 1 cup dried black beans
  • 1/2 white onion
  • 1 clove fresh garlic
  • 1 tsp epazote (optional)
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt

Step 2: Finishing the Beans

Finishing the Beans

To fry the beans, heat a small, non-stick fry pan over medium heat and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the beans and stir to heat through. You can break up the beans even more with a potato masher, if you like. Let the beans fry for a few minutes until the excess moisture evaporates.

Once the beans are cooked, transfer them to a bowl. Top with sour cream, Mexican Crema (or creme fraiche) and garnish with a few strips of serrano peppers, if desired.

  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 3 tbsp sour cream (optional)
  • 1 small serrano pepper (optional)

Notes

Black beans are also known as turtle beans. Black beans hold their shape well during cooking and have a velvety texture.

Epazote is a pungent herb that is often used in Mexican cooking. It has been compared to fennel, anise and tarragon. This seasoning is also known for its anti-flatulent properties.

Related Tips & Techniques

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Sorting, Rinsing & Soaking Dried Beans

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Related Cooking School Lessons

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How to Cook Dried Legumes

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Jose P

About Soaking overnight

Instead of soaking overnight and then cooking, Would it be the same result if its used a slow cooking process or a crock-pot to do both at the same time, cook the beans and release the gases?

Thanks

Dawn T
Rouxbe Staff

Re: About Soaking the Beans Overnight

Soaking the beans and changing the water after soaking does help with some of the gasiness associated with beans; however you can do a quick soak or skip it all together if you like.

We go into a bit more detail about this in the Cooking School Lesson on How to Cook Dried Legumes.

Hope this help!

p.s. It's nice to see you back in the forum Jose - welcome back!!

Coco H

White Beans

Does tis applies same way of cooking if im using the white beans ie black eye peas?

Joe G
Rouxbe Staff

Soaking and Cooking Dried Beans

Yes Coco... it's the same process. Cooking time will vary depending on the bean type and size of course.

Jose P

Woops :D

Already set them for overnight cooking at the crock-pot with no pre-soaking nor rinsing.

It will be an interesting experiment and learning experience tomorrow ... :D I'll feed my room mate and hope for the best!

Should have seen the How to Cook Dried Legumes before..

Anna P

Look so dry

The technique looks very easy, but the resulting dish looks incredibly dry and unpalatable to me. Would it be possible to add some kind of liquid, say more of the cooking water to taste, to the beans, so they aren't so dry and lumpy looking?

Dawn T
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Looks Dry

Indeed you can add some of the cooking liquid...good thinking. Cheers!

Pauline W

Degassing Beans

One of the best cooking tip I ever received was to add about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger to beans as you are cooking them. This does a good job of degassing them and oddly does not impart a ginger flavor. I usually use about one teaspoon in the soaking water and 1/2 teaspoon in the cooking water for 2 pounds of bean. I have tried this with brown beans but not yet with other varieties.

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