The Best Restaurant Style Refried Beans Recipe

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This Restaurant Style Refried Beans recipe is made in a slow cooker and no bean soaking is required! This recipe serves 12 and costs $2.13 to make. That’s just 18¢ per serving!

Warning: Once you make my Restaurant Style Refried Beans Recipe you’ll never go back to canned beans because this is an easy, authentic refried beans recipe!

I have been tinkering with this easy refried beans recipe for a couple of months now. I am happy to report that I’ve SO nailed it! They’re incredibly easy to make and so tasty. Not to mention they cost a fraction of the canned refried beans. And who knew refried beans and healthy could be used in the same sentence?! Because they definitely could with this recipe!

I always have a few…ten…pounds of pinto beans in my pantry (Thanks, Costco!). My kids love these homemade refried beans. And I mean LOVE! They shovel them in by the spoonful.

Mexican Refried Beans Rave reviews from readers:

“Made this last night. Truly amazing and so easy!! Walking in the door after work, the house smelled yummy. Thank you so much!”

“Classic recipe I love refried beans! Can’t wait to make this again it was great”

“This recipe is as good as it gets for refried pinto beans; period (for what its worth, I am likely a refried pinto bean addict). Easy, inexpensive, reasonably “healthy”, and always nails.”

How are refried beans made?

Refried beans are made with pinto beans. This is a great item to keep in your pantry to be able to make beans as often as you would like at a fraction of the cost. To make the refried beans just put all of the ingredients into a slow cooker. Cook them on high for 9 hours and then blend with an immersion blender before serving. Easy!

Are refried beans vegetarian?

Many popular refried beans recipes contain lard. Using lard in the recipe makes the beans not vegetarian. However, my recipe does not call for lard. This also helps to make the recipe a little more healthy than other refried bean recipes. 

To make them vegan, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. 

What do you eat with refried beans?

I love refried beans on a tortilla or with some tortilla chips. Add some salsa with the chips and tortillas and you are set! This Mexican Rice also goes great with the beans. You could even serve the beans alongside this Mexican Lasagna and you’d have such a great meal. 

How to make Restaurant Style Refried Beans:

1. First, place all of your ingredients, minus the salt and pepper, into your slow cooker.
2. Next, cook the beans on high for 9 hours. 
3. Finally, using an immersion blender, puree the beans until smooth. Add water as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Disclosure: This Restaurant Style Refried Beans recipe includes affiliate links. See the rest of Food Folks and Fun’s disclosure policy.

Cook’s Note:

• *** If you use Chicken broth instead of the chicken bouillon granules then you will need 6 cups of broth and 1 cup of water!
• To make this refried beans recipe you’ll need an immersion blender. You can use a standard blender and run small batches through it, but it will take a while. (Also if you go this route you’ll need to hold the lid to the blender on SUPER tight!) The immersion blender that I use will run you about $40. I use it all the time, especially for soups!
• When rinsing the beans throw out any that float or that are discolored. Also keep an eye out for small stones, especially if you buy cheaper pinto beans.
• This recipe makes roughly 12 cups of beans which translates to about 6 cans of refried beans!
• These beans can be frozen in Ziploc bags in small batches. They will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. When reheating the beans you may need to loosen them with a couple of tablespoons of water.

Can you make Mexican refried beans in an Instant Pot?

Yes, you can make these beans in an Instant Pot! I have an excellent Instant Pot Refried Beans recipe over on my other website, Easy Budget Recipes. 

Cook’s Tools:

• Crock-Pot This is the 3rd one I’ve own and it’s my favorite. Lots of bells and whistles without a hefty price tag! I love that when the timer goes off, the slow cooker automatically switches to warm for 4 hours.
• Immersion Blender: I love this immersion blender for making SO many recipes like salad dressings, creamy soups, and these refried beans. Clean up is so much quicker than using a blender!

LOVE MEXICAN FOOD AS MUCH AS I DO?

Check out some of my personal favorite recipes:

• Chicken Burrito Bowl
• Picadillo Tacos
• New Mexico Style Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
• Mexican Spinach Dip 
• Sweet Corn Tamales Cake
• Green Chile Pinto Beans
• Guacamole
• Horchata
• Enchilada sauce
• Carne Asada Street Tacos
• Queso Blanco Dip
• Breakfast Taco Bar

How much will this restaurant style refried beans recipe cost to make? 

RECIPE COST: $2.13

PER SERVING COST: $0.18

NOTE: The recipe prices are used calculating name brand products from Walmart’s website. The actual cost of the recipe will vary depending on what your pantry is already stocked with and current grocery prices. 

• 3 cups dried pinto beans – $1.11
• 7 cups water – $0.00
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes – $0.16
• 1 medium white onion – $0.70
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder – $0.06
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin – $0.09
• salt and pepper to taste – $0.01

More Mexican recipes: 

• Beef Enchiladas
• Best Guacamole
• Best Mexican Sweet Corn Cake
• Carne Asada Street Tacos
• Cheesy Green Chile Cornbread
• Easy Stovetop Chicken Fajitas
• Mexican Spinach Dip
• Mexican Street Corn Flatbread Pizza
• New Mexico Style Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
• One Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls
• Pantry Chicken Taco Soup
• Picadillo Tacos

Restaurant Style Refried Beans Recipe

This Restaurant Style Refried Beans recipe is made in a slow cooker and no bean soaking is required! This recipe serves 12 and costs $2.13 to make. That’s just 18¢ per serving!

4.71 from 34 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: beans, refried beans

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 9 hours

Total Time: 9 hours 5 minutes

Servings: 12 people

US Customary - Metric

Calories: 177kcal

Author: Jillian - a Food, Folks and Fun original!

Ingredients

• 3 cups dried pinto beans rinsed and picked over
• 7 cups water
• 2 Tablespoons chicken bouillon granules (or 2 bouillon cubes)
• 1 medium white onion diced (or 1 Tablespoon onion powder)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

GARNISHES:

• Shredded Mexican cheese blend optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Add all of the ingredients, except for the salt and pepper to the crock-pot. 
  
• Cook on high for 9 hours. At this point, the beans will be tender and a bunch of them will have popped open.
  
• Use an immersion blender to puree the beans until smooth. Add more water as needed, or if you're feeling decadent add a couple tablespoons of butter! Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with shredded Mexican cheese (optional).
  

Video

Notes

This recipe makes about 6 cups of beans. 

Some readers have not cooked the beans for the full hours and they end up with watery beans. You must cook the beans the full 9 hours, I cannot express the importance of this enough! 

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 177kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 699mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 3mg

Tried this recipe?Follow me @FoodFolksandFun

This post first appeared on FFF on August 15, 2015. I have since updated the pictures and added a recipe video. 

This Restaurant Style Refried Beans recipe is made in a slow cooker and no bean soaking is required! This recipe serves 12 and costs $2.13 to make. That’s just 18¢ per serving!