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When you order refried beans from a restaurant, they are usually creamy, soft, and so tasty that it can be challenging to put down your fork before they are gone — at least, when you get them from a spot that's worth its salt. However, despite our best efforts, making a batch that rivals a restaurant-worthy version at home eludes many of us. As it turns out, there are quite a few ways to ruin them, and your pan of beans can take a turn for the worse quite quickly. Adversely, making refried beans that are perfectly-textured and delicious isn't too tricky, either. That is, of course, if you take and apply some helpful notes from professionals.
Speaking of experts, I checked in with a couple to round up a list of common ways people ruin refried beans and how to fix them, so we can kiss bad batches goodbye forever. The first pro is Jenny Martinez, author of My Mexican Mesa, Y Listo!: Beautiful Flavors, Family Style, and she had lots of helpful tips to contribute. I also got a collection of insights from Rick Martínez, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, chef, and content creator, and Luis Fayad, executive chef at jm Curley, Bogie's Place, and The Wig Shop. Altogether, their savvy should be more than enough for you to finally conquer homemade refried beans for good.
1. Using refried beans straight from the can
There's no shame is using pre-made refried beans that come in a can, but serving them straight from the tin is the first mistake Luis Fayad said we should avoid. "Sometimes you don't have the time to make these from scratch so I'm not gonna rag on canned refried beans, HOWEVER, a big mistake I see people make is just heating up a canned of refried beans and serv[ing] them as is," he said.
Fayad went on to explain that while canned refried beans can be an easy shortcut, they tend to be bland, so spicing them up is in your best interest. He recommends adding fresh aromatics and a bit of extra salt to enhance flavor. For even more of a yummy infusion, you can also add bacon fat for a smoky upgrade that's sure to grab the attention of anyone who gets a taste. So while canned refried beans are a viable option when you're short on time, adding just one or two additional seasonings can seriously improve the overall flavor.
2. Always opting for canned beans instead of home-cooked
According to Jenny Martinez, "The number one mistake people do when making refried beans is reaching for canned beans rather than using homemade beans." Okay, dang. I don't know about you, but I've definitely fallen prey to this blunder many times in the past. She admitted that canned beans are definitely a time saver, but even so, you get a much better flavor when you don't take the shortcut and choose to use fresh beans, instead.
Martinez's favorite beans to use when refrying are pinto and Peruvian. Black beans also make a great choice. Whichever you go for, contrary to common belief, dried beans do not have to be soaked. So don't let an absence of meal planning stop you from using fresh ones. They won't cook as quickly as beans that are soaked overnight, but they will still turn out nicely. They'll just need a bit of extra time to simmer until they reach the desired tender consistency.
3. Starting with beans that aren't ready to refry
Another way to ruin your refried beans before they even really get going is to start with ones that aren't already soft. As Rick Martinez told me, "This primarily applies to home-cooked beans. Canned beans are generally already creamy and tender — sometimes almost to the point of being mushy, depending on the brand and how long they've been sitting on the shelf." That aside, when cooking the beans yourself, you need to ensure that they are thoroughly soft and devoid of any hard spots.
Martinez also noted that, "The skins should also be soft and edible without really having to chew them." Before you move forward with your recipe, go ahead and taste a couple of your cooked beans. If they pass the smooth and soft test, you should be all set. If not, cook them a bit longer before moving forward.
4. Confusing refried beans with bean purée
Before we move ahead, Rick Martinez said understanding the difference between refried beans and bean purée is key. Once you do that, you need to decide which you actually want to make. It's paramount to success. He explained how the two dishes vary, "Refried beans, as the name implies, require oil of some kind. It can be vegetable oil or animal fat, but you need to fry the beans, and the oil needs to be hot." The extreme temperature caramelizes the ingredients, leading to a deep umami flavor in the end. He also warned against using cold oil and beans, and slowly heating them, "You're adding fat, but you're not developing flavor."
A bean purée, on the other hand, "is also incredibly delicious and probably a little easier, but it won't have that same deep umami flavor," said Martinez. To make bean purée, you sauté aromatics (onions, garlic, and chiles) and maybe veggies like tomatoes or tomatillos until thoroughly browned. Once the flavor in them is fully developed, you add them to beans with a bit of water or broth and purée until smooth. The result is a flavorful dish with a good amount of depth — they just won't be refried beans.
5. Burning the garlic and onions
No surprises here, but burning the garlic and onions is another surefire way to ruin homemade refried beans. As Luis Fayad told me, "Sweating out the onions is an important step to concentrate [the] flavors; however, it's important to do this over lower temperatures or the onion will start to get color and/or burn before they've rendered out enough of their water." Don't rush the process, or the flavor will suffer as a result.
Fayed added that you should wait to introduce the garlic until the onions are almost done in the pan. He reasoned, "Garlic cooks much faster than the onions, so if you add it too early, you risk burning it before the onions are fully sweated out, OR you'll have to sacrifice fully sweating out your onions in order to save the garlic." Neither is ideal. Also, make sure the garlic does not start to brown. That's a sign of it becoming bitter.
6. Using too little, or too much liquid
Trying to refry beans without liquid is another way to ruin them. As Rick Martinez told me, liquid is a must when it comes to cooking and mashing your beans, "If you refry them without any liquid, they'll caramelize and develop flavor, but they'll become hard and chalky when you try to mash them."
To avoid this mistake, Martinez told me the liquid you use should cover about half of the beans. He said, "If you have a 1-inch layer of beans in the skillet, you want about ½-inch of liquid." That should be plenty to help with mashing. Any more than that, and your mixture easily becomes soupy. In addition, he warned against using more because, "The beans will also have so much room to move around that it will be difficult to mash every one, leaving whole-bean stragglers that escape the masher." It seems he will leave the age-old question of whether to use milk or water for refried beans up to you, though. My advice is to try both and see which version you like best.
7. Being unprepared for the splatter
When you are heating up oil, splatter is pretty much inevitable. With this in mind, not being prepared for a bit of it would be a mistake, and it could inadvertently ruin your refried bean-making experience. Rick Martinez put it this way, "When you add beans and their liquid to very hot oil, the mixture will spit, sputter, and make a mess. That's the nature of refrying beans and developing that flavor."
To avoid this, Martinez recommends using a skillet with a high side, a pot, or a Dutch oven when making refried beans. In addition, when you see wisps of smoke coming off the oil, use the lid as a shield while adding half of your beans and liquid. Then, quickly cover the pot while the contents splatter and bubble. When it settles, go ahead and add the rest of your beans and liquid. After that, Martinez said you should not encounter any more splattering issues. Even so, he recommends you, "Wear an apron, long sleeves, and something you're comfortable getting a little bean juice or possibly oil on."
8. Underestimating how much fat or oil you need
Not one, but two of our experts told me that underestimating how much fat or oil is needed to make refried beans is another way to ruin them. Luis Fayad said, "They're called reFRIED beans, so don't skimp out on the fat you're using to cook your already cooked beans. Be generous with it." Rick Martinez agreed with Fayad by saying, "For one can or about 2 cups of beans, you'll need at least 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil and possibly as much as ⅓ to ½ cup."
Fayad also divulged that his father used to use about 1 cup of bacon fat for 1½ to 2 quarts of beans, and they were the best, or insanely delicious, to be exact. He also admitted that that seems like a lot, because it is, but you can't argue with flavor. Even so, he told me you don't have to use animal fat, "When I make vegetarian refried beans for my friends, I heat vegetable oil until hot and sauté roughly chopped onion, chiles, and garlic until they're very dark and caramelized. I remove and discard them, leaving behind a deeply flavored oil that imparts amazing flavor to the beans." He also noted that you can use dried chiles, herbs, spices, nuts, or seeds to create a flavorful oil, as long as you make sure not to let them burn. If they do, similar to garlic, they'll become bitter.
9. Refusing to use animal fat
When making refried beans, adding some kind of oil or fat to the equation is essential. We know that. However, a couple of our experts strongly urge you to go for animal fat. As Jenny Martinez said, "People usually mess up by making refried beans by using oil to refry them. Instead, use lard or manteca for an authentic flavor." Luis Fayad backed up Martinez by saying, "Refusing to use them robs you of adding a layer of richness and depth of flavor that you can get from bacon fat or lard that you just can't get from canola or vegetable oil."
Obviously, vegetarians and vegans usually steer clear of animal fat, which is understandable. But if you're avoiding it solely because you think it's "unhealthy," Fayed disagrees. "There is nothing to indicate that animal-based fats are 'unhealthier' than seed oils." Obviously, swapping out oil for animal fat won't do if you are cooking for someone who practices a plant-based diet, but it's something to consider when that isn't a concern. Actually, it's generally considered one of the best ways to liven up refried beans.
10. Blending your beans or using the wrong masher
Most people know refried beans need to be mashed to achieve the desired consistency. Even so, the tools we use to get the job done can make or break the final product. Case in point: A traditional blender can easily ruin them. Luis Fayad shared some insights on the matter, "Canned beans have left people thinking refried beans should be a smooth, thick paste. Consequently, many home cooks trying to make their own refried beans use a blender, which overworks the beans and makes them gummy." He recommends using a potato masher, wooden spoon, or the pulse setting on an immersion blender, instead.
Rick Martinez concurs; the type of masher you use makes a big difference. "The standard potato masher with tines arranged in a ribbony wave pattern is much less efficient for beans. The beans slip through the spaces between the tines, so you have to do considerably more work, and your arm will get tired," he said. He prefers a masher with a round head and little square holes because it's more efficient, resulting in less work for you and creamier beans in the end.
11. Failing to stir and scrape the bottom
After mashing, your beans can quickly and easily be ruined if you don't stir them continuously. As Rick Martinez told me, "From that point forward, you need to be vigilant about stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan." The heavier chunks settle, leaving looser liquid on the top. Relying on the appearance alone can be deceiving, "When you look at the skillet, everything may appear perfectly fine: the mixture looks loose, it's bubbling, and it seems as though you can leave it alone while it reduces. Meanwhile, all the thick, beany bits are sitting on the bottom of the pan, beginning to stick and burn," said Martinez.
It might seem harmless if you don't stir and scrape continuously, but when you fail to, Martinez told me, "Three things will happen: You'll burn the beans, you'll have a skillet that's extremely difficult to clean, and you'll be really sad because you've done all this work and your beans taste bitter." No, thanks. Keeping your spatula or spoon handy and moving is much easier than dealing with any of those complications. Plus, staying on the beans isn't tricky. It just requires your undivided attention for a few minutes.
12. Cooking the beans to their final consistency
The next potential mistake to avoid with refried beans is cooking them until they reach the desired final consistency. Rick Martinez pointed out they will continue to thicken while they cool. As he put it, "You may be stirring and scraping while the beans look creamy and perhaps as loose as pourable yogurt, and that may seem too thin. But once you take them off the heat — especially in a cast-iron or enameled cast-iron skillet that retains heat — they will continue to thicken for the next 15 to 30 minutes." As a result, if you don't stop cooking them soon enough, you could suddenly wind up with refried beans that are extremely thick.
If this happens, all hope is not lost. Martinez said overly thick refried beans can easily be remedied. He advised, "Gently heat them again and stir in ½ to 1 cup water. Once they're slightly looser than you ultimately want, take them off the heat. They'll thicken as they sit."
13. Not seasoning the beans at the right time
When it comes to seasoning your refried beans, timing is everything. Interestingly, though, this is one area where our experts don't 100% agree. They don't disagree that timing matters; it's the when part that has them on different pages. Rick Martinez recommends waiting until right before serving to season refried beans. His reasoning is, "If they're perfectly seasoned at the beginning, they'll become too salty as the liquid evaporates and the flavor becomes concentrated. Even if you season them when you take them off the heat, they will continue losing moisture as they sit and cool, concentrating the salt." That's why he suggests tasting your beans at the very end and adding seasoning then. Even so, they should still be hot enough for the salt to dissolve so the flavor is cohesive, not just an afterthought.
Luis Fayad, on the other hand, said waiting until the end results in a blander finished product. Instead, he told me, "Seasoning your food is something you should do spread out throughout the cooking process, not just added all at once at a specified time." He suggests periodically adding small amounts of salt to the onions, garlic, and beans while cooking, and then a bit more after mashing and maybe even more after frying. Whatever route you take, don't be afraid to use salt.
14. Pouring the cooking liquid down the drain
The final tip you want to keep in mind when making refried beans comes from Luis Fayad. While he thinks it could be on many of our radars already, I have to admit, it's never crossed my mind until now. Here's what he had to say, "Save the excess cooking liquid from your beans to use later. Towards the end of the cooking process, you may need to adjust the thickness of your refried beans, and the cooking liquid is a great way to thin out overly thick refried beans while incorporating the delicious bean flavor instead of just plain old water from the tap." There's nothing wrong with using tap water, but Fayad's suggestion is obviously a much tastier option.
With all of the tips and tricks we've learned from the experts, we should be all set to start putting them to good use. Also, word to the wise: You can freeze refried beans, so don't worry if your new skills have you so excited that you make more than you need and wind up with leftovers.