Easy Vegan Refried Beans
The best simple and delicious vegan refried beans. These pair perfectly with corn or flour tortillas for a quick and easy vegan dinner.
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Easy Vegan Refried Beans
Good morning friends! Today, I am so excited to share my simple and delicious homemade refried beans recipe. I love using refried beans in so many different dishes, including burritos, burrito bowls, taco salads, and soft tacos just to name a few.
While I do enjoy the convenience of canned refried beans occasionally, they definitely don’t taste near as good as fresh, homemade refried beans. Plus, many canned refried beans actually aren’t vegan. So, when I have a bit of extra time, I prefer to make my own homemade refried beans.
I do take a little bit of prep work out of this recipe by using canned pinto beans that are already cooked rather than dry beans. You can do the same if desired.
Now, let’s go over some quick things to note for this recipe. Then, we will take a look at the list of ingredients you will need to make this easy refried beans recipe.
How Do You Cook Refried Beans on the Stove?
My favorite way to cook homemade refried beans is by using the stovetop method. It’s actually a lot quicker and easier than you might think. First, I sauté my onions for a few minutes until they are cooked down and translucent. Then, I add them to a pot with all of the other ingredients (except for the cilantro, lime juice, and salt).
After that, I take the mixture over to the stovetop and bring it to a boil. Once it starts to boil, I turn the heat to low and simmer the mixture covered for about five minutes. At that point, your refried bean mixture should be done cooking. Then, all you have to do is remove it from heat, let the mixture cool for a few minutes, and mash everything up to get the perfect refried bean consistency.
That completes all of the cooking steps required to make refried beans on the stovetop. I really like the stovetop method because there is no fancy equipment required and the beans cook incredibly quickly (especially if you use canned beans that you don’t have to precook beforehand).
Now that we have covered a few quick things to note for this recipe, let’s take a look at the list of ingredients you will need to make these easy vegan refried beans.
Easy Vegan Refried Beans – Ingredients
- Pinto Beans – The first ingredient you will need to make these delicious homemade refried beans are the pinto beans. I used one can of pinto beans, which I drained and rinsed thoroughly before adding to my pot.
- Chopped Yellow Onion – The next ingredient you will need for this recipe is the chopped yellow onion. This ingredient adds a ton of flavor to your refried beans.
- Cilantro – Fresh cilantro adds both flavor and color to your homemade refried beans. If you don’t like cilantro, you can easily omit this ingredient.
- Garlic – The fresh garlic adds a ton of flavor to this recipe. You will want to crush it with a garlic press before adding it to your pot of beans.
- Jalapeño Pepper – The fresh jalapeño pepper adds a bit of spice to the refried beans without overpowering them. If you aren’t a fan of spicy foods, you can easily omit this ingredient or swap it out for a bit of finely chopped green bell pepper.
- Chili Powder – The chili powder adds a bit of spice to these homemade refried beans.
- Cumin – The cumin adds more spice and flavor to this recipe.
- Dried Oregano – The dried oregano adds a little extra flavor to these homemade refried beans.
- Salt – The salt is another ingredient which adds a ton of flavor to the refried beans. You will adjust this ingredient to your own personal taste.
- Water – The water is added to the pot with the beans to help the refried bean mixture achieve a nice and creamy texture.
- Olive Oil – The olive oil adds flavor and richness to this recipe. It is used to sauté the onions so that they don’t end up with a harsh flavor.
- Lime Juice – The lime juice adds a little something extra to this homemade refried beans recipe.
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Easy Vegan Refried Beans
Ingredients
- 1 can pinto beans (1 can = 15.5 oz)
- 3 tbsp yellow onion (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
- 1/2 tbsp jalapeño pepper (finely chopped with seeds removed)
- 1 clove garlic (crushed)
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- Add the olive oil and chopped onion to a pan over low heat.
- Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, or until translucent.
- Drain and rinse the pinto beans thoroughly.
- Add the pinto beans to a pot along with the sautéed onions, chopped jalapeño pepper, crushed garlic, cumin, chili powder, dried oregano, and water.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer covered for five minutes.
- Remove the mixture from heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
- Mash the beans until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.
- Gently stir in the lime juice and cilantro.
- Add salt to taste.
- Dig in and enjoy!
Notes
I hope you all enjoy this simple and delicious homemade refried beans recipe. These are the perfect beans to pair with corn or flour tortillas. Or, you could even throw them into a loaded burrito bowl. Anyway, that’s it for this recipe. As per usual, I will be back with more content very soon.
-Alyssa 🙂
