Instant Pot Refried Beans
Instant Pot Refried Beans
This Instant Pot Refried Beans recipe is virtually hands-free! Dried pinto beans are pressure cooked with flavorful spices and aromatics, then pureed with your choice of lard or bacon fat. There’s no need to soak the beans beforehand since your Instant Pot does the hard work for you!
Everyone loves these restaurant-quality refried beans that are so quick, easy, and full of flavor! As written, this recipe is gluten-free and I’ve included instructions below for a vegan or vegetarian version.
Table of contents
About This Instant Pot Side Dish
Once you’ve had homemade refried beans, you’ll never want to open a can of them again. Not only are they tastier, but they also cost about half as much as canned beans, and they’re so, so easy to make in an Instant Pot!
You only need a handful of readily available ingredients, about an hour of your time, and you’re on your way to the best refried beans ever.
Use these Instant Pot refried pinto beans in your nachos, burrito bowls, tostadas, and more! I’ve included my favorite ways to eat these beans at the end of this post.
Things to Keep in Mind
- Choosing your beans: Dried pinto beans are always going to be the best for making homemade refried beans, in my opinion. However, you can also make this recipe with dried black beans with excellent results.
- Lard vs bacon fat: Both have great flavor! Lard is the more traditional choice, but bacon fat adds a bit of smokiness.
- Using canned beans: Don’t do it! Dried beans have way better texture than canned, and are a must for this recipe.
Ingredients You’ll Need
There are minimal ingredients required to make rich, flavorful, and creamy refried beans in the Instant Pot.
- Pinto beans. This recipe starts with dried pinto beans to create the creamiest texture. You’ll need to rinse the beans, but do NOT soak them.
- White onion. Swap with a yellow onion if that’s what you have.
- Jalapeño. Just one jalapeño infuses the homemade refried beans with bold flavor. I don’t find the beans to be super spicy, but you’re welcome to remove the seeds if you want absolutely no spice in your beans.
- Chicken broth. If you ran out of chicken stock, you can replace it with vegetable stock or even water. (Note that cooking the dried pinto beans in stock gives them more flavor than water does.)
- Spices. Ground cumin, chili powder, and a bay leaf add more layers of flavor to this fast Instant Pot recipe.
- Lard. Don’t keep lard on hand? I’ve also made these refried beans with bacon grease. Use whichever fat you prefer.
Making This Recipe Vegan or Vegetarian
You can easily adapt this recipe to be vegan or vegetarian by swapping out the lard for another fat like olive oil, vegan butter, or refined coconut oil. And instead of using chicken stock, use water or vegetable stock/broth.
Required Tools
How to Cook Refried Beans in an Instant Pot
- Rinse the beans. You’ll also need to pick out any bits of debris in the dried pinto beans.
- Add the beans, aromatics, and spices to the Instant Pot. Refried beans need to pressure cook for about 45 minutes on high pressure. Remember to allow time for the beans to naturally release after cooking.
- Blend with a little lard. Puree the beans with an immersion blender just until they’ve reached your desired texture.
Jenny’s Tip: Are your beans still not cooked after 45 minutes of pressure cooking? Add 1 cup of stock or water to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for another 10 minutes. That usually does the trick!
Storage and Freezer Instructions
To store and reheat: Refried beans can be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days and can be reheated over low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave. I always add a little bit of water when reheating so that they aren’t dry.
To freeze: Once your refried beans are room temperature, store them in a freezer-safe bag and press all the air out before sealing. Freeze flat to save space. Refried beans can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Ways to Serve Refried Beans
We make a lot of Mexican food in our household, and we always serve these creamy refried beans on the side with a helping of classic Mexican rice or Mexican green rice to go with them.
Refried beans can also be used in your favorite Tex-Mex and Mexican recipes, though. Here are some ways to eat them up:
- Load onto Texas Nachos
- Use to make cheese and bean tostadas
- Spoon onto carne asada fries
- Dollop onto carne asada bowls, chicken burrito bowls, or shrimp burrito bowls
- Roll inside your favorite chicken enchiladas or ground beef enchiladas
More Bean Dishes You’ll Love
- Smoked Sausage Baked Beans
- Louisiana-Style Red Beans and Rice
- Garlic Almond Green Beans
- “Drunken” Borracho Beans
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Instant Pot Refried Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried pinto beans
- ½ white onion, diced
- 1 jalapeño, sliced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cups chicken stock or water
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup lard or bacon fat
Instructions
- Rinse the beans in a colander and discard any beans that are old or discolored.
- Add the beans, onion, jalapeño, spices, bay leaf, and water or chicken stock to the pot of an instant pot or pressure cooker. Add the salt and stir well to combine.
- Lock the lid in place and cook on high-pressure for 45 minutes. Allow for a natural pressure release.
- Once the pressure has released, remove the lid and stir the beans well. If they aren't cooked all the way, add 1 cup of water and cook for another 10 minutes. Use a spoon to remove any excess liquid from the beans and set it aside.
- Add the lard to the beans and use an immersion blender to puree the beans to your desired thickness, adding the cooking liquid back in as necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Rate & Review This Recipe
WOW, fast easy and delicious. I feel like this could be the star of the show. It has so much flavor, there is no going back to premade!
FYI used Rancho Gordon pintos, they can get by with about 4-5 cups of liquid. Had some fresh roasted jalapeño so I threw one in for fun
So happy you enjoyed it! Rancho gordo beans are THE best.