Pinto or Refried Beans
This is one of my first recipes that I came known for among my friends and family. Inspired by Lupe Tortilla’s delicious bean dip - this easy choose-your-adventure bean recipe will change your Mexican side dish game. Leave it as is for yummy pinto beans, or blend ‘em up for the perfect refried beans (especially if you’re a beans-in-your-breakfast-taco person like I am).
Pinto or Refried Beans
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bacon, chopped
- 1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
- 1 roma tomato, diced
- 1 serrano*, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 15 oz cans of unsalted pinto beans, 2 drained
- cilantro to taste, chopped
- 1 T salt, more to taste
Instructions
- Chop up all ingredients. To keep this to one cutting board, I dice the onion first, put that in one bowl, chop the tomato + peppers + garlic and put in another bowl, chop cilantro and put in a small bowl, then chop the bacon.
- In a pot over medium heat, begin cooking the bacon. Once it's mostly cooked and beginning to get crispy (5-7 min.), add the onion and cook until soft and translucent (5-7 min.). Add in garlic, tomato, peppers and salt, let cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the beans. One can undrained leaves the perfect amount of liquid regardless if you're making the pinto or refried version.
- Let this simmer on low to med-low for 20 minutes, then taste to see if you need more salt. Once the salt level is how you want it, add the cilantro.
- If you're going the pinto bean route, this is it! If you want refried beans, blend them up. I prefer using a hand blender for this, but a regular blender will work (just let the beans cool down some before blending!)
Notes
*adjust the peppers for your spice preference! I've made this recipe with jalapeños and habaneros, and it's delicious every time.
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I love how simple this recipe is. Yes, it may take you about an hour to make it, but it’s just so far above the canned or pouches of refried beans you can buy pre-made. Getting some good bacon really helps out here to get you that delicious lard-y flavor (although, I regularly use the cheap bacon from HEB to save some money) and then cooking down your onions builds a ton of flavor.
It would be even better if you replaced the canned bean liquid with a homemade pork broth! I know most people don’t have time for all that, so I wanted to keep this nice and simple. I also love that these can be served up as pinto OR refried beans - sometimes we want nice little bowl of pinto beans, and others, I want refried beans to slather on my breakfast tacos!
Yes, you read that right - breakfast tacos. Growing up, that was my preferred breakfast taco to order, bean and egg, and then DOUSE it in salsa. I love making these now, and they make for a great meal prep. I’ve made these in advance for a grab-and-go situation before going out on the water, and to keep in backpacks to munch on when skiing.