21 Recipes With Canned Refried Beans  - Megan vs Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

How do you dress up refried beans from a can? ›

If you're wondering what is the secret ingredient for restaurant-quality refried beans, the answer is fat. Restaurant-made refried beans honor traditional Mexican culinary practices by adding a hearty helping of lard or bacon fat drippings to their recipe.

Turmeric, carom seeds, harissa, paprika, cumin, and oregano will help provide an innovative take on your refried beans, while chili, chipotle, onion, and garlic powders will always work wonders on this dish. You can really add any spices you have handy to upgrade this canned classic!

Drain one-third to one-half of the juice from the baked bean cans. Add baked beans, cooked bacon, chopped vidalia onion, yellow mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, and Worcestershire sauce to a large oven-safe dish. Stir & combine well.

Learn why straining and rinsing your beans is an important step—plus other ways to make the most of your legumes. Katlyn Moncada is the associate food editor at BHG.com, sharing food news and tutorials on becoming better home cooks.

Milk makes refried beans creamy

This liquid can help make your beans smoother and taste richer. Once the beans are tender, it's time to fry them. Garlic is cooked in the oil and then the beans are added. The beans are mashed, and this is where the milk comes in.

Yet, since refried beans often contain added fat and salt, they may be higher in calories, saturated fat, and sodium than other beans. These factors may impair your weight loss goals, raise your risk of heart disease, and increase your blood pressure levels.

They are served as a side dish with most Tex-Mex restaurant meals. They also have become very popular as a dip for corn tortilla chips. Refried beans are also a primary ingredient in many tostada, chimichanga, and pupusa recipes.

Beans contain raffinose and other oligosaccharides (a type of carbohydrate) that our digestive system can't break down because we lack the enzyme alpha-galactosidase. This can increase gassiness.

I like to sprinkle in some taco seasoning, but you could add whatever spices you like — garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder are all good calls. Then, you mash the beans up directly in the pan and add just a little bit of vinegar at the end to really make the beans sing.

Why are refried beans fried twice? ›

Refried beans are not cooked twice; they are only cooked once. According to the book "American Regional Cuisine" by The Art Institutes, this misnomer results from the fact that that the prefix "re-" means "very" in Spanish, but Americans misunderstand it to mean "again".

If you're looking for a restaurant-quality refried beans recipe, you trust us when you say you have found it. We love to serve the beans right out of the skillet, garnish with crumbled Cojita cheese, or shredded mozzarella.

It helps, of course, to use good olive oil (and don't be stingy with it—you want the beans really swimming). I also like to add a peeled, smashed clove of garlic, or maybe a bay leaf or a few sprigs of thyme.

Use aromatics, like onion, garlic, and herbs, in your cooking liquid—they'll transform any pot of beans into something far more flavorful.

Those aromatics in the pot will revolutionize the beans' final flavor. The aromatics I tend to use are onions, carrots, garlic, and celery, and then heartier, woodsy herbs, like rosemary, sage, and thyme, which marry beautifully with the earthy-sweet flavor of beans.

Old El Paso Traditional Refried Beans create a delicious base for any Mexican food or tasty side dish. Made with just the right amount of spices, these canned beans are ready to add to tacos, burritos, nachos or any Mexican dish. Simply heat them up in the microwave or on the stovetop and enjoy. Tonight, we taco!

Refried beans are healthy because they are high in protein, fiber, minerals, and other nutrients and they may help you lose weight. Refried beans are a delicious and versatile dish that appears on the menus of many Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. You can also easily make this meal at home or buy it in a can.