Quick Homemade Refried Beans
Last week I was dying for quesadillas almost everyday. We didn’t really have any dinner plans and Lo said “go make yourself a dang quesadilla”. Just kidding that’s from Napoleon Dynamite. We had hot dogs one night and I didn’t really like them, so while he finished up the dogs the rest of the week, I ate quesadillas because they sounded amazing. I didn’t have any cooked meat (beef or chicken) so I wanted refried beans in the quesadilla. I ran out of canned refried beans the week before when I made quesadillas, so I decided I needed to make my own.
I used a combination of a few recipes that I googled and it turned out pretty well considering I didn’t have any pinto beans. I rarely run out of beans, but I figured I’d just make it with black beans. I realized I only had one can of black beans (which makes me a little panicky), so I also used one can of kidney beans (only because I opened it thinking it was black beans and instead it was kidney). I couldn’t even tell that I used the wrong type of beans – so I suggest just use whatever you have!
I didn’t get a picture of the refried beans by themselves. They look disgusting anyway. But they taste so good! Instead, here’s a picture of the delicious quesadilla I made with them instead.
- 2 tablespoons coconut or canola oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt to taste
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- Heat canola oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.
- Cook garlic cloves in hot oil, turning once, until brown on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes.Smash garlic cloves in skillet with a fork to break into pieces.
- Stir pinto beans, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt into mashed garlic and cook until beans are heated through, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Smash bean mixture with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher for your preferred texture. I like mine fairly chunky. Squeeze lime juice over smashed beans and stir until combined.
I had some leftover refried beans after making a few quesadillas, so we made tacos on Saturday with ground beef and used the rest of the refried beans in those.
I’m positive I’ll be making these again soon!