Molly's Refried Beans
"The original refried bean recipe my great-grandma Molly used to prepare. She always used pink beans, which I prefer, too but since they are more difficult to find nowadays, substitute pinto or black beans. I dictated this recipe from my mother and she said her grandmother used manteca (lard) available from the butcher, or my version is to fry up a few slices of bacon and reserve the drippings. If you're looking for a low fat recipe, this isn't it. (I've posted a vegetarian version of these beans: recipe #159267)"
photo by Food.com
- Ready In:
- 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 2 -3 2 -3 cups dried pinto beans or 2 -3 cups dried black beans
- water, for soaking
- 3 -4 slices bacon, crisply cooked or 1/4 cup solid lard
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1⁄3 cup finely minced white onion
- oil (for frying)
- salt
directions
- In large pot soak the beans for at least 4 hours. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium and cook until soft.
- If necessary, add more water as needed so that the beans do not dry out while cooking. Once beans are cooked, drain beans but *RESERVE* liquid.
- Fry up the bacon slices in large cast iron skillet and set aside to drain on paper towel. Reserve drippings.
- Meanwhile, mince the onion and garlic.
- *Heat a cast iron skillet on medium and saute the onion and garlic in the bacon drippings or solid lard until soft.
- With slotted spoon, transfer the cooked beans to the skillet. Lower temperature to low-medium. Add about a cup of the bean liquid and mix in the beans with the onion and garlic. Begin to mash the beans with a potato masher, adding more bean liquid as necessary to facilitate. Great grandma prepared these beans soupy with about 3/4 of the beans mashed, the remaining left whole. That is how great-grandma cooked them and that is how I like them. Keep mashing beans and adding liquid until soupy and not dry. Lower heat to simmer. Do not allow beans to dry out, adding more bean liquid if needed.
- Crumble the bacon and stir into the beans. Season with salt. Taste and reseason with more salt if necessary. Beans seems to require a good amount of salt to bring out their flavor.
- *NOTE: If you choose to use a cast iron skillet be warned that the iron content will turn lighter colored beans an unattractive pinkish-grey color. This will not affect the taste at all other than adding a bit of extra iron to your diet. If preferred, cook beans in a non-reactive pot.
- Save the bean liquid to rehydrate and reheat any leftovers, but *DO NOT* use plain water to reheat the beans.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
Great recipe! I used pinto beans and lard. I really liked the addition of onions and garlic cloves. I stirred in about 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese and made bean and cheese burritos. Thanks for posting. -
Easy and very yummy! I used rinsed canned pinto beans, garlic, onion, and bacon drippings in a cast iron skillet. The back of a spoon worked fine for mashing the beans and a little chicken stock helped me achieve the desired texture. We all enjoyed your recipe. Thanks for sharing! -
I made this yesterday to go with our tacos and this was a hit. I used black beans as that is what I had on had. I did have to add more liquid, and the flavor was awesome. I caught DH standing by the stove with a spoon eating the beans out of the pan!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us. Its delicious! -
My son loves refried beans with rice and this was such a great recipe!! The bacon fat really is the key to this. -
Great Beans! I usually cook the beans with the onion and garlic along with the simmering water so this was a new way of cooking beans for me. I agree, I always start off with tons of water. If you add water along the way, make sure it is hot water. I had them wrapped up in flour tortillas and DBF went for the corn tortillas we also added a bit of cheese and recipe #327810- these were da bomb! Viva Las Reynas, Made for ZWT 5!
see 8 more reviews
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
COOKGIRl
United States
