I spent twelve years in Arizona and learned to love a lot of Mexican foods. Not being able to eat most of them anymore, refried beans and rice was always one of my favorites which I can still enjoy. A recent trip to Mexico reminded me how much I love refried beans. So when I came home, I started checking cans of refried beans at various stores. However, all the cans of refried beans at the stores (and believe me, I’ve checked them all – Whole Foods, Jerry’s, Lund and Byerly’s, and Cub), all contain at least one ingredient I can’t have, most often vegetable oil. So, I decided, what the heck, I can probably make this dish myself. And sure enough, plenty of recipes come up, most used dried beans which is too much for me. It would just take too long. Here’s a recipe using canned beans that came out nice and creamy, oh so tasty!
In a skillet, heat:
2 tablespoons olive oil
Add:
1/2 cup diced onion (a small onion)
1 teaspoon oregano
Cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent then add:
16 ounce can of pinto beans (you can use another bean but pinto is the traditional bean used for these) – if your can has a lot of liquid in it, strain the beans out and reserve 1/2 cup of the bean liquid before adding to the pan*
Stir, heating the beans for several minutes. Using a potato masher, mash the beans with the onions until you have a fairly smooth consistency. Add sufficient water to get the mixture to your liking. Don’t let the mixture dry out, it should be creamy.
*I used a can of Trader Joe’s Organic Pinto Beans which had very little liquid visible, so I poured it into the pan and about a quarter cup of liquid came out. It was the perfect amount.
cookingwithoutallergens 
One thought on “Refried Beans”