Homemade Refried Beans

6 X 500ml jars of refried beans about to go in freezer

As the drawbacks of industrial meat production become clear, many people are eating meatless meals more often. Mexican food is a natural for straight forward vegetarian dishes. Refried beans are one of my favorites, and can form the basis of many dishes including burritos, quesadillas, and enchiladas.

Best of all, refried beans are amazingly easy to make. But it took us a while to discover that fact.

When we first started eating vegetarian meals more often we bought all our beans canned as it is a convenient way to start when changing your eating habits. However, after a while we decided it was a pretty expensive way to go considering bulk dry beans are so cheap.

We gave up buying 398ml cans of refried beans ($2.50 - $3.50 each) and started buying bulk dry pinto beans (30 cents/100 gm). 

Now I make 4 cups (1 kg x 30cents/100 gm = $3.00) of dry beans at a time, and get about 2 - 3 liters of refried beans. I put them in 500ml jars, then put the jars in the freezer.

For the price of one can of the store bought variety, I can make up to 3 litres (about 7 cans) of homemade refried beans. Plus I can make them exactly the way I like them, and I have control over the salt content.

I also like not consuming all the tin can packaging. I really just want the beans and not the cans, even though they would get recycled. My canning jars are reusable.

Homemade Refried Bean Recipe

Ingredients

4 cups dry pinto beans, picked over and rinsed

4 tablespoons olive oil

Seasonings to taste: cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt

optional: a few squirts of Bragg Seasoning, a couple of chopped chipotle peppers



Directions

1. Place the beans in a large saucepan, and cover with an inch of water. Place over high heat, and bring to a boil. (Beans can be soaked over night first to cut cooking time - change water before cooking.)
2. Turn down to simmer and cook till the beans are tender and the skins split when you blow on them (approx. 1.5 - 2 hours). Add water as required.
3. Stir in seasonings during last 1/2 hour of cooking. 
4. Once the beans have cooked drain them of the liquid. Many people throw this out, but I keep it - there's nutrients in there! It also makes an excellent vegetarian gravy. I freeze bean cooking liquid in canning jars too.
5. Return some of the liquid to beans and mash with a potato masher; use additional liquid as needed to achieve desired consistency. Add olive oil.
6. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom of saucepan. 
7. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
8. Beans can be frozen in canning jars for easy use later. They will only keep for a few days in the fridge.

Enjoy your homemade meatless meals while you save money AND cut down on the consumption of resources.