Some nights I just need a quick side dish that makes dinner feel complete without cooking another pan of meat. That’s where these easy refried beans come in. They’re creamy, flavorful, and made from pantry ingredients I almost always have on hand.
Y'all if you've tried ready to eat canned refried beans, you may know they're not the tastiest refried beans.
It's time to make refried beans on a healthier scale, while still keeping things super simple and easy to make.
We're still gonna use cans but it's all about what we do with them that makes these vegetarian refried beans deserve a seat at your next fiesta!
Read on for my super simple, homemade refried beans recipe.
It's easy to whip up these beans in 15-20 minutes. Also, you can pronounce every ingredient on the list and it's a gluten-free recipe!
You can top the beans with whatever you like - cheese and green onions are my personal faves!
But no matter how you finish them off one thing is sure - they're delicious!
Add these refried beans to some baked fish tacos for an easy Lent meal!
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What should I make alongside vegetarian refried beans?
I'm so glad you asked!
I love serving these long with our taco quesadillas, basic tacos (of course), slow cooker ranch chicken tacos, chili verde pork burrito, or anything you'd find at your basic taco bar party!
Or, you can serve these straight up with a bag of tortilla chips and dip them. If you do that, maybe pair them with my Mexican Chopped Salad.
And I think it goes without saying these need to be on your Cinco de Mayo menu, too!
Other bean recipes
Recipe

Vegetarian Refried Beans
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 16- oz. cans pinto beans rinsed and drained
- 1 15- oz. can red kidney beans with liquid
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Optional: ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and season with salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium and add beans, ground cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and crushed red pepper flakes, if using. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are heated through and start to break apart slightly, approximately 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and puree beans with a potato masher until almost smooth.
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. Calories and other nutritional values vary depending on which brands were used.




