Creamy, homemade refried beans. These Instant Pot Refried Beans are healthier and tastier than canned refried beans, while being almost as easy to make!
Delays
I apologize for the drop off in recipe posts over the last few weeks. Several excuses:
- The not fun excuse: I’ve had sick kids.
- A mediocre excuse: I’ve had to travel for work.
- A super fun excuse: I started an amazing Lightroom course I’m trying to get through!
I’ve still been cooking up a storm and photographing away, but I’ve been so excited about my Lightroom course that I’ve been wanting to get through it before I edit and share too many more photos. I’m about halfway done with the course, so you can expect more, and better, food photos ASAP.
Mexican Food
On to a recipe though! My husband likes to cook Mexican food, which is positive since he’s really good at making it, and everyone in my house likes to eat it.
Chicken and Andouille Sausage Burritos are one of my husband’s staples.
Whenever he makes Mexican food, I take care of the sides and dessert. I tend to put priority on the dessert, so will make something like Churro Cake, then heat up a can of refried beans for a side dish at the last minute.
Instant Pot Refried Beans
A few weeks ago we had our friends Jon and Danielle over for dinner. My husband made burritos, and I volunteered to make the dessert and sides.
For dessert, I made Healthier Apple Crisp, which is super quick to make, so I had some time to experiment with the sides. I ended up with these Instant Pot refried beans for the side, and they were a huge success.
The beans were creamy, full of flavor, and were both quick and easy to make!
Initially, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to make them taste as good as canned refried beans. I feel silly even saying that now because these Instant Pot refried beans are hands down tastier!
I highly recommended that next time you make a meal that needs refried beans, you put these on your short list. You will not be disappointed.
Instant Pot Refried Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried pinto beans
- 7 cups water
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Place pinto beans and water in Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes. Let natural release for 15 minutes.
- Remove beans from cooking water with a slotted spoon. Set cooking water aside as you will use some later.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute mode and heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Saute onion and garlic until softened, about 4 minutes. Turn Instant Pot off.
- In pot with onions, add cooked beans, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, chili powder, cumin, vinegar, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Use an immersion blender to combine ingredients. Add reserved water from cooking beans, 1 tbsp at a time, until desired consistency is reached. For me, this took 4 tbsp of the water. Note: If you do not have an immersion blender, you may transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor.
Nutrition
If you enjoyed these Instant Pot Refried Beans, you should check out these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Instant Pot Chicken Mole
Instant Pot Garlic Rosemary Hummus
Easy Beef and Bean Chili (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot)
Skillet Mexican Street Corn
Skillet Cornbread
