These authentic refried beans are smooth, delicious, and packed full of Honduran flavor. They are easy to make, and when you use your Instant Pot to cook the beans, they are much faster and even easier.
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Growing up in Honduras, there were always refried beans available in my home. They would be served at the table for breakfast, sometimes lunch, and always dinner. Other foods would complement them but refried beans were a staple and always present.
What Can I Serve With Refried Beans?
Honduran refried beans can be used as a side dish to any Hispanic meal. They’re perfect with Chicken Tacos, inside burritos, with enchiladas, and more! Our favorite way to eat refried beans is in Baleadas! These are a Honduran tradition and my kids love them. They’re a simple Honduran street food and they are so delicious!
You can also make Pan con Frijoles (Bread with Beans) with refried beans. These are a small piece of Honduran heaven. When we lived in Honduras, my brother would buy these from a local vendor, and bring us all bags of bread to the office. There were 10 in each paper bag, and I would literally eat one bag all by myself!
Another way we use refried beans in Honduras is in Catrachas, or Honduran Tostadas. These are fried tortillas with refried beans, crema, and cheese on them. They are delicious!
These authentic refried beans are also perfect as a part of a typical Honduran breakfast. This includes eggs, beans, sweet plantains, soft cheese, and tortillas. Yummy!
For all these recipes you will need a very important thing! My Homemade Honduran Crema! You will use it for everything!
Can You Freeze Refried Beans?
Yes! You can definitely freeze refried beans. This is a big batch of beans, and if you don’t have a large family as we do, you can certainly freeze them. We have frozen refried beans in the past and they were perfect.
You can use large Ziploc freezer bags or smaller ones if you want to divide them into smaller portions.
Essential Items
Here are some essential prep tools, utensils, and appliances I used to make this recipe.
Featured Items
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How to Make Refried Beans
For this recipe, you’ll need to start with cooked beans. I suggest you use my Instant Pot Red Beans recipe. Honduran authentic refried beans are made with small red beans. I always buy Central American Beans, sometimes labeled Salvadorean Beans. You can find them in the Hispanic section of your local supermarket. If you can’t get them, then you can use small red beans.
Step 1: Add the Red Beans and Bean Broth to a Blender
Once you’ve cooked your red beans, you will let them cool and put them in a blender with some of their broth.
Step 2: Sauté the Onion
Before blending the beans, you will rough cut and sauté an onion in oil on the stove. You will allow the onions to almost burn but not quite. The smaller pieces will be charred while the larger pieces should be toasted a golden brown in the center and charred around the edges.
Step 3: Blend the Beans
Once the onions are perfect, you will add them to the blender along with salt and cumin. You can now blend the beans until smooth.
Step 4: Fry the Beans
You can now take the blended beans and add them to the same skillet where you sautéed the onions. You’ll need a little extra oil in there as well. You will sauté the beans by letting them sit for a few minutes and then mixing them. You can repeat this process of letting them sit and then mixing until the beans have reached your desired consistency. I usually just let them sit once or twice and they’re ready.
Enjoy Your Refried Beans!
Once the beans are creamy and smooth, and they have thickened a bit, they’re ready to be used with all your favorite meals! I hope you enjoy my Honduran recipe for refried beans! Let me know when you try them in the comments below! And when you make them and love them, don’t forget to give the recipe a 5-star rating!
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Honduran Refried Beans
A BLEND OF RED BEANS AND TOASTED ONION LIGHTLY FRIED IN VEGETABLE OIL
Essential Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tbsps vegetable oil divided, I use avocado oil
- 1 medium yellow onion rough cut, and toasted
- 4 cups red beans cooked and cooled
- ⅔ cup bean broth cooled
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt or to taste
Instructions
- Make your red beans using my recipe for Instant Pot Red Beans. The recipe will yield enough beans and broth for this refried beans recipe.
- Toast Onions: In a large heavy skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and then add the onion and cook until the smaller pieces are charred and most of the larger pieces are toasted a dark golden brown and charred around the edges, about 12 to 14 minutes. This adds a wonderful and distinctive flavor to the beans.
- Remove Onions: Remove the onions from the skillet and set aside.
- Add Remaining Oil: Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and allow it to heat up.
- Blend Beans: While the oil is heating, add the beans, bean broth, toasted onions, cumin, and salt to a blender and blend until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides to ensure that all the onion is blended.
- Fry the Beans: Slowly and carefully add the blended beans to the hot skillet, scraping them from the blender. Allow the beans to sit in the skillet frying for a minute or two before stirring to allow the bottom to toast. Then, stir them thoroughly to mix the toasted bottom into the beans. Allow them to sit for another minute or two to toast and thicken again. Stir once more. Remove from the heat and mix.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Tips & Tricks
Make the beans extra creamy. You can take these refried beans up a notch and make them even more creamy by adding 2 tablespoons of butter once they have finished cooking. Allow the butter to melt and then mix it into the beans. Yum!
I used to travel to Honduras for work and missed the delicious refried beans I had there every day. I have tried a looot of refried bean recipes over the years, but none were right. This one is perfect. I recently returned to Tegucigalpa and thought my beans using this recipe were as good as any during my trip. Muchas gracias! Now if you could make up a vegan version of mantequilla (maybe cashew based?) that would be great. 🙂
Hi Chip! What a great comment! I appreciate it. I’m so glad that you loved the beans! Funny you ask about the mantequilla! I have an amazing recipe for it on the blog, but of course, not vegan. I’m not vegan at all BUT for the last year I’ve been dairy free, plus a whole bunch of other “frees”! I love the cashew cream cheese from Miyoko’s, and enjoy it in the mornings with my grain-free bread! If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it and their cheese wheels as well. Maybe I’ll start thinking of how to make mantequilla from cashews! Thanks again for your comment and for stopping by the blog!
Thank you!
I have not eaten Honduran refried beans for forty years.
Your recipe, reminds me of my abuela’s refried beans. I made a big batch and shared it with my children. They ate baleadas for the first time, they love it.
Gracias.❤️
Awe Lily, this comment makes my day! I really appreciate it, and I am so happy your family enjoyed them and had baleadas for the first time!
Dear Valerie, how did I live 33 years without these? Wow! They made it onto my list of most delicious foods I’ve ever tasted! I almost killed my not-high speed blender but for these beans I will most definitely be investing in one. I found your YouTube page, these Honduran recipes should definitely be on it I’m sure they will be a HIT! God bless you, I will be reading your story and looking through your website. Thank you!
Your comment made my day! I am so happy that you loved the beans! I appreciate you taking the time to write a comment about it. You need to make the Honduran Crema now so you can eat with the beans!
Hello! I’m planning on making these today! Please tell me, so I have to reheat some every time I’m going to use them or is it ok to use right out of the fridge?
Hi! You can reheat them in the microwave. You can reheat just the amount that you will be eating out of the fridge. You can also reheat them on the stove with a bit of oil. I personally don’t like cold beans. Hope this helps.
It absolutely helps thank you so much for replying. I’ll be back with my review!
Love all ur recipes!
Hi Abi! Thank you so much! I appreciate your comment!
So good!!! I ate these beans with a spoon right out of the frying pan. I am not ashamed…
Haha! No judging here! Glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by the blog!
I commented on your original bean recipe but wanted to let anyone Googling an authentic, restaurant-tasting refried bean dish to ABSOLUTELY make this recipe. We’ve been cooking beans in the IP for years now and we could not figure out how to get them to taste like our favorite Honduran restaurant. They told us about the red beans but I didn’t understand at the time and you’re right, charring the onion gives it a super authentic taste and can’t be rushed!!! I served the refried beans w/ homemade corn tortillas, crema, avocado, and queso fresco. Before I even sat down to eat my boyfriend was exclaiming about how delicious everything was. Thank you! Will enjoy cooking the rest of the recipes on your blog 🙂 My only comment to others would be to maybe hold off on adding extra salt to the refried beans if you already cooked the beans with salt and then taste as you go – I think it depends on the type of grain you use but mine were just a little salty. So good!
Hi RL! Wow, what a wonderful comment! I appreciate it so much! I am so happy to hear that you both enjoyed the recipes! You can try my crema recipe if you haven’t already then enjoy some baleadas! Where is the restaurant you mentioned? Would love to know. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog and sharing your results!
I lived in Honduras for about 2 years about 30 years ago. My all time favorite Honduran food was Baleadas!! Love those things! I have not been able to duplicate their awesomeness. I can’t wait to try your recipes for the beans and crema. I loved the Honduran crema too! I have fond memories of picking up a hot loaf of French bread on my way home in the afternoon with a bag of crema to eat with the bread. So good! Thank you!
Hi Paige! Thanks for sharing with me! I hope you enjoy the recipes and they can bring you a little of Honduras to your home! I appreciate you stopping by!!
Just made this tonight. Came out very tasty. Needed a lot of time on the stove to absorb the moisture and get to a firm texture. Plan to make Baleadas using your Crema recipe. My Honduran born husband is thrilled! Thank you for sharing these wonderful simple recipes. Lots of fun to make using the Instant Pot!
Hi Robin! What a great comment. I’m so happy the Honduran recipes are working out for you and your husband is enjoying them! I really appreciate you stopping by the blog and commenting!
Valerie, THANK YOU so much for your recipes! I have just finished making refried beans for tonight’s baleada supper. I am a gringa from small town Minnesota, but we lived in Honduras for 5 months and my son and grandson were there for 2 years. With your help, we will be all nostalgic over the dinner table tonight. And yes, this recipe was SUPER EASY. I started with small red beans cooked in the Instant Pot and next, on to the mantequilla and baleadas. Muchas gracias!
Hi Leslie!! Thank you so much, your comment made my day! It’s comments like these that give me the motivation for the blog! Enjoy your baleadas! Merry Christmas!