How to Make Homemade Refried Beans in Your Pressure Cooker! (2024)

Here’s a healthy pressure cooker refried beans recipe that uses no lard and there is no pre soaking required! Perfect addition to burritos or 7 layer dip! Made in your Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi in no time.

I will tell you I had NEVER used dry beans to cook from scratch before I got my multi cooker Instant Pot. Now I make pressure cooker refried beans all the time for dinner. This and 101+ more easy InstaPot recipes to enjoy. (affiliate links present)

Homemade Refried Beans

I will say these are way better than canned. Made in your Ninja Foodi, Crockpot Express or other pressure cooker brand, they don’t take much time either. Make a double batch to feed a crowd and add to your burrito bar during your next Cinco de Mayo party.

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They save well too so you could use half and freeze the other for another night to make air fryer flautas! Who doesn’t love these creamy pinto beans starting from dry and ending up smooth as ever. A must for a ton of different recipes or used as a simple side dis.

If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:

• Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
• Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
  • This is a great InstaPot cookbook and a set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
  • I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
    • You should still deglaze pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.

For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

Instant Pot Refried Beans No Soak

I began cooking dry beans when I made this no soak Instant Pot baked beans recipe and couldn’t believe how easy it was to make them entirely from scratch! NO waiting overnight to let them sit in a bowl of water and swell up. Nope you just throw them in with enough liquid and seasonings of your choice and then blend when done.

Ninja Foodi Refried Beans

As far as texture is concerned that is subjective for sure. If you have an immersion blender that is your best choice. Then you can use for a while to have no lumps or just a quick passing so you have a bit more chunk.

Why are refried beans called refried beans?

This term actually comes from the Spanish name for frijoles refritos. Refritos means well fried and frijoles means beans, so put that together and there you go. If you’ve ever had these you know just how delicious and versatile they are! From dips, to taco bowls and the best side dish ever. We just love them!

How do you make refried beans from scratch?

Now, I wasn’t someone who learned how to cook with dry beans growing up. My mom never used them….not once. But now with this multi cooker it is a breeze!! Let me show you what I mean with this recipe below.

• Now I not only use them regularly as an easy side dish, but also to make homemade Instant Pot soup recipes. Now I’m here to show you how easy these healthy Instant Pot refried beans are to make.

Are homemade refried beans healthy? As you know, anything made from scratch is always a plus because you know EXACTLY what is inside and can omit what you want.

Traditionally Mexican refried beans use lard, this one does not! That one thing makes these a lot healthier.

Instant Pot Refried Beans

1. Pinto beans
   1. I based the timing off of this Instant Pot cook times for beans printable
   2. I used 16 oz so I doubled time to 60 min.
   3. If you halved this recipe I would set to 45 minutes in my opinion

I really like adding a can of already diced chiles to it for flavor, not really heat. You could dice up your own smoked chiles too.

1. Onion and garlic
2. Vegetable broth
3. Cumin
4. Apple cider vinegar
5. Tabasco for some heat
6. Seasoned salt – like a Lawrys
7. Can thin out beans in blending process with drained liquid from cooking or I have used red sauce as well to add more flavor

Optional – Before step 1 if you wanna add some bacon add it diced with some olive oil on the saute function. Brown, turn pot off, deglaze and leave the bacon fat in the pot! You’ll need a blender as well like you see here or an immersion blender can be used right inside your pot.

Instant Pot Refried Black Beans

Don’t want to use Pinto but something darker with a different flair? NO problem, just follow our pressure cooker black beans directions with the spices here and then blend away.

• First you want to rinse off your dry beans using a colander to remove any dirt or debris
  • remember there’s no need for soaking the beans ahead of time
  • pressure cooking allows you to eliminate that time consuming step
• Then add them into your electric pressure cooker

Dice up any and all types of onions, peppers, roasted jalapeno if you love those and want some extra heat too. Remember that a little goes a long way so dice small and if it is your first time making it, only add a bit I personally like using a can of diced chiles that are mild. They add a lot of flavor but just a bit of heat for our liking.

How to Make Refried Beans in a Pressure Cooker

• Add your liquid and spices. Broth is always better but if you only have water that will do too.
• Stir all ingredients
• Close your lid and steam valve
• If using an entire bag of dry pinto beans set to high pressure for 60 min.
  • you want them really soft so this particular recipe takes a bit longer than if you were making something like our pressure cooker ham and beans where you want them a bit firm

Allow pot to release naturally for approx. 15 minutes (can naturally release completely and it will just be fine too) and then release the rest of the steam

• Drain the beans
• Add cooked bean mixture into a bowl, or back into your pressure cooker pot if using an immersion blender
• Add a bit of liquid and blend

Continue to add a bit more liquid at a time until it reaches the consistency you’re looking for. Know it will remain somewhat chunky because of the onions etc but some like their pressure cooker refried beans much smoother than others

How do you thicken homemade refried beans?

Now first off I don’t think you need to do that to this recipe.

• If you allow them to cool for 30 minutes it will thicken nicely.
• BUT if you insist, you can whisk some cornstarch and water, and gradually whisk it into the liquid surrounding the beans.
• To thin, add some broth to make a sort of bean soup which is really delicious too.

Hope this helps you understand how to make homemade refried beans

What to serve with pressure cooker refried beans

1. We have used these to make our fun 7 layer dip pizza recipe for get togethers!
2. Salsa chicken is a great recipe to make with this for dinner.
3. Instant Pot Mexican pizza is to die for and just right for a pair like this.
4. Our pressure cooker beer can chicken goes with just about any side dish like this.

Directions work for Instant Pot, Crockpot Express or as a Ninja Foodi recipe for homemade refried beans. You should try our whole pressure cooker pinto beans and Instant Pot carnitas too!

How long do homemade refried beans last in the fridge?

If you have extras to store you can keep them in a freezer bag free from air for 3-4 days. Beyond that I would freeze them or make something that night with them.

Can you freeze homemade refried beans?

This is assuming you have any leftover beans of course, we usually do not when we have taco Tuesday or burritos for dinner. If you do have some extras though they do freeze great and don’t change in texture or flavor. If they are in the freezer for a really long time they might become dry, but if you just mix in some water or olive oil you can thin them out again. Use airtight containers for storage.

Yes you can make these in your slow cooker but who wants to soak for 24 hours??! If you’re looking for another Instant Pot recipe with beans or others, here’s a way to get them delivered to your email each week. (below)

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