Vegan Refried Black Beans

Our boys starte their lives in  Guatemala eating refried black beans on toast for breakfast. It's still top of our list of favorite foods to remind us of Central America. 

Sometimes people shy away from cooking beans because it takes so long. Many times we've had to change our cooking plans because I forgot to soak beans overnight. When we started using our Instant Pot, all that changed. We can arrive home at 4:30 and have these delicious Vegan Refried Black Beans on deck for dinner in an hour! 

This refried black bean recipe is anything but bland. The garlic, onions, spices, and cilantro will have you eating them by the spoonful!

Use them for burritos, tacos, nachos, on toast, in a polenta pie, or even just plain. You will love them! Serve with our Homemade Garden Fresh Salsa recipe. You can easily make it while the beans are cooking!

Black beans are incredibly healthy because they're nutrient-dense. Just 1/2 cup of cooked black beans gives you 7 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber for happy digestion, they're a good source of magnesium, iron and some B-vitamins, and only 109 calories! This makes them super for weight management too. 

Making vegan refried beans from scratch is much easier than most people think. Dry black beans are also incredibly inexpensive. You can make 10 servings of homemade refried black beans for the cost of one can of beans. 

Because we're a busy family we're always looking for ways to save time while still eating well. This recipe has an easy 2-in-1 meal variation. You can leave half of this recipe in the Instant Pot and turn it into a delicious Vegetable Black Bean chili while you make vegan refried beans out of the other half!

Another 2-in-1 meal variation we have is with our Vegetable Explosion Chana Dal recipe that turns into our Sunrise Vegetable Curry Samosas. Two 4 person meals with one cooking session! 

 Jump to the Vegan Refried Black Beans Grocery List

 Jump to the Vegan Refried Black Beans Nutritional Information

 Vegan Refried Black Beans Recipe

Prep

• 40 minutes prep, 40 minutes to cook
• Serves: 6
• Recommended equipment: one-pot pressure cooker and cast iron pan 

Ingredients

Black Beans:

• 1 ½ cups onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-2 diced jalapeno peppers
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• ½ tsp cumin
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups dry black beans, rinsed
• 3 ½ cups water
• ½ cup cilantro, chopped with stems

 Vegetable Addition:

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp chili powder (mild)
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• 1 ½ cups chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

 Garnish:

• 2 green onions, chopped
• ½ cup cilantro

Instructions

1. For black beans: In a one-pot pressure cooker, sauté onions and garlic with cumin and salt until translucent, around 10 minutes.
2. Add black beans, water, and cilantro. Set on bean chili setting if you have it, or cook for 30 minutes at 13 pounds of pressure. Let cool.
3. While black beans are cooking, sauté additional ingredients until onions are translucent, around 10 minutes. We like to use a cast iron pan.
4. Add cooked beans to the cast iron pan; mash and stir until your desired consistency. Garnish with green onions and cilantro.

Chef's Notes 

If you like spicier refried beans, sauté chopped jalapeños with the second batch of onions! 

To make your 2-in-1 meal for 4 people you can turn half of these beans into a fabulous Black Bean Vegetable Chili! Here's how: While the beans are cooking sauté 1 cup of chopped colorful bell peppers, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 cup of corn, and 1 tsp garlic in a pan until onions are translucent (about 10 minutes.)  When the black beans are done cooking in the pressure cooker remove half of them to make into Refried Black Beans. Add your sauteed vegetables to the remaining black beans, add 1 tsp of cumin powder and 1 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar.  Stir and serve topped with a dollop of vegan sour cream, Garden Fresh Salsa, vegan cheddar shreds and chopped cilantro. Delicious! 

**Scroll down for your vegan grocery list and nutritional analysis of Vegan Refried Black Beans.**

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Written by Your Vegan Family 

Stacy and Markus live an adventurous vegan lifestyle and write articles about their experiences cooking global vegan cuisine, creating businesses, raising vegan kids, and traveling through more than 65 countries. They earned degrees in molecular biology and acupuncture, consulted over decades for healthcare companies and individuals, created businesses in Asian medicine and cultural immersion, and taught yoga in myriad venues.

We’ve learned a lot from eating a plant-based diet for 25 years and are eager to share more with you. Learn more on our About Us page.

Refried Black Beans Vegan grocery list: 

• onions
• green onions
• garlic
• fresh cilantro
• dry black beans
• olive oil
• salt
• cumin 
• mild chili powder 

Vegan Refried Black Beans Nutritional Analysis

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutritional calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie daily diet for an adult. 

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