Refried beans from home canning

It’s quick and easy to make healthy, home-made refried beans from your home pressure-canned beans.

This method has the bonus of being fat-free, too, making them even healthier! There’s nothing stopping you though from adding a bit of fat if desired, but with this technique, it’s not required. The thick, creamy stock from the beans in the jars gets incorporated into the bean mixture, giving them a rich, satisfying mouth texture.

We use either pressure-canned kidney beans or pressure-canned pinto beans, canned according to USDA directions. You can use either, or a mixture of both.

This recipe calls for a litre / quart of canned beans in total: you can cut the recipe in half if you wish by just using a half-litre / pint jar.

This recipe uses:

• Home canned kidney beans or home canned pinto beans
• Refried bean seasoning mix (optional)

The recipe

Yield: 8 x ½  cup servings

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Refried beans from home canning

Quick, delicious, fat-free refried beans from a jar of your home pressure-canned beans

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Keyword Beans

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Yield 8 people

Calories 112 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 litre home-canned kidney beans (1 quart. Or pinto)
• 3 tbsp refried bean seasoning mix (or seasoning of your choice; see suggestions below).
• lime juice (or lemon juice, fresh or bottled)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

1. Empty jar contents into frying pan, liquid and all (to be clear, do not drain.)

2. Mash with potato masher.

3. Season as desired.

4. Simmer over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, uncovered, until thick.

5. Stir in 1 to 2 tbsp lime or lemon juice (fresh or from bottle).

6. Serve hot, or use as directed in your recipe.

Recipe notes

We use a cast iron frying pan, but use whatever heavy skillet you have.

You want a low-to medium heat.

We use a wooden flipper to stir and scrape the beans with.

The citrus juice is optional but really makes a taste difference. (Fresh washed and chopped coriander leaves aka cilantro can also be nice if that is your taste and you have any to hand.)

Don’t worry about how much liquid is present in the pan when you start; some will be absorbed into the bean mixture and excess will be simmered off.

If you wish, you can of course stir in some bacon fat, grated cheese (such as cheddar or Monterey Jack), etc.

Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge and use up within 3 to 5 days, or freeze.

Seasoning

If you don’t already have your own preferred seasoning for refried beans, you may wish to try this. (Halve the amounts if you are halving the recipe!)

• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt or salt sub
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cocoa (optional)

How much salt you will want to add will completely depend on how much salt you add to your jars of beans while canning or if you can them salt free even!

If you have tomato powder on hand, consider adding a tablespoon or two of that.

If you make refried beans a lot, then considering making up this DIY Refried Bean Seasoning Mix.

Source

In-house.

Nutrition

Per ½ cup / 90 g:

• 112 calories, 2 mg sodium

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com