Upgrade! I love it!
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Looking for a good refried beans recipe. Preferably vegan or vegetarian and with black beans.
Anyone know of one or a reliable place to look? So many recipes online are useless
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FWIW, I just heat oil in a pan, saute minced onion, add some cumin and such, then add cooked beans, then mash the beans, then add some veggie stock to get the consistency I want.
It’s not the sort of thing to need a recipe, I don’t think.
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That sounds simple enough for me to try. My spouse may even be successful 
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I don’t have a recipe, but a technique if your beans are already cooked and seasoned.
Use a wide pan, and a flat spatula. Add a few tablespoons of fat, coconut oil is my favorite, lard or tallow are also excellent, but you wanted vegetarian or vegan. And, add enough stock to thin it out, but go slow, adding a few tablespoons at a time.
On a medium simmer, press the spatula to break the beans. You’re trying get the insides out, without adding air. Press and stir, press and stir. There is more fat in refried beans than you think there should be, that’s what makes them so good.
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But black beans are so much better in their non-refried form factor! 
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They’re fantastic refried, too. I mixed a can of refried black beans w/some great salsa, and made the best bean dip I’ve ever et. My BF D loved it, but then completely ignored it. I’m sure it’s now a science experiment I need to throw away.
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I’ve eaten so many black beans in my life, sometimes I crave the excitement of refried. I have branched out into other beans, but frijoles negros are the beans of my childhood, and a primary comfort food. The only thing that beats’ em is gallopinto (which has them, LOL).
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Refried is great but ultimately i like the texture of a whole bean. Refried i would expect in a dip or as a schmear in something else, but yeah black bean soup or an arepa with it, avocado, cheese, etc is probably a nostalgic comfort food for me. Love it
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They are great whole! But we used to do this super easy meal of refried black beans, avocado, onions, Serrano or Shishito peppers, and salsa tacos. Sometimes with added cheese or sour cream. When we had this, my very picky child would eat some of the refried beans half the time. We were using Amy’s refried black beans. But none of the local groceries, including the fancy place, are selling them anymore except, sometimes, whole foods. We’ve tried other brands, including the more usual pintos. They just don’t work for a meal where the refried beans are so central.
It was such an easy meal to throw together, meatless and still satisfying. Now that we have a small chest freezer, I thought maybe we could do up a big batch of beans and freeze meal-sized portions so we can have that meal in our tool box for the inevitable days where we just don’t have time or energy for cooking.
Neither I nor my husband, who cooks most things, has made refried beans before. The techniques above are useful! Thank you everyone. I don’t have the confidence to just wing it with techniques. But my husband does.
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Hm, i can think of a different ways to tackle this. Some involving making multiple small batches to do a tasting, but also if you can find the OG product take a look at the listed ingredients. It’ll give you an idea of what they’re using to season the refried beans, you won’t know the proportions but it’ll get you in the right direction of what specifically your child is liking about that brand.
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Yeah, we’ve looked at the ingredients. It wasn’t very helpful on the exact spices. “Organic Black Beans, Organic Onions, Filtered Water, Organic Bell Peppers, Organic Tomato Purée, Organic High Oleic Safflower and/or Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt, Organic Garlic, Organic Spices, Organic Green Chiles, Organic Cilantro.”
I think she mostly liked the salt 
maybe we can ask her to help us figure it out. Sometimes being a helper will encourage her to try something new
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Then i might be inclined to make at least two different recipes and try them side by side, you could halve the amounts or more and narrow down a flavor profile she likes best. You don’t have to of course but being able to compare different preparations can help a lot
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black beans and rice are my breakfast three times a week. entero, en estilo Cubano with copious habanero sauce.
we only do refritos on tortillas with cheese and onion.
@CleverEmi , in your gallo pinto, do you cook the rice in coconut milk, then add the stewed chicken and small red beans? that is the way i learned to cook it Belizean style, when i was looking to live there. it is also good cooked with black beans.
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My husband made General Tso’s Chicken tonight. Breaded and fried chicken thighs tossed in sauce with broccoli over rice. The sauce was great! Sweet, sour, spicy, and umami. He doesn’t make the dish often because it is time consuming and dish-producing.
Easily better than any restaurant version of the dish I’ve had
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It was, in fact. I frequently use Southern Exposure seeds.
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Wouldn’t you know it, when we were visiting my folks, my cousin sent us all a package that included nuts & bolts*, bless her! Seemed like out of nowhere, but we did have the same grandmother, who would make some for holidays.
*Also rum balls, which she usually sends. The rum balls & the nuts & bolts are all gone.
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