Frijoles de la Olla and Refritos

Recipe by: Barbara Martinez

11 ingredients•Prep: 5 mins•Cook: 3 hrs

Our Recipe Books•

June 1, 2025

My maternal grandmother made the best pinto (and refried) beans I've ever had. She was born in Martindale, Texas in 1913. She married my grandfather at a young age and together they had a large family of ten children. As a family they worked as migrant farm workers here in Texas and up to Minnesota and Wisconsin at various times of the year. My industrious grandmother, fueled by faith in God and love for her family, learned to make meals with very simple - often scarce - ingredients that could be stretched to feed her family. This is one of those recipes and one I find myself serving to my family over and over again!

Instructions

Frijoles de Olla

In a 5 quart Dutch Oven, over medium high heat, add water (2–3 quarts) and the rinsed and sorted pinto beans (1 lb). Make sure that the water passes the beans by at least 2 inches.
See note for how to rinse and sort your dried beans. This is an optional process but is authentic to the process as I learned it from my grandmother.
Add in the onion (¼ small), salt (1 Tbsp), pepper (½ tsp), garlic (2 cloves), and jalapeño (1).
Drizzle the oil (1–2 tsp) into the beans and bring to a boil.
Any neutral oil will work. My grandmother used vegetable oil, I use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil.
Once the beans start to boil, immediately reduce the heat to medium-low, and place the lid to the Dutch Oven on slightly askew. Continue cooking at a slow simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until beans are tender.
You will need to check on the beans occasionally, about every 45 minutes, to ensure they are covered by water. If the water is getting low, bring water to a boil in a small saucepan or tea kettle, and add to the beans until they are once again covered by water.
When the beans are tender, taste and season with more kosher salt if needed.

To make refried beans:

After the beans are tender and have completed cooking, heat a medium to large sized skillet over medium high heat.
I prefer to use my cast iron skillet for this.
Once the skillet is heated, add the neutral oil and allow it to heat up.
Traditionally, lard or shortening is the preferred fat for refried beans but you can use whichever oil or fat you like. Refined Coconut Oil works well here too. Alternatively, you can omit the oil and continue with the process from here, if you are trying to limit oil intake.
Add your cooked pinto beans to the hot skillet.
While you do want to include some of the cooking liquid in with the beans, start with a very small amount, something like 1 cup total of the cooking liquid. How much liquid you add will dictate whether your refried beans are runny or thick. It's best to start with less and only add more cooking liquid when needed.
Allow the beans to simmer and heat through then, using a potato masher, start to mash the beans in the skillet.
Mash the beans to your desired consistency. Personally, we like the beans to have slight texture and therefore do not mash them until fully smooth. If while mashing the beans seem too thick, add and stir in small amounts of their cooking liquid until they loosen up to the consistency you like.
Once the beans are fully mashed according to your preference, reduce the heat to low and continue to stir the beans a few more minutes, until they cook down enough to reach the thickness you prefer.
If you added too much cooking liquid in the beginning and the refried beans are a bit too thin for your liking, cook longer, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated a bit more.
The beans are done when you've gotten them to the consistency you like. Serve and enjoy!
While still very hot, I like to top with cheddar cheese prior to serving.