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Heart-Healthy Refried Beans

Traditional refried beans use lard; tinned ones often use hydrogenated palm oil. This version gets its velvet from the beans' own starch, with half a teaspoon of olive oil doing nothing but carrying the garlic.

serves 3 10 mins side vegan quick
Heart-Healthy Refried Beans

why it works

All the comfort-food creaminess of refried beans with essentially no fat, and a serious hit of soluble fibre. The smoked paprika is doing the job bacon fat usually does — it brings the deep smoky note without any of the saturated fat.

Ingredients

  • 1 tin pinto or black beans, drained but not rinsed
  • ½ tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1–2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika or chipotle powder
  • 50–100ml water or low-sodium vegetable stock
  • fresh lime juice and chopped coriander, to finish

Method

  1. Drain the beans but do not rinse them. You want that residual starch clinging to them — it's what makes the mash thicken.

  2. Wok on medium heat with the half teaspoon of olive oil. Minced garlic, cumin and smoked paprika in, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Don't let the garlic burn.

  3. Drained beans straight into the spiced oil, stirring for 2 minutes until heated through and coated.

  4. Pour in half the water or stock and start smashing the beans against the bottom and sides of the pan with a potato masher or the back of a sturdy spoon. Leave about 20% whole — mash them into baby food and you've lost the texture that makes them worth eating.

  5. If it looks too thick, another splash of water. Simmer gently on low, stirring, for 2–3 minutes while the starch, water and trace of oil combine into something naturally creamy.

  6. Heat off, then a big squeeze of fresh lime and a handful of chopped coriander. The acid cuts the density and makes the whole thing pop.

remix

  • Black beans: same process exactly, but simmer an extra minute or two before mashing as the skins are tougher. Be generous with the lime
  • Borlotti are elite here — tip the full tin in with its liquid, they're creamier and starchier than pinto and need no oil at all
  • Piled thick on crisp sourdough toast this is a genuinely gourmet Mexican toastie
  • Those red flecks in restaurant refried beans are dried chilli flakes fried in the oil at the start, or finely diced red pepper added with the garlic
  • A spoonful of 0% Greek yogurt stirred in off the heat for extra richness