Jump to Recipe· 5 from 12 reviews

These vegan and fat-free Instant Pot refried black beans are so easy and flavourful you’ll never go back to canned!

A bowl of vegan refried black beans with a chip in it topped with cheese and cilantro.

You will love these creamy, flavourful, healthy refried beans! They’re super easy to make and delicious for bowls, salads, tacos, nachos, burritos, tacos, dipping and more.

The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free and fat-free and you’ll need just a few ingredients.

Ingredient Notes

You only need a few basic ingredient to make these easy beans. Here’s what you’ll need:

  1. Beans. You’ll need 2 cups of dry black beans. For traditional refried beans, you can also use dry pinto beans in this recipe.
  2. Onion. You’ll need 1 whole white or yellow onion.
  3. Garlic. You’ll need 4 whole, average-sized cloves of garlic. You can use more or less, to your preference.
  4. Spices. I used chili powder, oregano, cumin and pepper. Salt is left out until the end and only added to taste, if needed. Some broths are saltier than others so you may or may not need salt.
  5. Vegetable broth. You’ll need vegetable broth (or water and bouillon powder or cubes). You can use water in a pinch, they just won’t be quite as flavourful.

Extras: This recipe can be customized with additional ingredients such as jalapenos or chipotle powder.

Ingredients for refried beans in an Instant Pot.

Step-by-Step Instructions

The best part about this recipe is prep takes about 1 minute! There is no need to soak the beans either. Just toss everything in the Instant Pot, pressure cook, blend and enjoy!

Step 1. Add everything to the Instant Pot

Since this is a refried bean recipe and we’ll be blending the beans after cooking, the garlic cloves can go in whole and onion can be roughly chopped into quarters.

Add the chopped onion, cloves of garlic, black beans, spices and vegetable broth to the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Settings: Press “Pressure Cook” and set the timer to 40 minutes. Once the timer beeps to indicate cooking has finished, let the pressure naturally release for 20 minutes before quick releasing any final pressure.

Healthy Vegan Instant Pot Refried Beans Recipe

Step 2. Strain and Blend

There will be extra liquid once the black beans have finished cooking.

Either scoop it most of it out with a ladle or strain the beans over a bowl or container, reserving the cooking liquid. You’ll need the liquid to adjust the consistency after blending.

If you strained the beans, dump them back into the Instant Pot and use an immersion blended in the pot to blend the beans until smooth…or leave them chunky if you prefer. Pour in a little of the cooking liquid to adjust the consistency as you go.

I probably ended up adding about half of the liquid back in. Keep in mind they will dry out and thicken in the fridge, so add a little more liquid than you think you need to help keep them moist.

Blended refried beans in an Instant Pot.

How to Use Refried Beans

Here are some ways you can serve these beans:

A bowl of vegan refried black beans topped with cheese and cilantro.

More Recipes

Try them in these recipes:

For more Instant Pot recipes, check out these 25 healthy plant-based Instant Pot recipes.

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A bowl of vegan refried black beans with a chip in it topped with cheese and cilantro.

Instant Pot Refried Black Beans

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 12 reviews
  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 60 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 4 cups
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: Vegan
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Description

Delicious, healthy, vegan refried beans that are perfect for nachos, tacos, burritos, salads, dipping and more.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (400 g) dried black beans
  • 1 medium white onion, roughly chopped into quarters
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and stem end cut off
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 5 cups vegetable broth
  • salt and lime, to taste

Instructions

  1. Add everything except the salt and lime to an Instant Pot.
  2. Seal the lid, making sure the Venting Knob is set to Sealing. Press “Pressure Cook” and set the timer to 40 minutes. Once the timer beeps, let the pressure naturally release for 20 minutes. If there is any pressure remaining, move the Venting Knob to Quick Release before carefully open the lid.
  3. Use a ladle to scoop most of the extra liquid off and into a bowl or container, or strain the beans over a bowl or container, reserving the cooking liquid.
  4. If you strained the beans, add them back into the Instant Pot. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth (or leave chunky if you prefer), slowly adding some of the cooking liquid back into the adjust the consistency. I probably added about half of the liquid back in. I added some of it while blending then I mixed more into the leftovers before storing in the fridge to keep them moist.
  5. Season with salt, if needed (they may not need salt depending on the broth you used) and add a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
  6. Serve right away or store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Leftover refried beans can be portioned and frozen in freezer safe bags or containers for up to 3 months.

Notes

This makes quite a large amount of beans, about 4-5 cups depending on how much liquid you add. Feel free to half the recipe if you don’t need that much.

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