Last Updated on July 20, 2026 by Deliciously Organic Editor
Refried black beans are a healthy, nutrient-dense carbohydrate that goes with so many different main dishes. I really enjoy the creamy beans cooked with onion and garlic then smashed and stirred with some healthy fat.
The traditional refried bean recipe uses pinto beans, but our family loves using black beans. The recipe can be prepared on either the stove or a slow cooker and it keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days. You can top it with sour cream (if you can eat dairy), tomatoes, fermented salsa, cilantro, or raw cheddar.
What about the phytic acid? As long as you soak the beans overnight in water and then drain them before cooking, you remove most of the phytic acid from the beans. This helps keep the digestive tract happy when eating a healthy portion of beans.
PrintRefried Black Beans (Gluten-Free)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 12 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: American, Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 pound black beans
- 1 onion, peeled and cut in half (divided)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 tablespoons ghee or palm shortening
- Tabasco or organic hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon Celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Place beans in a large mixing bowl and cover with water (the water should be at least 4 inches above the beans). Let the beans soak overnight at room temperature.
- The following day, drain the beans and place them in a large pot. Cover with clean water and add half of the onion and the garlic cloves to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Simmer for about 3-4 hours until tender. (If you find the water level is decreasing too quickly while cooking, simply add a bit more water to the pot.)
- Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Remove the onion and garlic cloves.
- Place the empty pot back on the stove over medium heat and add the ghee. Chop the remaining 1/2 onion and place in the pot. Cook the onion in the ghee until translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Pour the beans into the pot, add about 4 dashes of hot sauce and the sea salt, and mash the beans with a potato masher or fork. Add more liquid while mashing if necessary until the beans are the desired consistency. Add additional salt to taste. Serve.
Slow cooker method: Place the soaked and drained black beans, onion, and garlic cloves in a slow cooker and cook on medium for 5-6 hours, until beans are tender. Using a ladle, remove all but about 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Add the ghee, hot sauce and sea salt and using a potato masher, mash the beans. Add additional salt or hot sauce to taste.
Mmmm….my mouth is watering. Another way to up the nutrition is to cook them with half bone broth/half water. Makes the flavor wonderful too! Thanks for mother good recipe Carrie!
Another…not mother….
I am so excited to see this. I read your grain free family table book cover to cover and took the leap to grain free and thought beans were forever gone. I found your website today and was so thrilled that this was the very first recipe listed! I love refried black beans! Thank you for sharing your recipes and journey!
I think you meant to add the link to the potato masher in Step 4 of the directions 😉
These look good, Carrie how do you feel about canned beans?
I don’t recommend them because they aren’t soaked. I prefer buying dry and soaking myself.
This is an older post, so I thought I’d share that is a new option for canned black beans. Eden Foods has a soaked/sprouted black bean along with some seaweed. It’s pricy, but since we eat so little, this makes including black beans in a recipe doable for me. And I don’t have inflammatory issues with these beans so it’s a big win.
Good to know!
I’m gonna chime in too 🙂
Canned beans are much more costly and also contain whatever chemicals they use , EVEN the BPA free cans.
I buy organic, soaked, sprouted, and dried beans from https://healthyflour.com.
Super easy to soak overnight then cook and eat.