The recipe prices will vary based on fluctuating grocery costs. Please use what is posted as a guide.
This is an easy hack for How To Make Canned Refried Beans Taste Like Restaurant Style! The secret ingredient is a stick of butter! You can serve these as a side dish or as a dip.
It costs about $1.80 to make this canned refried beans hack. The recipe makes six servings, so that is just $0.30 per serving!
We love making Instant Pot Refried Beans, but sometimes we don’t even have the time to make our refried beans recipe from scratch with dry pinto beans. However, we do not necessarily love the taste of the canned version.
That’s where this how to make refried beans better recipe comes in. These are the beans without the work of cooking dried beans.
Table of Contents
You’ll love this Refried Beans Recipe From Can Hack
This recipe solves all our problems! It is quick, easy to make, cost-effective, and tastes like eating beans from local Mexican restaurants instead of cans.
These faux homemade refried beans are creamy and cheesy. With a few simple ingredients, you can enjoy the creamy texture of these refried beans.
Take a couple of extra minutes the next time you need easy refried beans and upgrade your can of beans into a cheater restaurant style the whole family will love.
The creamy refried beans are perfect for dipping tortilla chips into, using in a bean dip or breakfast tacos, or serving as the perfect side dish alongside some Mexican Rice. This delicious recipe is an excellent addition to your next Mexican meal.
Ingredients for the Best Canned Refried Beans you’ll have (+Estimated Cost breakdown)
- 16 oz can of refried beans – $0.88
- 8 Tablespoons salted butter – $0.80
- 1 Tablespoon Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce – $0.02
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin – $0.03
- 2 Tablespoons Monterey Jack cheese – $0.07
The recipe cost is calculated by the amounts needed for the recipe. To find out more about how we price our recipes, check out Budget Recipes Explained. The pricing for this recipe was updated in November 2022.
Restaurant Style Canned Refried Beans Recipe Substitutions
Cheddar cheese, Mexican cheese blend, or Pepper Jack cheese can be used instead of the Monterey Jack cheese.
Tools you’ll need to make the Best Canned Refried Beans
- Saucepan
- Mixing spoon
- Measuring spoons
How to make Canned Refried Beans Better
- First, using a medium saucepan, add the refried beans, piece of butter, hot sauce, and cumin.
- Next, heat the ingredients over medium-high heat until the butter has melted, for about 4-5 minutes. Stir the mixture often.
- To finish, transfer the beans to a serving dish and top with shredded cheese and if desired, slices of jalapeño pepper.
***See the recipe card below for full instructions.
Storing Canned Refried Beans
STORE: : After sitting at room temperature for two hours, place the beans in an airtight container in the fridge.
FREEZE: Once cooled, place the beans in an airtight container before placing them in the freezer. Freeze for up to 2 months.
DEFROST: Defrost the beans overnight in the refrigerator.
REHEAT: When reheating the beans, you may need to add some cups of water, depending on the amount of beans you are reheating, to help get the beans back to their creamy consistency. Start with one Tablespoon of water until the desired consistency is reached.
Fun Ways to make this Canned Refried Beans Recipe with your kids
Ages 2-3: Have your little one sprinkle the cheese on top of the refried beans. They will be happy to put the finishing touch on the beans!
Ages 4-5: Work on measuring skills with your child as you show them how to count and measure a stick of butter. Guide their hands as you teach them how to slice the stick of butter into pieces.
Ages 6-8: Ask your child to pre-measure the ingredients. They can then add them to the skillet and stir together the mixture.
Ages 9-11: Supervise them while they prepare the entire recipe. Remember to have them read it twice before beginning the recipe.
Ages 12+: Let them prepare the entire recipe unsupervised while you do the happy dance in the corner!
Refried Beans from Can Budgeting Tips
Do you love Mexican food as much as we do but don’t love the cost of eating out? For less than two dollars, you can take your refried beans to the next level! Save money on eating out by making a store-bought can of beans taste like you are eating beans from your favorite restaurant!
We recommend stocking up on cans of refried beans when they are on sale at the grocery stores so you can easily make them into your own refried beans whenever you want.
Refried Beans (Can) FAQs
The best way to preserve the beans is to put them in an airtight container to store in the fridge with open or leftover beans.
Yes! You can freeze beans by placing them in an airtight container before placing them in the freezer. When reheating the beans, you may need to add some cups of water, depending on the amount of beans you are reheating, to help get the beans back to their creamy consistency. Start with one Tablespoon of water until the desired consistency is reached.
We prefer to heat our canned beans on the stovetop in a saucepan. However, if you are short on time, you can place them in a microwave-safe bowl and warm them in the microwave.
MORE UNDER $5 RECIPES
- Instant Pot Quinoa
- Cheese Drop Biscuits
- Instant Pot Lentils
- Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls
- Spanish Rice
- Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Easy Hummus
More from Easy Budget Recipes
Canned Refried Beans Recipe
Equipment
- saucepan
- mixing spoon
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 16 oz can refried beans
- 8 Tablespoons salted butter cut into 16 pieces
- 1 Tablespoon Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
FOR SERVING:
- 2 Tablespoons shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Sliced jalapeños optional
Instructions
- Place the refried beans, cut up pieces of butter, hot sauce, and cumin in a medium saucepan.
- Heat over medium-high heat until the heated through and the butter has melted completely, about 4-5 minutes. You’ll want to stir often.
- Transfer the beans to a serving dish and top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and sliced jalapeños(optional).
Dana Sandonato says
This is such a great recipe! And my kiddo loved being involved. Really enjoy your tips for kids. He’s under 3 so sprinkled the cheese on top and he definitely felt like a total salt bae, but with cheese. Haha.
Beth says
Wow! I love this hack. The beans turn out so creamy! I’m making them like this every time.
Aimee Mars says
Well, this is a nice little recipe hack to have on hand! I’m going to do this now every time I prepare refried beans at home.
Mark says
Wow! This turned out amazing! I was hesitant about using so much butter because I thought it would be too greasy. It blended in nicely though and made for a super creamy dish. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Jess Jankowski says
Amazing, right?! Thanks for trying it and sharing your feedback!
Kit says
My go to refried beans ! Super simple and turns out creamy and delicious every time.
Jess Jankowski says
Yay! Thanks for letting us know!
Michael Peterston says
An ENTIRE stick of butter? You’ve got to be crazy!
Jess Jankowski says
Oh, it is CRAZY good! Have you tried it?
Julie Craig says
Super creamy beans. Not mealy at all. Delicious!
Jess Jankowski says
Thanks Julie, so glad you loved them!
Paula says
My area doesn’t carry that hot sauce…any suggestions for a substitute?
TIA…Paula
Jess Jankowski says
You could try Cholula.
Donna says
For a 30 Oz can, do you double the butter and cumin?
Jess Jankowski says
Hi, the 30oz can is just shy of doubling it so you should be fine with doubling the butter and cumin, but you can also try doing just shy of those amounts. So 15 tablespoons of butter and just under 2 teaspoons of cumin. Enjoy!
Monique says
#LetsGo… My kids and I are recreated our favorite Taco Bell items for dinner to tight, yet the thought of using refried beans in a can was super disappointing. So, here I am scouring the web for answers ro spoof these bad boys into something delicious and stumbled upon your page. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us all. I just tasted the beans and wham-bam thank you ma’am “they are delicious”! (Note: I used 2 tbls less of butter, yet they’re yummy! Next time, I might cut all ingredients on half except the beans to see if they still do the magic. Either way, thanks again for this hack!)
Jess Jankowski says
Love this!! Thank you so much for trying our recipe and letting us know how much you liked it. Glad to hear it was still delish with a little less butter.