How To Make Homemade Refried Beans Taste Like They Came From A Restaurant

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Refried beans may not be the star of the show in many Mexican dishes, but they are a stalwart side dish and act as a creamy condiment on quesadillas, nachos, and open-faced Mexican sandwiches known as molletes. Sure, you can simply open up a can of beans you have in your pantry, but if you want to make homemade refritos that taste like they came from a restaurant, what's the best way to go about it? Maycoll Calderón, executive chef at the restaurant Cuna (located in Manhattan's The Standard, East Village), feels that the best refried beans start with lard.

According to Calderón, "Different fats do change the flavor ... olive oil adds a lighter Mediterranean touch, and duck fat gives a luxurious richness." He went on to say, however, "For true restaurant-style beans, go with fresh, pure lard." It adds what he describes as "traditional depth." Lard may be a vintage ingredient Grandma used to cook with, but you can still find it in modern grocery stores. Calderón's advice is to use rendered pork lard, which may be labeled manteca de cerdo at a Latin American market. It might also be available at a butcher shop, or you can order a product like this 2 ½-pound tub of Goya manteca refined lard online. You can also make a DIY version of the ingredient with melted fat from a pork roast, but Calderón recommended commercially rendered lard for its milder taste. "It should be clean and neutral, not overly porky," he explained.

So why should you fry your beans in lard instead of a different type of fat? The way Maycoll Calderón sees it, "Cooking beans in lard adds richness and depth that's hard to replicate with oil. Lard carries flavor — it gives the beans a creamy texture, a silky mouthfeel, and that unmistakable savory note that defines traditional refried beans in Mexico." In his opinion, lard may be the key to the entire dish: "Lard brings together the flavor of the beans, onion, and garlic into something cohesive and deeply satisfying."

Lard also lends your refried beans an authentically Mexican flavor, as it is still often the go-to in restaurant kitchens making traditional dishes and Mexican homes. "It's part of the flavor memory of the dish," Calderón reminisced. He also noted that since lard has a reasonably high smoke point (at 370 degrees Fahrenheit, it's lower than vegetable oil but higher than butter), it's well-suited for pan-frying cooked beans. According to Calderón, "It helps the beans fry evenly without burning, while developing that caramelized, almost nutty aroma that makes the dish special."