Instant Pot Refried Black Beans
I love these instant pot refried beans so much! Add them to perfectly crispy tortillas, add a few toppings and you’ve got a quick and delicious meal!
Making tostadas at home is fun and actually very easy. The most labor intensive part might be the refried black beans but those actually don’t require much work either. I topped these tostadas with pickled lettuce and onions (aka soggy salad, more on that below), tomatoes, cheddar cheese, sour cream and cilantro. And of course some Cholula hot sauce!
Ingredients for instant pot refried black beans
- Dried black beans
- Onion
- Garlic
- Jalapeño
- Bay leaf
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Bacon drippings – optional
- Chicken stock
And of course you will need
- Tortillas & oil (I used canola)
- Whatever toppings you want— I used soggy salad, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, sour cream, cilantro and hot sauce
Making refried black beans in an instant pot
Step one: make sure to rinse the beans and sift through them for any small stones or other debris.
Step two: now all you have to do is add all of the refried bean ingredients to the instant pot, select the bean/chili setting and add an additional 15 minutes. Super easy!
Step three: once the 45 minutes is up, allow pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes, then carefully vent (use a dish towel and wear an oven mitt) and check the beans for tenderness. If they are soft, you are ready to blend them. If they aren’t completely tender, return to high pressure for an additional 10 minutes and test again. But assuming your beans are good to go— drain the liquid from the beans and add the beans back to the instant pot. Add back in 1/2 cup of the liquid from the beans and use an immersion blender to blend beans to desired consistency. Taste and add salt as necessary. I ended up adding an additional 1/2 tsp at this stage.
Frying the tortillas
To fry tortillas for these tostadas, heat a neutral oil with a high smoke point, I use canola, in a large cast-iron skillet. Test the oil by dipping the edge into the oil, if it sizzles vigorously, its ready. Use tongs to place tortillas in the oil and cook for 2-3 minutes per side.
Use tongs to gently press down in the center of the tortilla if they start to dome in the middle. This will help them brown evenly.
Place fried tortillas on a paper towel immediately after removing from the oil.
Toppings
Soggy salad AKA pickled iceberg lettuce and onions. Soggy salad is one of the essential ingredients for my dads tacos and it’s also perfect on these tostadas. The ingredients are simple: shredded iceberg lettuce, thinly slice onion, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. It adds an awesome pickly crunch to these tostadas that was just right.
Then of course I used the standards: tomatoes, cheddar cheese, sour cream, cilantro, limes and hot sauce. Avocados would be a great addition!
More bean-based recipes to try
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa
Vegetarian Tamale Pie with Black Beans
PrintInstant Pot Refried Black Beans
The tastiest instant pot refried black beans for the best homemade tostadas!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
Refried beans
- 2 cups dried black beans (rinsed)
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 3 cups water
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 cups onion (chopped)
- 2 tbsp chopped jalapeños (more if you like things spicier)
- 2 tbsp bacon drippings (optional)
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 bay leaf
Tostadas
- corn tortillas (up to 12)
- 2 cup canola oil
Soggy salad
- 2 1/2 cups iceberg lettuce
- 3/4 cup onion (thinly sliced )
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
Toppings
- chopped tomatoes
- cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- hot sauce
- lime wedges
Instructions
Refried Beans
- Rinse and drain the beans, look through the beans for any small stones or other debris that doesn’t belong! Place all refried bean ingredients into the instant pot and select the bean/chili setting. Add an additional 15 minutes.
- Allow pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes. Then carefully (use an oven mitt and/or dish towel to protect your hand from steam) turn knob to ‘venting’. Test the beans for tenderness. They should be perfectly tender at this point, but if not return to pressure for an additional 10 minutes and check again.
- Drain the liquid from the beans and set it aside. Add the beans back into the pot and 1/2 cup of the liquid. Use an immersion blender to blend beans to desired consistency. Add salt to taste. I added 1/2 tsp. You can add more of the bean liquid if you want a thinner consistency.
Soggy Salad
- Place all soggy salad ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Let marinate at least 15 minutes before serving.
Frying Tortillas
- Add the oil to a cast iron skillet. Head over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Test the readiness of the oil by dipping the edge of a tortilla into the oil, if it bubbles vigorously, it’s ready.
- Place up to two tortillas in the oil at a time and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until they are a light golden brown.
- Continue to cook the rest of the tortillas that you need in this manner. Place tortillas on a paper towel-lined plate or cooling rack when finished frying.
Serving
- Serve buffet style. Stack tortillas and set out toppings (soggy salad, chopped tomatoes, cheddar cheese, cilantro, sour cream, lime wedges and hot sauce) and let everyone assemble their own tostada!
- Enjoy!
Notes
- This is the kind of recipe where you can really customize the amounts of the toppings and tortillas depending on how may people you are feeding. The refried bean recipe will yield quite a bit of beans— enough to make 10-12 tostadas. One tostada is enough for me but I would plan on 2 per person to be safe.
- If you don’t want to use bacon fat you can replace with another oil or leave it out entirely. It definitely adds flavor though, so if you don’t use it, you might end up needed a bit more salt.
