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Instant Pot Refried Black Beans

Side view of homemade tostada loaded with toppings
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The tastiest instant pot refried black beans for the best homemade tostadas!

  • Author: Becky Schmieg
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

Units Scale

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

  1. Place all soggy salad ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Let marinate at least 15 minutes before serving.

Frying Tortillas

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

  1. 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!
  2. 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.

Find it online: https://www.figjar.com/homemade-tostadas-with-instant-pot-refried-black-beans/