Bacon grease is definitely something that should be used with refried beans. We Mexican’s can cofirm that, however if you want the flavor kicked up a notch what you do is add a few (fresh) serrano chilis to fry in the bacon grease before you add the beans. You don’t cut the chilis, you add them whole. It doesn’t spice up the beans (as long as the chili’s remain whole) but it does give it a wonderful aroma and flavor. I highly recommend trying it this way. Fresh jalapenos work too, but serranos are preferable.
I also like to add shredded cheese on top…mmmmm!

I keep bacon drippings in my fridge – this would be the perfect recipe to use some of it with!!

Ruby, what SHOULDN’T bacon grease be used with??? I’m not sure I can even think of anything that wouldn’t benefit from a bit of bacon grease (other than my arteries)

Sounds easy enough… yum!!!

Oh YES! Just keep the cat calm around all that bacon. Bacon grease is brilliant! I love it in my carbonara. Why not beans, soups, ice cream….mmmmm.

I used to make them from scratch and they were good, but what isn’t with bacon fat?
Sad to say, we had to switch to fat free refried beans for health reasons.

I also keep my bacon drippings in the fridge because it is just too darn good with so many things. These beans are on my “to do” list!

Nicole! Bacon drippings? *cough* clogged arteries? In the slow cooker I have found that smoked hamhocks or something like that works really good. Now I am going to have to cook some bacon *cough* and give it a whirl.

Ruby: Thanks for the tip, I’ll have to try it when I get back to California. We don’t have serrano chilis here but we can get jalapenos at the store on base (for about ten bucks a pound!!!!). I’m sure Italian chilis wouldn’t be bad but it’s just not quite the same. I won’t be making these again until after the move anyway…used up all the beans in the pantry, now I’ve got to use up the canned tomatoes!

Deborah: I do the same thing sometimes. But lately, if I cook bacon in the morning I usually try to figure out a way to use the drippings by dinnertime Usually I only cook about half a pack of bacon at a time so I don’t end up with that much to save anyway!

Curt: Very true Sometimes if I have some bacon grease sitting around from breakfast, I’ll make some savory muffins to go with dinner and use some of the bacon grease instead of oil. Whole wheat cheddar muffins made with bacon drippings are wonderful!

Summer: Very easy and a million times better than the stuff in the can!

Jonathan: Bacon ice cream? Hmmmmm…maybe.

Sandy: Yes, if you have to cut back on fat for health reasons, these aren’t the best option!

Evie: Hope you like them!

Steven: Didn’t you hear? Lard is the new “good fat!”

I was just looking for a refried beans recipe. This one looks good.

I’m making it tonight and its gonna be good!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to say thanks for this recipe. I am making a 7 layer dip and I almost feel bad for using these beans. They are finger-lickin’ good! First time I’ve made home-made re-fried beans and I may never ever buy them “canned” again.

I added about 1/2 a small white onion and sauteed for about 5 minutes before adding the garlic.

Does anyone use anything OTHER than bacon grease? Just curious, if I dont have any on hand.

Thanks!!

Sounds delicious! But, for another twist on bacon grease — use it to make homemade popcorn instead of microwave. To die for.

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww bacon grease that disgusting………….even for me , a meat-eater that just weird

Since bacon has a lot of sodium/nitrite/nitrate etc, I use a technique that adds a few minutes to preparation, but yields very nice drippings (grease). I cover the bacon slices with water, bring just to a simmer, swish them around to remove any stuff that has been exuded, remove slices from frypan, pour off yucky water, wipe with paper towel, then fry those bacon, as Jacques Pepin might say. If you don’t overheat the grease, it’s very pale and tasty in recipes. I’m gonna use some in yo’ refried beans recipe!

Thanks for the super easy recipe!

I just made these for our taco night dinner…so delicious! I added some green Tobasco and Adobo seasoning. Next time I will add canned green chilis. Plus I got to have a BLT for lunch so I had some fresh rendered bacon fat!

I made these tonight… I did use olive oil though, as I never have bacon grease on hand. I followed everything exactly, and I have to say they came out great. I was somewhat skeptical too, considering the easiness of the recipe. One note–if you don’t like things too salty, which how much you add. The liquid in the can is salty itself and you may not need more.

Here are more Bacon Grease recipes here…
http://www.filterchef.com/recipes/

Hi! I found this entry through a random google search. I just made the beans and they’re great! I’ve used many other recipes and they never came out quite like these did. I used vegetable oil instead of bacon grease (no bacon at home! grr…) and only one can of pinto beans (b/c I didn’t read carefully enough to see that I was supposed to use 2!) but the consistency and taste is great. Reminds me of El Pollo Loco’s, actually… Super easy and super tasty! I can’t wait to try it with the bacon drippings.

Cooking your own beans is soooo much nicer than anything you can get in a can. It doesn’t have to be a chore either. I use my crock pot for beautiful beans. Beans are a little more hassle than most slow cooker meals because you have to bring them to a boil on the stove, and keep at a rolling boil for 10 minutes (especially important for kidney beans, take note all you chili lovers) before putting them in the crock pot. But it’s worth it!

Be sure to add your Bacon Grease and Bean recipe here and have others rate it!
http://www.filterchef.com/recipes/

Thanks so much for this recipe!
We just made these beans and they are GREAT!
Our days of eating canned re-fried beans are happily put behind us.

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I used this recipe except i boiled my own pinto beans and it came out so good real soul food along with some enchiladas and rice youll be set

I’ve made ‘em with manteca (lard), bacon grease and no oil at all. Although they taste better with fat, fat free is still much better than anything you can get in a can

These turned out great! I added a little onion powder, cumin and chili powder, too.

The trick to making flavorful homemade beans is to make them yourself w/fresh ingredients….combine 1 1/2 lbs of pinto beans, about 5 garlic cloves cut in half, 1/2 an onion diced (if you don’t like onion but want the flavor cut onion in half and throw in the whole halve, this way when beans are done all you have to do is pull out the halved onion) and salt. Bring to a boil then place on low/med fire w/lid and slow cook for about 3hrs. Then once they’re done you can use the bacon grease to refry some of the homemade beans you made!!! and place the beans you have left over in freezer bags once they’re cooled and place in freezer this way whenever you need beans…all you have to do is pull out the bag and refry them in your bacon grease!!! My momma taught me this!! I PROMISE YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!

[...] Beans – Make these and you’ll never go back to the [...]

I don’t mind using bacon occasionally to flavor foods, but I have been trying to avoid animal fat. So…I used extra virgin coconut oil and a tiny bit of hickory liquid smoke instead, and it came out GREAT. I used coconut oil a lot, read the Wikipedia article on it. It’s not the dangerous fat people used to think it was.

I just wanted to tell you I tried this tonight and it was very good. The beans were not bland as they usually are out of the can. the only thing I would do different next time is to drain a little bit of the liquid from the cans before adding to the frying pan. It took quite a while to cook down the the consistency I wanted. The taste was to die for though! Thanks!