Name: Vegan Refried Bean Tacos
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients: 1 TBSP olive oil; 1 15-oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed; ½ cup filtered water + more as needed; ¼ tsp garlic powder; ¼ tsp ground cumin; 1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt; Hard shell tortillas; romain lettuce; salsa; vegan almond milk yogurt; hot sauce

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Vegan Refried Bean Tacos with pinto beans and seasonings in 1-pan on the stovetop. Serve in hard shell tacos with your favorite toppings!

Last weekend I taught yoga outside at one of my favorite local gluten-free breweries.

Between you and me, I was grateful to finish class without a coughing fit or a sneeze attack.

Yes, this time of year I have special kind of jealousy reserved for all of the people I see outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, and doing it allergy free.

Sure, they could all be heavily medicated, but I have at least a few friends who claim that the thick yellow dust that coats my car every day doesn’t bother them.

Blasphemy, right?!

So I’ve been hiding indoors in self pity and self preservation, until I realized that Flora is bringing the outdoors indoors via her double coated fur.

One shake from her is all it takes to make my throat scratchy, my eyes watering, and my nose stuffy.

There’s only so much cleaning I can do, and let me tell you, my robot vacuum is heavily employed right now.

It’s an all hands on deck situation as I fight a never ending battle against nature.

This past week was also cinco de mayo, and whenever I think of cinco de mayo I remember a trip I took with my sister at the beginning of May to New York.

Now, I think my allergies are bad here, but they’re *nothing* compared to what I experienced in NYC 5+ years ago.

I remember walking through Times Square, the wind whipping between the sky scrapers, bringing with it lots of…whatever it is I’m heavily allergic too (I think oaks!)

My respiratory system was NOT happy.

I sneezed through every crosswalk, tears streaming down my face, my pockets full of soggy used tissues.

My sister looked over and asked repeatedly, “Are you OK?!” to which of course I responded, “Yes, I’m fine, it’s just allergies.”

I hadn’t thought to pack allergy meds and was too stubborn to buy them, so I suffered through the trip half-seeing and half-crying all the time we were outdoors.

Telling this story always makes me feel better, because whatever Flora is dragging inside, it’s nowhere near what NYC on the 5th of May has to offer.

So here’s what I have to offer this first week of May.

My favorite Vegan Refried Bean Tacos that we’ve been eating on repeat here for taco Tuesday.

I wanted to get this recipe out before Cinco de Mayo, but, it’s always a good day to eat tacos, right?

What You Need to Make Vegan Refried Beans

These refried beans are super pantry friendly, so grab a can of beans, some seasonings, and oil!

Here’s what you need to make refried bean tacos:

olive oil
pinto beans
filtered water
garlic powder
ground cumin
Himalayan sea salt

That’s it!

How to Make Vegan Refried Beans

These Vegan Refried Beans are super easy to make on the stovetop for dinner in 20 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with the olive oil.

Once it’s warm, add the beans, filtered water, garlic powder, cumin, and sea salt.

Bring the water to a low boil, then lower the heat and allow the water to simmer for about 10 minutes, until most of it has evaporated and the beans have softened a bit.

Add more water to the skillet if it becomes too dry while cooking.

Remove the skillet from heat.

Mash the beans as much as you like with a fork or potato masher — they can be made creamy or left chunkier.

You can smash the beans directly in the pan or transfer them to a plate to smash and then add them back in.

I like to smash about half of them for my ideal consistency.

After smashing, if the beans look dry, add a bit of water back in (2-3 TBSP) and mix well.

This will make the beans nice and creamy.

Return the bean skillet to the burner and reheat the beans for another 1-2 minutes, just enough to warm them but not enough that they get dry.

Swaps and Substitutions

I used pinto beans to keep this recipe classic to the refied beans of my childhood.

However, you can use virtually any bean for this recipe and end up with a great dip or spread!

I have personally tested substituting black beans for pinto beans, and the outcome was delicious.

Try black, pinto, or even cannellini to create different flavor profiles.

How to Serve Vegan Refried Bean Tacos

Serve the refried beans while they’re warm!

The ideas for these Vegan Refried Beans are endless.

You can serve them as a dip with chips for an appetizer, or as a side alongside other Mexican recipes to create a plate.

However, my favorite way to use them is tucked into tacos.

I love mine served in hard shell tortillas with romaine lettuce, salsa, vegan almond milk yogurt, and hot sauce.

The refried kind of act like a glue to keep everything nicely in the taco shell and toppings stick well, too!

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and reheat before serving.

Enjoy!

More Vegan Tacos

I Want to Hear From You

If you make this Vegan Refried Bean Tacos recipe, let me know!

Be sure to leave me a comment, rating, and review so I can use your feedback to create more yums.

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XO Lauren