Refried beans are a staple of Mexican cuisine, so if your family regularly serves up delicious tacos or quesadillas, you might get a lot of use out of refried beans. But can you freeze refried beans to ensure you can access them whenever you need them?
Can You Freeze Refried Beans?
Yes, you can freeze refried beans for up to 12 months. If refried beans are shop-bought, remove them from the can before putting them in the freezer. Homemade refried beans can also be frozen.
Do Do Refried Beans freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Refried Beans? Yes
How to Freeze Refried Beans
Without trying to sound condescending, refried beans are made from mashed beans, but there are many different recipes that you can follow to get the taste and texture that you desire.
In restaurants, you will often find that refried beans are served with melted cheese, guacamole, and perhaps rice, forming a tasty side dish to your main meal.
If youāre preparing refried beans at home, you will likely use pinto beans, as they aid with the unique texture that is the signature of the dish.
Hereās how you can freeze them to ensure you have access to refried beans whenever it is convenient for you:
- Leave to Cool: When youāve finished preparing refried beans, remove them from the pan and leave them to cool on a countertop. This can take a couple of hours.
- Separate Into Portions: You must separate your refried beans into portions before you pop them into containers. If you put them into a freezer as a batch, they will freeze as a batch, which will cause you problems when trying to defrost them.
- Place Portions Into Containers: You can use either heavy-duty freezer bags or airtight containers. Your choice will likely depend on the space in the freezer.
- Label, Date, and Seal: When your portions are ready to put in the freezer, label, date, and seal them. Itās helpful to put both the date they were prepared and the date you should use them on the container.
3 Tips for Freezing Refried Beans
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing refried beans to have the best results:
Remove from the Can
You can freeze both shop-bought and homemade refried beans. However, if youāre freezing shop-bought beans, remove them from the can before placing them in the freezer. As outlined above, you should follow the same process as you would if you were freezing homemade beans.
Add Extra Protection
If you freeze your refried beans in an airtight container, you can add a layer of plastic wrap before putting the lid on to give the beans extra protection from the air.
Reheat from Frozen
Refried beans can be reheated from frozen, making the ideal dish to be frozen for ease of use.Ā
How Long Can You Freeze Refried Beans?
You can freeze refried beans for up to 12 months for best results. As weāve mentioned, several sources tell you that refried beans can be frozen indefinitely and wonāt go bad.
While this is likely true, itās best to use them within one year. Because theyāre so inexpensive and easy to prepare, you should be able to get good use out of them within the first year and make a new batch when you run out.
Refried beans will keep for between 3 and 4 days in the fridge. Once cooled, pop them into an airtight container, seal and then put them into the fridge. They must be used within a few days.
How Do You Defrost Refried Beans?
Refried beans are easy to use from frozen. You can toss them into a skillet or pan and reheat from frozen, giving you excellent results straight from the freezer.
Start with a low heat before turning it up. This will allow the refried beans to thaw slowly in the centre.Ā
However, if you prefer defrosting them first, take them out of the freezer and let them sit in the fridge to thaw overnight.
Can You Refreeze Refried Beans?
Yes, you can. As you can probably tell, refried beans are very freezer friendly, and you can refreeze them after theyāve been defrosted. Make sure you let them cool down to room temperature before putting them back in the freezer.
Do Refried Beans Freeze Well?
Refried beans freeze extremely well. As long as you follow the guidelines and freeze them in a freezer-safe container, you can enjoy them on demand whenever you need them.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing refried beans or refried beans in general, then these may help:
Yes, refried beans from a can are freezable, but you need to remove them from the can beforehand. Spoon the refried beans into freezer-safe containers, seal and then freeze. Do not freeze an unopened can.
Charro beans can be frozen in Tupperware containers for around 3 months. Once cooled, portion the charro beans into portion-sized containers, seal and label and finally pop them into the freezer. 
