These Refried Beans get their amazing flavor from a smoked ham hock, several aromatic veggies and a bit of bacon drippings. I lick the spoon every time! (This recipe makes about 7 cups of refried beans. I make a big batch and freeze some to keep handy for later.)
Including time to come to pressure, my Instant Pot has these done in about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Look through beans and make sure there are no rocks etc.
Put the beans, water, smoked pork hock, cilantro stems, onion, and black pepper into the pressure cooker. If you want to add the jalapeno remove the seeds or leave them in. Cut the pepper into 4 chunks and add it to the pressure cooker.
Use a spoon to make sure all the beans are submerged in the water. Put the lid on the Instant Pot in the locked position. Make sure your vent is set to “sealing”.
Select “Manual setting” and then “+” to increase the cooking time to 40 minutes on High Pressure. The display will show “on” after a few seconds and then the pot is coming up to pressure. Eventually the display will start counting down showing you how much time is left.
When the pot is done cooking flip the vent to the “venting” position to do a quick release. When finished remove the lid.
Remove the ham hock and eat or discard. Use an immersion blender to puree the beans.
Stir in salt and bacon drippings and taste for seasonings. Add additional salt, bacon drippings or pepper as desired.
Serve warm with your favorite foods. For bean dip I like to stir in some mixed Mexican cheese and serve hot.
Notes
Note: Cilantro is usually sold in bunches. I use the leaves to serve fresh and usually throw away the stems. However, the stems give some amazing flavor to these beans. Don’t bother to use the leaves, just toss in the stems. They will get mashed up when you mash the beans.