The Best Canned Refried Beans, Latina Dietitian Tested and Approved
Written by Isabel Vasquez RD, LDN
Buying canned refried beans can save you a lot of time in the kitchen, especially if you’re trying to keep your Mexican cultural foods alive.
All you have to do is throw them in the microwave for a minute or heat them in the stovetop for a few minutes and you have a tasty side dish or tostada spread.
Given all of the canned refried beans on the market, you may wonder which product to pick. There are a few factors to consider, the main ones being taste, texture, convenience, and nutrition.
Related: Are Refried Beans Healthy? A nutrition breakdown of refried beans.
For this article, I tested 8 popular canned refried beans to determine the best ones out there. Keep reading to learn the winners!
How I Tested and Selected the Winners
To select the contenders, I picked 8 canned refried beans from three grocery stores (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Wegmans). I made sure to include products made by a variety of brands with a variety of ingredients.
First, I assessed their nutritional value, specifically their saturated fat, sodium, fiber, and protein content.
Eating too much saturated fat and sodium may harm heart health, per the American Heart Association, and many canned foods are high in these nutrients.
Meanwhile, fiber and protein are two key nutrients we get from beans. Fiber supports gut health, cholesterol reduction, and blood sugar management, per the CDC. Protein promotes bone, muscle, skin health and more, per the USDA. It’s important we eat these nutrients throughout the day to meet our needs.
After assessing the nutrition profile of each can of beans, I heated them up on the stovetop and tasted them to assess their flavor and texture. I noted whether it was smooth or chunky, and what the flavor profile was like. I considered whether certain spices stood out, the saltiness, and the flavor of the beans themselves.
Below, I’m sharing the winners!
The Best Canned Refried Beans
Fillo’s Refried Mild Cranberry Beans have the lowest sodium content of all the products I tested but they’re full of flavor thanks to sofrito. They are the best tasting product I tested which is why they earn the top spot. They even have a mild hint of sweetness which is very tasty.
Technically, they’re not canned. Instead, they come in a microwavable pouch. We included them in the list because they’re just as, if not more, convenient than canned beans. You can microwave them in the pouch for 60 seconds or heat them up on the stovetop.
Their texture is more creamy than chunky, so they would work well as a dip for tortilla chips. They’d also work well as a base for tostadas since they’re very spreadable. There weren’t any bean chunks in these refried beans.
Nutritionally, they’re low in saturated fat since they use olive oil rather than lard. Plus, each ½-cup serving has 5 grams of fiber—about 18% of the daily value (DV)—and 7 grams of plant protein!
Nutrition highlights:
Saturated fat: 0.5 grams
Sodium: 320 milligrams, or 14% of the DV
Fiber: 5 grams, or 18% of the DV
Protein: 7 grams
2. Trader Joe's Traditional Style Fat-Free Refried Beans
If you’re a fellow Trader Joe’s lover, pick up a can of refried beans on your next TJ’s run. They’re made with just three ingredients—beans, water, and salt—but they still have a delicious flavor.
Unlike our top pick—Fillo’s Refried Mild Cranberry Beans—these have a thick texture with pinto bean chunks throughout.
Since they’re not made with a bunch of spices, they’re versatile and can be added to a variety of dishes. You can add them to tacos or as a side dish with enchiladas and they’ll mix well with whatever sauces or flavor profiles you choose.
Nutritionally they have 5 grams of fiber per ½-cup serving, just like our top pick—Fillo’s Refried Mild Cranberry Beans. They also have 8 grams of protein and no saturated fat. Each serving has 460 milligrams of sodium, which is about average for the refried beans I tested.
Nutrition highlights:
Saturated fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 460 milligrams, or 20% of the DV
Fiber: 5 grams, or 18% of the DV
Protein: 8 grams
3. La Preferida Organic Authentic Refried Black Beans
La Preferida’s Organic Authentic Refried Black Beans are the only black bean option I tested. They’re essentially the black bean counterpart to Trader Joe’s refried pinto beans because they have only 3 ingredients—organic black beans, water, and salt.
In turn, they have a simple, straightforward flavor that works well for most dishes. They’re soft and easy to spread, but they still hold their shape if you want to serve them as a side dish.
These refried black beans are one of the lowest-sodium options I tested, although they still have 18% of the DV for sodium per serving. They’re free from saturated fat since there’s no fat source at all. Plus, they have 21% of the DV of fiber. That’s a lot of fiber in just ½ cup of beans!
Overall, these are best if you prefer black beans to pinto beans and you want a simple, versatile option.
Nutrition highlights:
Saturated fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 420 milligrams, or 18% of the DV
Fiber: 6 grams, or 21% of the DV
Protein: 7 grams
4. A Dozen Cousins Classic Refried Pinto Beans
If nutrition is your #1 priority, then A Dozen Cousins Classic Refried Pinto Beans are your best bet from the products I tested.
They’re free from saturated fat, and each serving has 7 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein. Although they have 440 milligrams of sodium—19% of the DV—per serving, their overall nutrition profile still beats out the competition.
Just like our #1 pick, these beans come in a microwavable pouch, adding an extra layer of convenience. They’re quite thick with pinto bean chunks throughout.
They have more sabor than some of the others we tested because they’re flavored with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, spices, and chile pepper. I could definitely taste the smoky, earthy flavor of cumin and green chiles during my taste-test.
Nutrition highlights:
Saturated fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 440 milligrams, or 19% of the DV
Fiber: 7 grams, or 25% of the DV
Protein: 10 grams
5. Ortega Traditional Refried Beans
Ortega Traditional Refried Beans made our top five list because they have a more traditional refried bean flavor. For those of you who need your refried beans to have lard, these are for you. Of the two products we tested that use lard, these won out for flavor and texture.
Even though they have lard, each ½ cup serving only has 1 gram of saturated fat, which isn’t too much in the big picture.
Note that they’re the highest-sodium option we tested, with 630 milligrams—27% of the DV—per serving. If you have high blood pressure, you may want to opt for a lower-sodium product like A Dozen Cousins Classic Refried Pinto Beans.
Nutrition highlights:
Saturated fat: 1 grams
Sodium: 630 milligrams, or 27% of the DV
Fiber: 5 grams, or 18% of the DV
Protein: 6 grams
Other Products We Tested:
Old El Paso Traditional Refried Beans. These are another lard-containing product meant to have a more traditional refried bean flavor, but I found the taste to be chalky. They’re also the lowest-fiber product I tested.
Siete Vegan Refried Pinto Beans. I enjoyed Siete’s Vegan Refried Pinto Beans overall. They have a pretty good nutrition profile with 5 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein per serving. However, the main flavor I tasted was paprika. I would’ve expected more flavor with all the sodium in them (520 milligrams per serving).
365 Organic Refried Pinto Beans. These are another decent option, but they’re higher in sodium than others and I felt the spices overpowered the flavor of the beans.
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