refried beans

noun

A dry to mushy paste made by boiling, mashing, and then frying particularly pinto or black beans, included in or served as anything from a main dish in Central America to a dip in the Southern US and a side dish in Mexico.

Similar
frijoles refritos
OriginSpanish frijoles refritos →
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Meanings

nounrefried beans pl (plural only)

alternative refried bean

  1. pluralplural onlyA dry to mushy paste made by boiling, mashing, and then frying particularly pinto or black beans, included in or served as anything from a main dish in Central America to a dip in the Southern US and a side dish in Mexico.

Synonyms & antonyms

noundried beans cooked and mashed and then fried in lard with various seasonings

Similar
frijoles refritos
Broader
dish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Spanishfrijoles refritos
  2. Englishrefried beans

Calque of Spanish frijoles refritos (literally “well-fried beans”).

More words from Spanish

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Spanish frijoles refritos
  • frijoles refritosbean paste eaten in Central America and Southern US
Cite this entry
APA

refried beans. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refried%20beans

MLA

“refried beans.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refried%20beans. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “refried beans,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refried%20beans.

Source: refried beans on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.