You might think the name "refried beans" indicates that the beans have been fried over and over again, but they are actually well-fried only once, not any more than that.

This Mexican and Tex-Mex side dish, originally called "frijoles refritos," gets its English name from some linguistic confusion when making the switch from Spanish to English.

"Frijoles refritos" means "very fried," and the beans are fried only once. In English, the prefix "re" means to do again, whereas in Spanish, it’s added to words to emphasize them.

When you make the dish, you basically soak the beans overnight, boil them with other ingredients, blend everything into a paste, and bake or fry it all once, not multiple times.