Taco Bell Pintos And Cheese Recipe

Per the restaurant's website, here's the ingredients:

Pinto beans, soybean oil, seasoning (salt, sugar, spice, beet powder (VC), natural flavors, sunflower oil, maltodextrin, corn flour, trehalose, modified cornstarch). [certified vegan]

So no lard as another commenter suggested (though if you want to doctor up canned refried beans, it's a good way to do it). "Spice" is such a catch-all term, so who knows exactly what they add. I believe in the US they must list garlic and onion, as they are potential allergens, so those aren't included. There's four different ingredients that could make them sweeter: sugar, beet powder (though that's probably more for color), maltodextrin, and trehalose (which is technically a sugar, but is probably used as a stabilizer).

Compare that to the canned refried bean ingredients:

Cooked Pinto Beans, Water, Contains Less Than 2% Of Salt, Soybean Oil, Dried Pink Beans, Natural Flavor, Soy Lecithin

Note that soybean oil falls into the "2% or less" category, so there's probably less fat than the restaurant beans. Also no added sugars, and they add a second type of bean. Basically they're not at all like the restaurant beans. Unfortunately, the restaurant's nutrition info doesn't list the beans separately from an item, so can't really tell how much more fat or calories there are versus the canned. I'd say adding fat, maybe some more salt, and a pinch of sugar, along with maybe some cumin or oregano, would get you closer to the restaurant style. Also, might I suggest making your own? Refried beans are so easy to make, especially if you start with canned beans.