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Bean Gorditas

Name: Bean Gorditas
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 500 g Corn dough; 300 g Refried beans; 50 g Pork lard; 1 tsp Salt; 100 g Lettuce picada; 100 ml Soured cream; 100 g Crumbled fresh cheese; 100 ml Salsa roja

40 min (20 prep + 20 cook) Easy 8 servings Nacional

Edmond Bojalil

Recetas Mexas

Published: 24 Mar 2026 · Updated: 29 Mar 2026

Thick corn dough patties filled with refried beans, cooked on a griddle.

About this recipe

Thick corn dough patties filled with refried beans, cooked on a griddle or fried until golden. Served open or closed with salsa, soured cream, lettuce and crumbled fresh cheese. A humble, nutritious and delicious Mexican street food found in markets across the country.

History & Origin

Bean gorditas are one of Mexico's oldest and most widespread street foods, with a history reaching directly into the pre-Hispanic era when Mesoamerican women prepared thick maize tortillas to feed their families. The name "gordita" comes from their thickness: they are fatter than conventional tortillas, which allows them to be filled with different stews and ingredients. The bean version is perhaps the most popular and democratic of all, since refried beans have been the staple food of the Mexican people for millennia. In each region of Mexico gorditas adopt their own characteristics: in the north they are made larger and often fried in lard, in the centre they are smaller and cooked on a griddle, whilst in states like San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas they reach almost mythical status with variants like oven-baked gorditas. The preparation is simple but requires manual skill: a ball of dough is formed, slightly flattened, filled with refried beans and sealed before cooking. Bean gorditas are the favourite breakfast at popular markets across Mexico, where gordita makers prepare them to order on enormous clay or metal griddles.

Estimated cost

£4.00

Total cost

£0.50

Per serving

* Approximate prices based on UK supermarkets

Nutritional information per serving

320

Calories

10g

Protein

42g

Carbohydrates

12g

Fat

Fibre

480mg

Sodium

* Approximate values. May vary depending on ingredients used.

Method

1
Prepare the relleno: heat a tablespoon of lard in a frying pan and fry the refried beans for 5 minutes, aplastando with a fork until you get a paste thick. Set aside.
💡 If the beans están very dried, add a little stock of bean or water.
2
Prepare the dough: mixture the corn dough with the lard, salt and a little water warm until you get a dough soft and manejable that not pegue in the hands.
3
Shape into small balls of dough of the size of a pelota of golf. Aplana each a formando a disc thick of some 10 cm of diameter.
4
Place a tablespoon generosa of bean refrito in the centro of each disc. Cierra the dough on the relleno formando a gordita sellada, aplanando slightly.
💡 Seal well the bordes for that not abra to the cocinar.
5
Heat a comal (flat griddle) over medium heat. Cook the gorditas 4-5 minutes on each side until it formen spots doradas and the dough it is cooked.
💡 If you prefer gorditas fritas, fríelas in oil hot 3 minutes for lado.
6
Abre each gordita for a costado with a knife for formar a bolsillo. Fill with shredded lettuce, cream, crumbled fresh cheese and red sauce or green to taste.