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How to Cook Dried Beans Reader
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Four Methods: Sorting and Cleaning Beans Soaking the Beans Cooking the Beans
Using Beans in Other Recipes Community Q&A
Co-authors: Updated: Views:
Beans are a great addition to any well-balanced diet. They are easy to cook and versatile in 16 4 weeks ago 569,151
recipes as side dishes or as main courses. Canned beans can often lack flavor and have a mushy
consistency. Thus, properly-cooked dry beans are often preferred for their rich taste and firm,
tender texture. Tee kay bean
Nov 12
Prep time (quick soak): 60-80 minutes (active prep: 15 minutes)
"Really helpful article. Beans have always
Cook time: 30-120 minutes been my favorite meal. Not until this forum
did I learn of the many..." more
Total time: 90-200 minutes
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Method
1 Sorting and Cleaning Beans

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How to Select and Store
Blanch Beans Broad Beans

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Prepare Black Cook Red Split
Turtle Beans Lentils

1 Sort through the beans and discard any that are shriveled or discolored, as well
as any stems, debris or dirt. Go through your desired amount of beans before you
wash them. Pay special attention to any small rocks or pebbles that may have inadvertently
made their way into the packaging.

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 2 Place the dried beans in a colander and wash them quickly. Run cool water over
the beans for about half a minute.

Method
2 Soaking the Beans

1 Use the slow soak method if you've got a night to soak your beans. The slow
soak method is a preferred method of preparing beans if you've set aside enough time
to soak overnight. Slow soaking ensures that the final product is fully cooked, not crunchy or
underdone.
If you choose the slow soak method, put the beans in a 5 qt. (4.7 l) saucepan and
cover them with about 8 cups (about 2 l) of water. Put the lid on the saucepan and
allow them to soak overnight in the refrigerator.

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 2 If time is of the essence, try the quick soak. For a faster soak, put the beans and
water in a saucepan and bring them to a boil. Allow them to boil for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat, cover it with a lid and let the beans soak for at least 1
hour.

3 Wait for the beans to double or triple in size, depending on what soaking
method you decide to use. If you leave your beans in cool water overnight, expect
them to at least double in size. Make sure your cooking vessel is large enough to
accommodate this transformation.

4 Rinse the beans thoroughly in a colander after soaking. Your beans are now ready
to be cooked.

Method
3 Cooking the Beans

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1 Put the beans in a large cooking pot and add enough water to completely cover
them.

2 Add a tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil to the pot to cut down on excessive
foam and boil-over while the beans are cooking. Because the beans expand while
cooking, periodically adding small amounts of water to the pot will keep them adequately
covered, ensuring even cooking.

3 Simmer the dried beans on low to medium heat. Properly soaked beans usually
require between 30 minutes and 2 hours of cooking.

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 Consult the proper cooking time of the types of beans you're using. Cooking times will
4 vary depending on the variety of dried bean.
Black beans: 60 minutes
Light/dark red kidney beans: 90 to 120 minutes
Navy beans: 90 to 120 minutes
Great northern beans: 45 to 60 minutes
Pinto beans: 90 to 120 minutes

5 Test the dried beans by mashing one with a fork or between your fingers. Ideally,
your beans will be tender but not mushy. If your beans are still crunchy or underdone after
the recommended cooking time, continue cooking at a simmer, checking every 10 minutes for
doneness.

6 Serve the cooked beans. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Method
Using Beans in Other Recipes

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4

1 Learn how to cook specific varieties of beans. Beans, beans, the magical fruit!
Beans are healthy, cheap, and easy to cook. Where can you go wrong? Learn specific
ways of cooking beans from the following articles.
Cook pinto beans
Cook lima beans
Cook black beans
Cook cannellini beans

2 Make vegetarian chili with black and red beans. Who says that chili needs to contain
meat? A perfectly hearty and delicious chili can be made using mainly beans — red and
black beans. Perfect for cool days when your inner cowboy is feeling hungry.

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3 Make red beans and rice. This Caribbean staple is sure to leave you satisfied,
especially if you're pairing your meal with something like seafood. Deceptively simple but
definitely filling!

4 Try red bean hummus. Tired of the same old hummus over and over again? How
about a bit of a change? If you like hummus and are on the adventurous side, try this
recipe on for size.

5 Cook mongo (mung) beans, Filipino style. Also known as mung beans, or green
gram, this green bean is popular in India and Southeast Asia for being used both in
sweet and savory dishes.

Community Q&A

How long can you store dried beans?

Dried beans should be used within a year of purchase; otherwise, they will never
wikiHow Contributor re-hydrate fully, and will be hard even after cooking.
Not Helpful 5 Helpful 12

Can I put fresh kidney beans directly into my soup without washing them?

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 No. You should wash beans and any vegetables you put into your soup.
wikiHow Contributor
Not Helpful 5 Helpful 6

Can I refrigerate my dried beans?

Yes, you can.

wikiHow Contributor
Not Helpful 2 Helpful 3

After the initial "cook 2 minutes, soak, add fresh water" cycle, can I then cook the beans
in a crock pot?

You can just throw the dry beans with the appropriate amount of water into the
wikiHow Contributor crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Not Helpful 1 Helpful 0

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Tips

Though the faster, hot soak method takes less time for bean cooking preparation, keep in
mind that it is more likely to cause the beans to come out of their shells and break apart.
Once you have learned how to cook dried beans, try different varieties. There are many to
choose from that vary in taste, texture and nutrients.
Another benefit of using dried beans instead of canned is that they have no added sodium.
Canned beans often have high levels of salt.
Prepare ahead of time when learning how to cook dried beans so you can use the traditional
overnight soaking method. Cooked dried beans turn out best when allowed to soak longer
because they are less likely to break apart. They also retain more flavor.
Lentils such as black eyed peas and split peas do not need to be soaked prior to cooking.
Ideally, store your beans in mylar bags specially designed for long-term storage. Glass
canning jars are also acceptable, but allow light to gradually attack the beans. If you decide to
use a canning jar to store your beans in, make sure to store in a completely dark place and in
smaller quantities.
If you are planning on storing larger quantities on beans, consider investing in oxygen
absorbers. Oxygen absorbers usually use iron oxide to keep stored food tasting fresh and
smelling great.
Store your sealed beans in a dry, dark place for up to two years. Like any food, beans have a
limited shelf life, although that shelf life can be extended with the proper precautions. Light and
oxygen are beans two main culprits. Light tends to fade the color of beans, while oxygen
causes the oils in beans to go rancid.[1]

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Warnings

Do not attempt to cook dried beans without soaking them first. They will turn out tough and lack
flavor.
When cooking dried beans, do not add acidic ingredients, such as tomato sauce or vinegar,
to them until they are tender. This will cause them to become mushy.

Things You'll Need

Dried beans

Water

Colander

5 qt. (4.7 l) saucepan

Large cooking pot

Related wikiHows Edit

How to How to
Blanch Beans Select and Store Broad Beans

How to How to
Prepare Black Turtle Beans Cook Red Split Lentils

How to How to
Cook Rice in a Rice Cooker Make Sticky Rice Using Regular Rice

How to How to
Make Brown Rice in a Rice Cooker Cook Brown Rice in a Rice Cooker

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How to How to
Cook Rice Sprout Mung Beans

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/dry-beans

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Categories: Featured Articles | Rice and Beans

In other languages: Featured
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Italiano: Cuocere i Fagioli Secchi, Español: cocinar frijoles secos, Deutsch: Getrocknete Bohnen
kochen, Português: Fazer Feijão, Русский: приготовить сухие бобы, Français: préparer des
haricots secs, 中文: 烹饪干豆, Nederlands: Gedroogde bonen bereiden, Čeština: Jak uvařit
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