26 Recipes for Canned Beans (2024)

FAQs

How to fancy up canned beans? ›

Add the garlic, oregano, chili powder, and cumin and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add in the drained beans, bay leaves, and broth or water. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the beans are warmed through, then remove the bay leaves.

According to The Bean Institute, you can reduce up to 41 percent of the sodium in canned beans by rinsing them. "It's fine to add the bean liquid to many recipes, but if you want to reduce the amount of sodium, it's best to drain and rinse canned beans," the website states.

Bean Counting

You'll need 20 servings or 10 cups of beans. This means you'll need to cook about two pounds of dry beans this weekend or buy 6 15-oz. cans of beans.

As for herbs, woody types like thyme, sage, and rosemary, are also great — add those in with the beans and water. I always add bay leaves at this stage, too, since they bring that herbaceous can't-put-your-finger-on-it flavor.

"If you rinse your beans thoroughly, you will have a consistently flavored product, but if you do not rinse them, different amounts of salt will remain in the dish each time you cook it, and it will be hard to cook consistently," he says.

The liquid in good canned beans is just the water and salt the beans were cooked in… filled with delicious bean flavor. And this liquid is a great thickener for not only the specific dish you're making at the moment, but for any dish that could use some thickening, some salt, and some bean flavor.

Liquid from canned or cooked dried beans

You probably never knew it had a name, but that thick liquid in cans of beans and legumes like chickpeas is called aquafaba, a term coined by vegan baker Goose Wohlt. It can also be produced by home-cooking dried beans in water until it thickens.

Canned beans are the good kind of fast food because they're already cooked, which is a great time-saver for participants. They're convenient, ready-to-eat and can be served straight from the can (though rinsing and draining first is recommended) or quickly warmed in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Are canned beans healthy? ›

Put canned beans — a healthy pantry staple — in the spotlight. Beans boast protein, fiber, folate and lots of minerals, like iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. If you're worried about sodium, rinse and drain beans before using to cut back on the salt by as much as 40 percent.

If you're a relatively healthy person though, enjoying canned beans without draining or rinsing them first is fine. That's because our bodies require sodium to function. It's only when we go above and beyond what we need that it becomes a problem.

A 2-pound bag of dry pinto beans is about 24 servings (½ cup) after cooking.

One 15-ounce can of beans equals 1½ cups of cooked beans. One cup dry beans = three cups cooked beans, drained. One pound dry beans = six cups cooked beans, drained One pound of dry beans makes about 9 servings of baked beans or 12 servings of bean soup.

I also like to add a peeled, smashed clove of garlic, or maybe a bay leaf or a few sprigs of thyme. After 10 to 15 minutes, the beans will be warm and fragrant, ready to be spooned over a piece of garlicky toast, or served alongside grilled sausages and sautéed greens.

Caramelized Onion + Bacon + Espresso Powder

Slowly caramelize a chopped onion in a bit of oil, then add bacon and cook until crispy. Add the can of beans and stir, making sure to scrape up any tasty bits that have stuck to the pan. To finish, toss in a pinch of espresso powder for an extra hit of earthy flavor.

Raid your cupboard and experiment with flavoured pastes: sundried tomato, chipotle chilli, even curry pastes can bring beans to life, give it a go and find your own favourite combination.