Ancient philosophers undoubtedly had pressing questions. Yet, I think we can all agree that “how to cook beans” is a very important question of our times. Why? Because there are SO many human health and environmental benefits of beans, and being able to cook your own beans opens up worlds of opportunity! Also note that I’m using the word “bean” here, but this information pretty much applies to pulses in general.
What Are Benefits of Dry Beans?
Recently, I have had very educated people tell me they didn’t even know beans could be purchased dry, they thought beans only came in cans. At first, I was shocked. But the reality is canned beans are so prevalent in the United States, I can truly understand how some people – especially people whose job does not relate to obsessing about beans 24/7 like yours truly – may think this.
Before we get to how to cook dry beans (scroll down if the excitement is too much and you just can’t wait) I want to mention a few of the benefits of dry beans and why it is so worth it to cook with dry beans. I also want to say something important here: this article is not anti-canned beans. I think canned beans also have their place. For example, they are incredibly convenient. Keeping a stash in your pantry means you can have a healthy and easy meal on the table quickly. In fact, canned beans are often my breakfast of choice when traveling. I buy a can of beans – whichever ones seem to be popular among locals and/or the most unique can of beans I can find – and have that as a healthy and affordable breakfast. I also know some great canned bean companies that use very clean ingredients and prioritize sustainable practices. I mean it when I say that I always have canned beans in my pantry.
However, there are definitely benefits to dry beans, including:
You Have the Control with Dry Beans
You can choose what seasonings you add to them, how you want to cook them (electric pressure cooker, stovetop, etc.), and the ending texture you want (softer, firmer, etc.). Plus, you can control where you source your beans and support local farmers and/or bean processors, whereas I have yet to find a farmer that sells canned beans. That being said, farmers are some of the most amazing people ever, so I’m sure there are some of them out there who manage to somehow do this in addition to everything else on their plates. I also know farmers who are very proud to supply canned bean companies with the beans they grow – so again, it comes back to choosing a good company when selecting canned beans.
Dry Beans Are More Affordable
This is, of course, an “it depends” statement. Yes, I know there are expensive heirloom beans out there – and they can definitely be worth their price tag! There are also expensive canned beans. But for our purposes, let’s just compare what I’ll call “regular” beans, or the ones you’ll find on most supermarket shelves. Check out the math below to see what I mean.
Bean Math: Dry Beans Versus Canned Beans
A 1-lb bag of dry beans often costs less than $2 where I live (a 1-lb bag of pintos is around $1.69), and a 15-oz. can costs between $0.79 and $1. A 1-lb bag of beans cooks up into about 4 can’s worth of beans. Soooo…. let’s round to make it easy: dry beans are about two to three times cheaper than canned beans. Note that if you buy larger bags of beans, the per-pound price of dry beans decreases even more. For example, I get 10-lb or 25-lb bags of some of my favorite beans, and they are often closer to $1 or less per pound. Alternatively, start doing a PhD in dry beans and receive a lifetime supply of dry beans for free because farmers, processors, and bean companies are so generous.
Or, go for that 50-lb bag of dry beans – it will probably be less than $1 per pound, and you can gift beans to all your friends and family and be their favorite person. How does that expression go again?? 50 pounds of beans: $35. Money saved: $0.99 saved per pound. Instantly becoming everyone’s favorite person because you give away delicious beans: priceless. Yep, I think that was it.
Here are the numbers for dry versus canned beans, broken down:
- 1-lb of dry beans ~ 2 cups
- Each cup of dry beans cooks up into about 2.5-3 cups of cooked beans
- This means 1-lb of dry beans cooks up into about 5-6 cups of cooked beans
- A 15-oz. can generally has about 1.5 cups (or a little less) of cooked beans. You need 4 cans to get the same amount of beans you’ll get from a 1-lb bag. And it’s easier to store 1-lb of dry beans than 4 cans.
More Variety in Dry Beans
Generally speaking, there is way more variety available if you shop dry beans. Many heirloom beans and other pulses are not available canned, although I have recently seen some on the shelves, which is exciting!
Bean Broth!!
IMPORTANT PSA: Save the bean cooking liquid – also called “aquafaba” or “potlikker” – because it will become your new favorite ingredient (if it isn’t already). You can use it instead of vegetable broth in recipes, you can cook rice or other grains in it, or you can straight up drink it because it is delicious. I just finished off a warm mug of bean broth while writing this. Or, get creative and save the cooking liquid and use it as a substitute for egg whites. That’s right, you can whip up aquafaba like you would egg whites. There is no end to the magic of beans!
How to Cook Beans
Alrighty, let’s talk about how to cook beans! I get asked this question a lot, so I recruited my husband to help make this video. I hope it is helpful and that watching our struggle to film this (example: camera lens fogging up) brings a smile!
For this video, I used 1-lb of dry pinto beans, which is about 2 cups of beans. I’m showing the method of cooking beans on the stovetop, which I find incredibly cathartic. I love to cook beans in slow cookers (like a Crockpot) and will share more info on that soon. I’ll also do one on cooking in an electric pressure cooker…one day.
Yes, part of my PhD work is on cooking beans. (And yes, that also means I get waaaay more than my fair share of farting jokes. Read more about if beans make you fart and how to stop beans from giving you gas, here.) BUT. That does not mean this is the only method you can use to successfully cook beans!! Most likely, you and I live at different elevations and have different beans, preferred cooking methods, and/or ideal levels of seasoning. So, I have complete faith in you to modify and dial in the bean cooking method that is perfect for you.
How to Cook Beans Video
In words, here is what the video on how to cook dry beans on the stovetop shows:
The Steps of How to Cook Beans
- Sort through your dry beans. This means removing visibly damaged beans, natural debris like straw, and small pebbles. Rocks are not good for dental health, I’ve been told.
- Rinse the beans. Rinse well to remove any dust, and then decide if you are going to soak or not. Soaking reduces cooking time (thereby also saving energy) and can help prevent beans from bursting open when you cook them. Plus, soaking beans and discarding the soaking water may help reduce some of the compounds in beans associated with causing flatulence. That being said! Those same compounds may also be good for gut health. Alas, as are most things in life, cooking beans is not black and white. The ultimate decision making power on how to cook your dry beans is in your hands.
- Soak, adding salt to the soaking water. If you’re soaking your beans, go ahead and add them to a large container, covering the beans by several inches of fresh water. Dry beans will expand a lot (about 2-3 times), and you want them to stay submerged. Depending on the pot you are using, that will be something like 8 cups of water for 2 cups of dry beans. If you do not have a salt-restricted diet, add about 1 tablespoon of salt and stir to dissolve. Soak overnight, or for about 12 hours. If you only have a few hours to soak, that can still help. Note that fresher beans will generally absorb water faster.
- Many people do not soak lentils or dry peas, and some people flat out prefer to never soak beans. You decide what works for you! If you have never tried soaking before, I would recommend giving it a shot (with a bean like a pinto bean) so you can compare the methods and see what you prefer. It’s a fun home cooking experiment to watch the beans expand while soaking and then taste test beans cooked with and without soaking!
- Salt does NOT prevent beans from softening – that is a myth, and you do NOT have to wait until the end to add salt. If you want more information about soaking beans and adding salt to the soaking water, check out this post, Tips to Shorten Bean Cooking Time.
- Discard soaking water, rinse, and add fresh water and salt. When you are done soaking your beans, you should notice that they are visibly larger and plumper. Discard the soaking water (especially if you added a full 1 Tbs of salt), rinse the beans, and add fresh water to cover by a few inches. Add in about 1/2 tsp of salt. If this is your first time adding salt, you can start with less, taste them after they have softened, and add more in the future if needed.
- If you did not soak your beans, you will likely need more water and more salt to cook them, because they have not yet had the chance to soak up and liquid or seasoning.
- Boil and simmer until perfection. Bring the beans to a boil. Placing the lid on the pot will help the beans boil faster, but make sure to keep an eye on them so they do not boil/bubble over. After beans have reached a boil, you can reduce the temperature to more of a simmer. Or, if you are in a hurry, you can keep it on a higher temperature, although you may end up with more beans with split skins. Keep an eye on things to make sure the beans are always covered by water. If the water level is getting low, top it off with fresh water. Note that people recommend adding warm/hot water. I’m going to be really honest here – I sometimes just do room temp water. At least in my experience, it doesn’t seem to really impact things all that much or prevent the beans from softening. So, I guess what I’m saying is: if you can easily add warm water, great. If that’s not feasible, I wouldn’t stress too much about it.
- Test for doneness. Depending on the type of beans and factors such as the age of the bean, whether you added salt, and your elevation, beans take varying lengths of time to cook. You can poke them with a fork, and when it seems like they are starting to get soft, taste test a few to see if they are your desired texture, and if you need more salt. If they are still a bit uncooked in the center or you want softer beans, continue simmering. A very general ballpark is anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. I know, that is a wide range. Think of that as part of the fun! For a frame of reference: I soak my beans using salt and live at around 5,000 feet elevation, and it takes me about 1 hour to cook beans.
- Enjoy and store. Once the beans are cooked just to your liking, I suggest you immediately enjoy a bowl. After that, divide the remaining beans into containers and store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Keep that bean broth!! Like I mentioned above and point out in the video, bean broth is GOLD. Use it in other recipes or enjoy a glass on the spot.
- Freeze extra beans (optional). The good news is that beans also freeze very well! If you don’t think you’ll eat your beans within the next few days, go right ahead and cool and then freeze ’em. You can freeze cooked beans with or without the broth, depending on how you plan to use them. I love to have frozen beans on-hand so that if I have to be out of town for a few days, I know I have beans waiting for me when I get back.
How to Cook Beans in Less Time
Want tips on how to shorten bean cooking time? Check out the post I just mentioned, Tips to Shorten Bean Cooking Time. Here are a few pointers (and check that post for more details):
- Soak your beans
- Add salt to the soaking and/or cooking water
- Don’t use super hard water to soak and cook
- Wait to add acidic ingredients until near the end, after the beans have softened
- Use fresher beans – beans dry out as they age and it takes them longer to absorb water
Hello! Thanks for your post and honestly, your career dedication to beans! This is awesome!
I’m interested in your opinion on a couple things …
Do you usually cook your beans, just the beans? Or do you add things to the start of the cooking process to enhance flavor? (Mirepoix, vegetables, spices, etc.)
Have you done any research on adding Kombu to beans to help them get soft?
Thanks!
Thank you so much for reading and for the kind words! It’s an absolute pleasure to work with beans. 🙂
1. I usually cook just beans, with some salt. Sometimes I will add in other ingredients, but usually just if I am making a bean soup. One of the main reasons I tend to just cook the beans is that way I can use them for any dish I happen to get a craving for, including desserts. If I flavor them with other ingredients, it doesn’t provide quite as much flexibility later. That’s just my personal preference, though! Totally up to you.
2. I have not personally done any research on it, but I have tried it a couple times at home. Seems like it may help some. Have you experimented with beans and kombu?
Thanks to you, too!
Hey! I found you because I Googled “Does it take dried beans longer to cook at 7,000 feet?” I was pretty sure it did, because the pintos and black beans I’ve made recently never got soft after 3 or more hours. I do soak overnight. But here’s the kicker and my further bean question. My water is HARD. Like hair and skin killing hard! You said that can ( or is) also a factor to the darling yummy beans taking longer to cook. So, do I have to buy spring water? Is there any way besides a hard water system (which my plumber pretty much refuses to put in) that I can do to de-harden a few gallons of water? Also, have you gotten your PhD? I thought your video was charming and your husband did a great job of fanning the steam away, so kudos to him! (I hope you are still together to save us all embarrassment ☺️.
I’m so glad you found me! Thank you for commenting. 🙂 My two recommendations for you: 1.) At elevations like 7,000 feet, a pressure cooker (like an Instant Pot, but could be whatever brand you prefer) can be really helpful. 2.) With hard water, try adding a little bit of baking soda to the soaking water. It will depend on how hard your water is, but that can really help. That being said, you probably don’t want to add a lot of baking soda to the cooking water because that will affect flavor. But some baking soda in the soaking water, then drain and rinse and cook in new water. You could try adding a little bit of baking soda to that water as well, but would have to experiment with how you like the ultimate impact on flavor and texture.
Yes, I finished my PhD. Thank you for the sweet comment – we had fun making that video together! Haha yes, still together and about to celebrate another wedding anniversary of another year very happily married. We go on many bean adventures together!
Please let me know how it turns out! I hope this info helps, and I’m very curious!
Hi Chelsea, thanks so much for your blog! I’m working on shifting to plant based meals and it’s fun to catch some of your excitement about beans!
I just made a batch of chickpeas and saved the aquafaba to try to whip up a meringue, but it never got fluffy. Probably the bean-water ratio is not where it needs to be? I figure I’ll need to do some trial and error of course, but wondering if you have any tips 🙂
Thanks!
Thank you for your kind comment! Bean enthusiasm is contagious. 🙂 Yes, I would say that likely if it never got fluffy, there may have been too much water – still tastes great and works to cook rice or other grains in, to add to soup, etc.! But it won’t whip up the same if the ratio is off, like you said. Something you may want to try is getting a can of chickpeas and whipping that liquid, to help give a sense of how thick of a liquid you are looking for when you cook your own. Another tip is adding a pinch of cream of tartar can help.
If you think of it and have time, I’d also love to hear some of your favorite recipes (websites, cookbooks, etc.) as you transition to more plant based meals!
Thanks so much for all your suggestions.
When I cook a large pot of beans I put what we don’t eat in the fridge.
The next day I just heat up in the microwave only what we will be eating and leave the rest of the pot in the fridge.
I’ve been told you have to boil the entire pot each time. Is this true ?
I’ve always thought it not a good idea to boil, then cool, then boil, then cool over and over.
You’re very welcome! Thank you for commenting, and I hope you find all the information helpful. I do not boil my beans again before serving them. What I would recommend is transferring what is from your big pot of beans into containers and storing those in the fridge, up to a few days. Then, reheat the amount you are going to use when you eat them. I think the recommendation to boil each time may come from when people do not have access to refrigeration. For food safety though, best to store cooked beans in the fridge. They do also freeze well! I hope this helps?
Hi! Thanks for the helpful post. I live in Denver and the other night I made Cook’s Illustrated’s Red Beans and Rice recipe. They had me “brine” the dried red beans for 8-24 hours (I did it for 18), then cook the aromatics and add the beans, broth, and water and cook for 45-60 minutes then add sausage and cook another 30 minutes. I cooked for 60 and they were still not soft enough so I cooked for another 30 then added the sausage and cooked for 30 minutes more. Still not creamy enough. I ended up cooking the beans for 5 hours in total before they were perfect. How can a recipe be so off? I used Rancho Gordo beans which are high quality! Sorry for the long post 🙂
Ah, that’s so frustrating! Really sorry to hear it didn’t work out! A few comments that may (or may not, unfortunately) help: 1.) Even if they are high quality beans, things can happen. Sometimes when beans are harvested a certain “batch” just may be a bit off – too low of moisture content, etc. Or maybe they were in the store for a long time before they got to you, and older beans don’t tend to cook up as quickly, nor as creamy. (May not be the case here of course, but just sharing as a general comment.); 2.) A lot of recipes don’t account for elevation when boiling beans. 5 hours is unusual, though – I live at right about the same elevation as you and my beans cook in about 1 hour, depending on the type.; 3.) Maybe you have hard water? That can really prevent beans from softening, and it’s a common challenge I hear from people.; 4.) Holding off on acidic ingredients helps, but it sounds like you already know a lot about cooking beans, and Cooks Illustrated also wouldn’t recommend adding acidic ingredients before the beans are softened.
I hope next time your beans cook up quickly and are delightfully creamy! 🙂
One thing to point out to your readers that can also affect cooking time is the temperature the beans were stored at. If they were subjected to high temperatures during storage, it can make a huge difference in cooking times! My DIL tried to cook some pinto beans while living in Iraq, where temperatures regularly were in the 120° F range, and she cooked them for 12 hours and they still weren’t soft! Who knows what the warehouse temps were.
Thank you! Yes, I address this somewhat in a different post (https://alegumeaday.com/tips-to-shorten-bean-cooking-time/), but I could certainly elaborate on it – I appreciate you bringing it up. Wow, thank you for sharing your story – that is crazy! I hope the next batch did not take nearly so long.
Thank you for the post and all the useful information. I would like to start eating beans every day. I have small children and I have my fair share of muffins and brownie recipes with beans.
Where do you buy them? Do you have a recommended page where to get them in bulk? I am in West Virginia and there is not that much variety in the stores.
I am so glad to hear that you also enjoy beans! I visit a lot of farmers and bean processors (who receive beans from farmers, to clean and bag the beans), so I often pick up beans directly from them. I also always have canned beans and other bean products on hand. If you are not able to buy beans in bulk in stores by you, there are lots of online options, but it depends on the type of beans you would like, if you want to order directly from farmers, etc. Could you please share a bit more information about what you are looking for? Thank you!
I’m so happy I’ve found your excellent site! I learned a different way, and I think it’s from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook my mom got as a wedding present in 1955. There is an overnight method and a “quick” method. I do a cross of them. After rinsing and sorting, when the water is clear, I put them in a pot with no lid and boil for about 1 to 1-1/2 hour. I rinse them again in a colander, then put them in a pot of clean water. Here, I put the beans in the ‘fridge overnight then cook the next day. It sounds troublesome, and yes, I have just gone ahead and cooked them, but the beans are much more tender this way in my humble opinion. The “second” cooking, I will put in some onion, a whole tomato, a few Serrano peppers and pepper. I let this cook until desired tenderness, or just “to,” and then take out about half the beans, vegetables and likker and put in a blender. I blend these just a bit, then dump back in the pot, give them a minute or two and season. (I’m avoiding salt.). I learned this here, in Mexico, from the women in a small village near me who make them for a soup kitchen they run. They use an immersion blender to get the same puree-yet-chunky effect. This is how they make refried beans.
Wow, thank you for sharing! This sounds really delicious, I will have to try! I’m curious to experience the flavor and also the texture difference you mention. Thank you!