I know I am not the only one who was very confused the first time I bought dry beans, nor will I be the last.
For some reason, the back of a pack of dry beans gives as little information on how to cook them as possible. Most give you the “how to soak beans overnight” or “how to soak beans in an hour” and if you are anything like me, you had the moment of “Do I have to cook the beans after I soak them???” The answer is yes.
I am unsure why Big Bean is making cooking dry beans such a confusing task for so many individuals, but hopefully this post will clear it up and maybe save someone the trouble.
Ingredients
- Beans (my demonstration bean is a Navy bean)*
- Water
- Salt, to taste
Helpful conversion: 1 can of store bought beans is about 3/4 a cup of dry beans!
Recipe – Soaking
- Add the dry beans into a bowl with enough room for them to double in size (at least)
- Fill the bowl with water and cover with a plate
- Let them soak for 8-12 hours. Overnight works great too.
Recipe – Cooking
- After the beans have soaked, pour them into a sauce pot.
- Add more water into the pot, so the beans are covered in at least 2 inches of water .
- Add salt into the water to taste.
- Don’t salt too much initially, wait until it soaks into the beans first so you can see if you need more.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1-2 hours.
- Try to have a simmer temperature that does not make the beans jostle around too much
- Add more salt if necessary while cooking
- Skim off the beans that float/any froth they may make
After cooking the beans – you can use them in your favorite dishes, like Hailey’s White Bean Chicken Chili recipe.
On top of beans tasting good, they are great for overall health. Cooking beans at home makes for a great alternative to buying a can of beans at the store because you are able to control the sodium amount, there are no added preservatives, and they cost less.
Stay tuned to SNTD by subscribing to the blog and adding us on Pinterest. There are more bean recipes to follow!
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