Ingredients
1 lb. dried beans
Onions or shallots (optional)
Garlic (optional)
Dried or fresh herbs (optional)
Spices (optional)
Kosher salt
Preparation
Step 1Pour beans into a colander and rinse under cold water. Pick through beans and discard any broken beans and debris. Transfer to a large, heavy-bottomed pot.Step 2To soak overnight (optional): cover beans with 4” of cold water and place in the refrigerator and let soak overnight, or up to 12 hours. Drain beans and return to pot.Step 3Add enough cold water to your pot to cover your beans by 2”. If using, add aromatics. Bring the beans up to a rolling boil, and let boil on high for 10 minutes before reducing to a simmer and cover, with the lid ajar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender. Depending on the age and size of your beans, and the amount of time they were soaked, this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.Step 4When beans are tender, remove aromatics and season generously with salt.
Select Your Beans There are tons of varieties of dried beans available at the grocery store. To start, choose a variety you and your family are familiar with, and enjoy eating. Look for beans that can work in a variety of meals—we recommend cooking a larger batch of beans to be used for meals throughout the week. For example, a single one pound batch of black beans could go into Burrito Zucchini Boats one day, Black Bean Burgers the next, and you’d still have enough for a batch of Nacho Soup. That’s meal prep at its finest! Clean Them Little bits of twigs or stones may have found their way into your bag of beans during harvest. Pour beans into a colander or strainer, pick through, and discard any debris and broken beans. Soak Them (Or Don’t) Whether or not dry beans should be soaked before cooking is a hotly contested subject among bean lovers. It’s true that soaking beans is not at all mandatory, but it takes almost no effort and results in a much shorter cook time, so we suggest you do it! The exception to this is very freshly harvested beans and small beans like lentils or adzuki beans. To soak your beans, place them into a large bowl or pot and cover them with 4" of cold water. Place them in your refrigerator to soak overnight, or up to 12 hours. Even if you didn’t have the foresight to soak beans the night before you plan on cooking them (hey we’ve all been there), you can still get them soaking day-of. Even a 2 to 3 hour soak will shorten their overall cook time. Drain Them (Or Don’t!) Another bean cooking technique that is widely up for debate is whether or not to discard the liquid you soaked your beans in. Some believe this liquid contains valuable vitamins and minerals that were leeched from the beans, therefore it should be kept for cooking. Others claim that discarding this liquid and cooking in fresh water will make your beans more easily digestible. There’s conflicting scientific evidence as to whether either of these claims are true, so the choice is yours. Either way you’ll have a delicious pot of beans. Flavor Them Transfer your beans (and their soaking water, if you’ve chosen to use it) into a large, heavy-bottomed pot, and add enough water to cover them by 2 inches. Add in any aromatics you’ve got on hand to flavor your beans: a halved onion, a halved head of garlic or shallot, fresh herbs or herb stems, dried herbs, dried chilis, and black peppercorns are just a few examples of pantry items you can use to develop your beans flavor. Cook Them Bring your pot of beans up to a rolling boil, and let them boil on high for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cover your beans, leaving the lid ajar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender. The age and size of your beans, and whether or not you soaked them, will determine how long they take to cook; this step could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Season Them Up until this point, you’ve added no salt to your beans! This is because salt can prevent beans from getting soft, especially if they are older. At this point, you’ll want to give your beans a big pinch of salt and a few good cranks of black pepper too, if you like. Keep tasting until the beans are seasoned to your liking. After all that, you’ve got LOTS of super delicious beans. Use them in soups, burritos, salsas, and so much more. Check out some of our favorites below! Black Beans: Burrito Zoodles White Beans: White Bean Chicken Chili Pinto Beans: Taco Soup Kidney Beans: Red Beans & Rice Did you use this recipe? Let us know how your beans came out in the comment section below!
