How To: Cooking Dried Beans

Using dried beans in recipes are one of the ultimate in frugal things food-wise you can do (as well as being much more healthier!) It cuts down on waste as it eliminates aluminum cans, and it cuts the sodium out since many varieties of canned beans have sodium added to them. It also cuts down on your grocery bill - a can of beans can average anywhere from 50 cents to 79 cents on sale. A pound of the same beans can be around 99 cents. It takes 3-4 cans to equal the same yield as a one pound bag.

You can store dried beans in their bag on the shelf out of the sunlight. Look carefully that there are no punctures in the plastic when purchasing it. You can also empty them out into mason jars, again keeping them out of the sunlight, but make note of the expiration date if doing so. Most dried beans have an expiration date of less than a year from when you have bought them.

Hint: Using them past the date equals chewy beans that take FOREVER to cook!

Generally, 1 cup of dry beans equals the same amount as 3 cups cooked beans. Most canned beans are around 1- 1/2 cups of cooked beans.

It's really simple to cook dried beans; for the most part though, you either have to plan ahead by either starting them the night before, or earlier in the week. You can cook beans several days ahead and store them in the fridge for up to four days or freezer!

Start off by rinsing the dried beans in a colander to get rid of any little pieces or dust.

Next, add them in a large mixing bowl or a pot, and add in about 3 cups of cold water per 1 cup of dried beans. (I prefer a glass bowl because you can see through if the beans should be looking funky while soaking, but it's your choice) Let them sit about 6 to 8 hours. You'll see the beans have doubled in size.

To cook, drain all the water out (don't reuse it for cooking - but it's great to water your plants!), add to a pan, and add the same amount of water. Cook for an hour to an hour and a half until tender. Drain the water again, and now you can add to your recipe. (or store in the fridge until later use)

You can also Quick Soak the beans. Start it off the same - 3 cups of water per every cup of beans. Bring beans and water to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Let it sit for 2-3 hours (covered with the lid!) before cooking the beans like above.

You can also cook your beans after rinsing in a Pressure Cooker, but since I've never done it that way before, I don't want to give out the wrong directions.

Hint: some beans say quick cooking on the package (such a split peas and most black eye peas). You don't need to soak these, but I highly recommend you rinse them thoroughly before using them in your recipes!

Don't add any salt or other seasoning until you are making the actual recipe.

And yes, after your initial cooking above, you can add the beans into any recipe in your slow cooker. I've used them in my chili recipe and no one can tell the difference between canned and dried.

Hint: Some of the best prices on dried beans I have found is at Save-A-Lot. A one pound bag of split peas is 79 cents. A one pound bag of red kidney beans is 99 cents. A large bag of red kidney beans can be found at Costco for $14.99 (I believe it was a 25 pound bag) - you'd have to store it properly in food grade buckets to keep it fresh if you go this route.