Beans talk
February 11, 2025 | Hui Hui Lee, RD/LD
Hello friends! January flew by just like that, busy schedules definitely did the trick to make time pass quickly. I hope you are still staying content in the second month of 2025, and will continue to enjoy life. Last month, our foundation department friends here at Duncan Regional Hospital offered me a suggestion about the February VegUp topic, which is to talk about dried beans. Many of us these days are so used to the convenience of canned beans, and have somewhat forgotten how to deal with dried beans. Before diving into the ‘How’ part, I think you may benefit from knowing the ‘What’ part.
What do you all know about beans, in general? Beans are edible seeds from plants in the legume family and are a type of pulses. They are mainly found in dried or canned form. Why choose beans? Beans (dried or canned) are very affordable, as well as contain great nutritional value! Beans provide an excellent source of protein, dietary fiber, and potassium. Not just that, most of the beans are rich in folate and magnesium. Beans are great for the environment, health, and BEST OF THE BEST, they are great for our wallet. Why is the consumption of beans so low, and how do we overcome these barriers?
The concern of lectin compounds in pulses that is associated with chronic inflammation and gut damage (based on the studies over isolated lectins or raw beans). Lectin is mostly neutralized during the cooking process.
Eating beans causes bloating. This is the normal body response, in which our gut bacteria produce gas and short-chain fatty acid when breaking down non-digestible, fermentable fibers from these beans. In order to prevent this uncomfortable bloating feeling, we can gradually increase these foods and regularly incorporate them into your diet. By doing so, we are helping ourselves to build a tolerance.
Now, we learn a bit of ‘What’ and ‘Why’ parts, it is time to complete the picture with the ‘How’ part. How are we going to use dried beans? Dried beans definitely require more preparation time and effort, but they contain way LESS unnecessary sodium than canned beans. To shorten the cooking time, there are a few tips we can do here:
Use fresh dried beans: only buy what you need from the store.
Soak beans: Soak beans in hot boiling water for a total of 4 hours (with 1 hour on the kitchen counter, then finishing out the soaking process in the refrigerator). The bigger the beans require more soaking time. For example, black beans require less soaking time than kidney beans.
Use pressure cooking method: Cook beans to tender for approximately 22-30 minutes in a pressure cooker, whereas it takes approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours to cook soaked beans on the stove.
Just FYI, I really love the TIPS #3, just because it is super convenient and requires no pre-planning time (especially for people like me, who do not like to plan our weekly menu ahead of time. Pressure cooking comes in very handy as it does not require soaking time).
Looking for the conversion of dried beans to cooked and/or canned beans. According to the Bean Institute (2025), 1 cup of dry beans is equivalent to 3 cups of cooked drained beans, or ~ 1¾ of the 15-ounce cans of beans.
The basic knowledge of beans are all checked here. Now, let’s get busy cooking some dried beans. I found you all some relatively easy but delicious beans recipes.
Spicy Black Bean Soup (Vegan friendly): While the weather is still cold out there, this flavorful and filling soup is perfect for you. The recipe calls for canned beans, I cooked my dried black beans ahead of time, then added with the rest of the ingredients. I topped my black bean soup with some avocado and cilantro. The recipe is inspired by Cookie and Kate.
Southwest Taco Soup: Looking for a comforting meal but yet taking not much of the effort in making them today? This taco soup is filled with familiar Mexican flavor, which is extremely delicious and packed with great nutrients. The recipe is adapted from Feasting at Home.
Mole Black Beans: I am craving for some Mexican-inspired dishes lately, and this mole black beans recipe pops on the search. This mole black bean is incredibly flavorful, and requires no extra effort to prepare it! I turned it into a meal by creating a Mexican lunch bowl, in which I served the Mole black beans with some cilantro lime rice, Mexican slaw, avocado slices, pickle onion, and cilantro. The recipe is inspired from Feasting at Home.
Refried Beans: Why use the canned refried beans, when you can easily make it from home from scratch (even using dry beans). I soaked the pinto beans in a bowl with room temp water overnight in the fridge. Cooked the soaked beans in my instant pot. Then mash the cooked beans in the food processor until smooth. This refried bean is so delicious and healthy. The recipe is inspired from Feasting at Home.
Baked Beans with Bacon (with Navy Beans): Generally, we use pinto beans for the baked bean recipe, but this recipe calls for navy beans instead. I went ahead and followed the recipe this time, it turned out to be better than and easier than what I expected, as the size of navy beans is smaller than pinto beans. My friends out there, please stop buying canned baked beans, it really tastes much better by making baked beans from home and from scratch. The recipe is inspired by Amy+Jacky Pressure Cook Recipe.Com
(Bonus recipe) Cooking black beans from scratch: In order to not cheat, I cooked some black beans to use for our recipe testing this month. I followed most of the steps, but skipped the majority of ingredients but bay leaves and salt. It took me approximately 30 minutes to cook the black beans from raw to tender. The recipe is adapted from Cookie and Kate.
References
Bean Institute (2025). Cook with beans: Dry vs canned. Retrieved from https://beaninstitute.com/resources/cook-with-beans/dry-vs-canned/
Bean Institute (2025). Cook with beans: Four step method. Retrieved from https://beaninstitute.com/resources/cook-with-beans/four-step-method/
Bean Institute (2025). Cook with beans: Save time using a pressure cooker.. Retrieved from https://beaninstitute.com/resources/cook-with-beans/save-time-using-a-pressure-cooker/
Collins, K. (2023). Pulses: Are Pulses a Misunderstood Food Group. Today’s Dietitian, 25(8), 20. Retrieved from https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/1023p20.shtml
Larson, H. (2021). Six creative ways to enjoy beans. Retrieved from https://www.eatright.org/food/food-groups/protein-foods/six-creative-ways-to-enjoy-beans
[Untitled illustration of a variety of dry beans]. Stock up on this affordable pantry staple for easy-to-make meals. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/health/canned-dried-beans-recipes-wellness/index.html
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