We know that beans are good for us, but which ones should we buy? Dried beans seem like the cheapest option, but we think canned wins every time. Find out why.
I would rather cook my dried beans from scratch. But this article has some arguments for when canned beans are superior.
So the arguments boil down to convenience. I cook a lot of beans, and they’re all dried.
Stovetop: cover beans with water plus another inch. Add a small amount (teaspoon roughly) of baking soda and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit for one hour. This step replaces overnight soaking.
Instant pot: drain and rinse the soaked beans from the previous step. Add to beans to instant pot, cover with water plus an additional inch. Turn off “keep warm” feature. Pressure cook for six minutes. Let pressure release naturally for at least ten minutes, preferably longer.
Once the instant pot is done, you can save the cooking water (aquafaba) to use in recipes. I use it when making hummus, but the article describes other uses.
The biggest factor for me is cost and storage space. A bag of dry chickpeas takes up about as much space as a single can, but it contains about 2.5x more actual food (4 servings in a can vs 10 in a bag).
It’s certainly easier to open a can than use a pressure cooker, but it’s easy for me to buy dried beans 5+ pounds at a time. If I did that with canned I would have to store a dozen cans cans.
The great thing about canned vs dried beans, though, is that they’re both a good quality. I prioritize the storage space and cost over the prep time, but others might come to a different conclusion.
Canned beans = convenience. Sometimes I get an urge to eat beef weiners (I love meat by products) or spam and I like having them with a bowl of beans for work lunch. Usually pintos or black eyed peas. This happens on a whim so grabbing a can of beans is a perfect fit.
I do keep my own homemade beans in vacuum sealed packs in the freezer. Usually ranch style type or my own Mexican pinto/Anasazi bean recipe. It’s just somehow a can of beans seems to be a perfect match for my meat by-product of choice.
So the arguments boil down to convenience. I cook a lot of beans, and they’re all dried.
Stovetop: cover beans with water plus another inch. Add a small amount (teaspoon roughly) of baking soda and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit for one hour. This step replaces overnight soaking.
Instant pot: drain and rinse the soaked beans from the previous step. Add to beans to instant pot, cover with water plus an additional inch. Turn off “keep warm” feature. Pressure cook for six minutes. Let pressure release naturally for at least ten minutes, preferably longer.
Once the instant pot is done, you can save the cooking water (aquafaba) to use in recipes. I use it when making hummus, but the article describes other uses.
The biggest factor for me is cost and storage space. A bag of dry chickpeas takes up about as much space as a single can, but it contains about 2.5x more actual food (4 servings in a can vs 10 in a bag).
It’s certainly easier to open a can than use a pressure cooker, but it’s easy for me to buy dried beans 5+ pounds at a time. If I did that with canned I would have to store a dozen cans cans.
The great thing about canned vs dried beans, though, is that they’re both a good quality. I prioritize the storage space and cost over the prep time, but others might come to a different conclusion.
Agreed on most everything.
Canned beans = convenience. Sometimes I get an urge to eat beef weiners (I love meat by products) or spam and I like having them with a bowl of beans for work lunch. Usually pintos or black eyed peas. This happens on a whim so grabbing a can of beans is a perfect fit.
I do keep my own homemade beans in vacuum sealed packs in the freezer. Usually ranch style type or my own Mexican pinto/Anasazi bean recipe. It’s just somehow a can of beans seems to be a perfect match for my meat by-product of choice.
always has been