How to Cook Dried Beans - with soaking and no soak methods

So you’ve started the bean protocol and now you don’t know how to cook dried beans.

Don’t worry, in this post I cover the four different methods of cooking dried beans plus everything you need to know about soaking beans and storing cooked beans!

Let’s get started!

Table of Contents Show

What is the nutritional value of beans?

The narrational value of beans varies between bean types, but pinto beans are a great example and easily accessible! Web MD says:

• Protein: 15 grams

• Fat: 1 gram

• Carbs: 45 grams

• Fiber: 15 grams

• Iron: 20% of the Daily Value (DV)

• Calcium: 8% of the DV

• Magnesium: 21% of the DV

• Phosphorous: 25% of the DV

• Potassium: 21% of the DV

• Folate: 74% of the DV

How much soluble fiber in Beans?

As many resources don’t provide soluble fiber amounts, and it seems like the Nutritional Value of beans tends to vary by a medical source, the information I’m going to share will not match Web Md’s Total Fiber amount.

Because sources vary so much, Karen Hurd likes to uncomplicate things and suggest that every 1 cup of beans, lentils, split beans, have 5 grams of soluble fiber.

However, the North Ottawa Wellness Foundation shares the following amounts of soluble fiber per 1 cup serving:

• Black beans - 7.6 grams

• Garbanzo beans - 2.4 grams

• Kidney beans - 5.8 grams

• Pinto beans - 11 grams

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Do you have to Soak Beans before cooking?

The quickest way to cook and the best way for your body to digest beans is by soaking.

Here a few ways you can soak, choose what best suits your life!

Note you don’t need to soak lentils or split peas they can cook in roughly 15 minutes!

Overnight soaking

1. Place 1 pound of dried beans in a large pot or bowl.

2. Pick through the beans and discard any shriveled or unappealing beans.

3. Cover rinsed beans with 2-3 inches of cool water.

4. Add 2 tablespoons of salt per pound of beans.

5. Let the beans soak for at least 4 hours or up to 14 hours

6. Drain the beans from their soaking water and rinse them gently under cool running water.

Notes

You don’t want them to sprout! Sprouting turns soluble fiber into insoluble fiber.

Check on them to make sure there is still water in your pot or jar throughout soaking.

Quick Soaking is the fastest way to cook dried beans

If you don’t have time to soak overnight, you might want to try quick soaking.

1. Pick through 1 pound of dried beans and discard any shriveled or unappealing beans.

2. Add your beans to a large pot on the stove.

3. Cover the beans with two inches of water.

4. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Cook the beans for 1 minute, then remove the pot from the heat.

5. Cover the beans and let them soak for an hour.

6. Drain, rinse, and proceed with your recipe.

No-soak method

If you don’t have time to soak your beans, go ahead and skip to the Instant Pot cooking method.

How to cook dried beans

how to cook beans on stove

1. Add soaked beans to a pot and cover with at least 1 inch of water.

2. Add any aromatics, I like onion, garlic, and a bay leaf

3. Bring the beans to a boil over medium-high heat.

4. Reduce heat to a low and cook.

5. Cook the beans for 1 hour, and then begin checking for doneness. Depending on their age, size, and variety, beans can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to cook through.

6. Add the salt when beans are just barely tender.

7. Cool and store beans.

Slow-cooker method

1. Add soaked beans to a pot on the stove.

2. Add any aromatics, I like onion, garlic, and a bay leaf

3. Cover with about 2 inches of water.

4. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and stir to dissolve.

5. Cover the pot and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. After the first five hours, check every 30 minutes for doneness.

6. Cool and store beans.

Pressure cooker method

1. Add soaked beans to the pressure cooker on the stove.

2. Add any aromatics, I like onion, garlic, and a bay leaf

3. Cover with about 2 inches of water.

4. Secure the lid according to the instruction manual and turn the flame up to high. Keep an eye on the pot and when it reaches high pressure, reduce the flame to medium/medium-low, and start timing the beans.

5. When the time is up, turn off the heat. Allow the pot to cool down and release pressure naturally. Follow your instruction manual to determine how you will know when the pot is ready to be opened.

6. Unlock and remove the lid, tilting the lid away from you and allowing any condensation to drip back into the pot. Using a slotted spoon, fish out and discard the onion, garlic, and bay leaf.

How to store cooked beans

The beans can be strained and used right away, or cooled and stored in their cooking liquid. They will keep for up to a week refrigerated or up to 3 months in the freezer.

If keeping in the fridge, I funnel the beans into an airtight seal mason jar.

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Dried Beans Recipe

Yield: 5

Author: Yazzi Huerta

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How to cook beans in an Instant Pot - No Soak Method

Instant pot beans are easy because they don't require prepping or soaking! Easily make dried beans in your instant pot and add them to your favorite dishes.

Prep time: 2 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 32 Min

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried beans
• 8 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 o 3 cloves peeled garlic, optional
• 1 bay leaf, optional

Instructions

1. Pick through the beans and discard any shriveled or unappealing beans.
2. Add the beans to your instant pot.
3. Combine all ingredients in the pressure cooker.
4. Secure the lid. Make sure the pressure regulator valve is closed. (On an Instant Pot, this means it will be set to the "sealing" position.)
5. Cook the beans. Here are the cooking times for unsoaked beans in the Instant Pot. Double-check the manual that came with your pressure cooker for more exact cooking times:
6. Pinto beans: 25 to 30 minutes
7. Black beans: 20 to 25 minutes
8. Cannellini beans: 35 to 40 minutes
9. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): 35 to 40 minutes
10. Red kidney beans: 30 minutes (boil for 10 minutes before pressure cooking)
11. Navy beans: 25 to 30 minutes
12. Black-eyed peas: 20 to 25 minutes
13. Great Northern beans: 25 to 30 minutes
14. Cook beans at high pressure for the time recommended above. The pressure cooker will take 15 to 20 minutes to come to full pressure before cooking begins.
15. Once cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally on its own, which takes about 20 to 30 minutes. You can do a "quick release" by opening the pressure valve on the top of the pressure cooker. If doing a rapid release, be careful because the bean liquid sometimes foams into the valve.
16. What to do if your beans aren't quite done: Put the lid back on the pressure cooker and make sure the release valve is set back to "sealing." Cook at high pressure for another 5 to 10 minutes (depending on if you think your beans need just a little more time or a little more time to finish). The pot will quickly come back up to pressure because the contents are already hot. Check your beans after the extra cooking time and continue cooking for longer if needed.

Calories

113.62

Fat (grams)

3.21

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.49

Carbs (grams)

20.23

Fiber (grams)

4.17

Net carbs

16.06

Sugar (grams)

7.26

Protein (grams)

4.43

Sodium (milligrams)

964.44

Cholesterol (grams)

0.00

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Created using The Recipes Generator

I definitely recommend trying all these different methods to find what works for you!! Obviously, time and appliances will determine what’s suitable for your life.

Happy beaning!

More Bean Protocol Recipes

• Bean Protocol Hunter’s Stew Soup with Split Peas

• Tunisian Chickpeas with Swiss Chard

• Balsamic Chickpea Arugula Salad

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