In this post, you’ll learn how to cook dry beans. This dry beans recipe makes it easy to cook dried black beans, dried pinto beans, dried kidney beans and more. We have also included an easy refried beans recipe and a red beans and rice recipe!
I have been talking about prepping for emergencies lately and part of a good emergency stockpile is keeping food on hand that you can store for a long time and is relatively easy to prepare. Dried beans are easy to store but many people are hesitant to buy them because they’re not sure how to prepare the beans. Here’s an easy recipe to cook dry beans.
PrintCooked Dry Beans Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups beans
5 cups water
ham bone (optional)
1 onion (optional)
2 tsp. salt
Instructions
Wash and drain beans. Put beans, water, ham bone, and onion, if desired, into a large pan and bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour.
Add salt. Cover and boil gently 1½ -2 hours or until tender. Add more water during cooking if needed. Makes 5 cups cooked beans.
Notes
Dry Beans Quick Prep Tips
Soak any kind of dry beans overnight. Drain. Freeze beans in 2 to 4 cup portions.
To prepare: Cook beans in boiling water for 20 minutes. They will soften very easily if they are frozen first.
To help with unpleasant bean side effects, you can rinse the beans after soaking and add ½ teaspoon baking soda when cooking the dry beans.
Refried Beans Recipe
Ingredients
1 (20 oz.) can kidney or pinto beans or 2½ cups cooked kidney or pinto beans
1–2 Tbsp. bacon grease or vegetable oil
1 small onion, grated
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
½ green pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
4–5 Tbsp. hot beef broth
salt (to taste)
Instructions
Drain beans, reserving the liquid. Mash beans thoroughly. Heat grease in a skillet. Add onion, garlic, and green pepper. Cook over low heat until tender.
Stir in chili powder, cumin, and hot beef broth. Then add the beans. Cook slowly, stirring continuously. Add bean liquid as needed.
The beans are cooked when they are completely dry. Salt as desired. Makes 3 cups.
Red Beans And Rice Recipe
Ingredients
1 Tbsp. bacon grease or canola oil
2 celery ribs, chopped (optional)
1 medium green pepper, chopped (optional)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups brown rice, cooked
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1½ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ cup sour cream
2 green onions, chopped
Instructions
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add celery, green pepper and onion. Cook and stir until tender.
Stir in tomatoes, beans, rice, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until heated through, about 7-9 minutes. Top with cheese, sour cream and green onions.
These dry bean recipes are from volumes 1 and 2 of our cookbook:
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Thank you for giving the simple recipes for rice and beans. As simple as rice is to cook, somehow I can never keep the proportions in my head. And beans, well I fail at getting them soft enough to be edible almost all the time. These tips here will help I am sure. I had no idea you had to soak beans for 48 hours.
Love your programs. They cheer me up. You kitchen is very welcoming. Love to your family. Johanna
Thank you Johanna. I will be sure to pass your message on to Tawra. I know just what you mean about not keeping the portions for the rice in your head. I had the same trouble so when we were writing the cookbook I told Tawra that we needed to be sure to put that in there and other types of things like that because since the ladies in my family had trouble with it I figured others might too. Thanks again.
When I have soaked kidney beans overnight, they are always cracked open the next day. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.
Erin that is a pretty common thing to happen. There are so many different causes and ways that “might” help so I would suggest to google what causes kidney beans to split and you will find some really good sources dealing with that.