For this weeks Happy Homesteading post we are talking about beans! I am going to show you how to quickly cook dried beans with a no soak method to save time, money and learn a little bit about doing things the old fashioned way.
History
Cowboy poem:
He mixed his beans with honey,
He’d done it all his life.
Not because he liked it,
But to keep them on his knife.
Would you like to be out on the trail with your own chuck wagon and horses like this guy? I am sure it was really hard living, but honestly some days when the kids are driving me bonkers the thought of being out all alone cooking beans and listening to the sounds of nature seem pretty nice. 😉
Beans kept many cowboys and pioneers alive while moving west and surviving through cold winters. They are easy to store dry, last a long time, they are full of protein and can leave you full & satisfied. About 5 years ago I wanted to try and become more self reliant so I stocked up and have years supply of white, black and pinto beans stored at my home in old Costco frosting buckets that I cleaned out. I have been trying to start using up some of my stockpile of goods, so I have been making bean soups, chili’s and tacos a whole lot more lately.
Good For You
Beans are super healthy and good for you. They are high in antioxidants, fiber, protein, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc. Eating beans regularly may decrease the risk of diabetes, heart disease, colorectal cancer, and helps with weight management. Plus beans are hearty, which can make you feel full so you tend to not eat as much. One cup of beans is around 100 calories. So…we should be eating them!
But Making your Own Takes so Long, right? Wrong!
Most of the recipes for cooking dried beans calls for you to soak them overnight and then boil them on the stove top for a few hours after that. But today I am going to show you how I make beans super quickly. All you have to do is bring the dried beans to a boil, cover and cook in the oven at 250 degrees for 75 minutes. This method actually keeps more nutrients in the beans than overnight soaking.
Dried Beans No Soak Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. beans (red, black, pinto, white etc.)
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Spread out your beans on a cookie sheet and pick through to take out any rocks or misshapen/shriveled beans.
Use a colander to quickly rinse them with water. Then add the beans to your dutch oven and top with enough water to cover the beans by an inch and a half. Add your salt.
Note: I took pictures of the black beans, but you couldn’t see them (they blend in with the pot), so I also took some pictures of making pinto beans.
Bring pot to a boil.
Cover and put your pot into the oven. Let it cook for 75 minutes. If you want half-way through you can check to make sure you are not low on water. I have never had a problem with this so I usually don’t check.
Voila, after 75 minutes your beans should be nice and soft. Ready to gobble down or add into soups/stews. I drained out the broth and here is what they look like:
You can keep the bean broth and use it in soups/stews later.
Also it’s a great idea to do a bigger batch of beans and freeze them into baggies. This is what I always do. I can then just take them out of the freezer, thaw and add to my recipes quickly. I am kind of a BIG fan of freezer meal cooking.
WORTH THE COST? YES – Canned beans can cost anywhere from $0.60 – $1.00 per can. Winco/Walmart sells their generic dried beans for around $1.00/lb. or even less in the bulk sections. One pound = 6 CUPS of cooked beans. 6 Cups of cooked dried beans for $1.00 vs. 1 can for around the same price…it’s not hard to see that cooking your own is a much better value.
WORTH THE TIME? YES – This recipe for dried beans (no soak) only takes around 75 minutes to bake in the oven. Freeze the beans in smaller bags to pull them out when needed quickly later for recipes to save even more time.
All in all it was fun to get making some beans again. In fact I felt so good I decided to go and get on my pioneer dress & apron. I sat on the porch and enjoyed some homemade bean & vegetable soup (recipes for that one coming up soon).
Happy Homesteading everyone!
Cook Dried Beans are super healthy. They are high in antioxidants, fiber, protein, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc. Eating beans regularly may decrease the risk of diabetes, heart disease, colorectal cancer, and helps with weight management.
- 1 lb . black pinto, white, red or other beans
- Water
- Salt
- 5 qt . Dutch oven or Tightly lidded oven safe pot
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
- Spread out your beans on a cookie sheet and pick through to take out any rocks or misshapen/shriveled beans.
- Use a colander to quickly rinse them with water.
- Then add the beans to your dutch oven and top with enough water to cover the beans by an inch and a half.
- Add your salt.
- Bring pot to a boil.
- Cover and put your pot into the oven. Let it cook for 75 minutes.
- If you want half-way through you can check to make sure you are not low on water.
- Voila! After 75 minutes your beans should be nice and soft. Ready to gobble down or add into soups/stews.
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{Cowboy image credit} {recipe adapted from The Paupered Chef}
I tried this recipe. Works great! That really surprised me how you didn’t have to soak beans over night… big time saver.
Now I just need a recipe for refried beans that taste like rosarita, me dd favorite brand.
Awesome. Hmmm…refried beans? I think you would just need to use pinto beans, and mash the majority of them with? Not really sure, haven’t made refried beans yet.
Retried beans are pretty easy. Cook pinto or whatever you prefer, drain reserving broth, mash the beans addin liquid as necessary for desired consistency. Don’t forget to season. I use taco seasonings or cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, a tiny bit of worstercshire (sp?) sauce, salt & pepper. I cook my beans with fresh onion and garlic and other seasonings as well including worstercshire sauce. Umami baby. Hope this helps a little.
when I freeze beans do I drain all liquid off them?
I don’t have a Dutch Oven, Could the same thing be accomplished by transferring them to a crock pot and putting that in the oven? Or to a roasting pan? Or….something else?
I would say any oven-safe pot would work. 🙂
Yes. I often use a crock pot insert as a Dutch Oven in my regular oven , no problem.
I absolutely loved this. I have been struggling with cooking dried beans for years (and we lived in Santiago, Chile for a while as a family… lol)! They always turn out too hard. This worked beautifully. I even froze half of them and they came to the rescue for a soup a while later and they were perfect too. Thank you so much!
Wonderful! So glad you loved them too, its so nice that they cook up so fast.
Thank you for the recipe on dried beans. Tried cooking beans in the oven WO boiling first and it took TWO hrs and still too tough. Whole foods here I come!
I love your website…..you have some wonderful ideas and recipes!! I will be returning here frequently!! Oh, and I love your pic in your pioneer dress and apron!!! 🙂
I don’t have a website. I am just a grandma who wanders around on the internet when she gets bored. I found your site by accident, but returning often will be on purpose! I love your tip for cooking beans quicker because my daughter-in-law always forgets to put hers on, then expects me to bail her out with a quick fix. I didn’t have one until now, thanks to you! I have been drifting around on your site for over an hour so I guess you could say I find it very interesting!
Is the salt absolutely necessary or can I leave it out?
I find that if I salt the beans too soon, they don’t soften right.
I use salt at the end of my cooking process.
Did you put the beans in the oven, if so, for how long? Did I miss that info in the post.
Yes, you do put them in the oven. After you bring your beans to a boil cover it and put your pot of beans into the oven. Let it cook for 75 minutes at 250 degrees. 🙂
I make huge batches of beans in my pressure cooker (actually use a pressure canner for these!), and freeze them.
Wow, I have got to try this – will probably wait until cooler weather. It’s hot and humid in the south so I don’t do much baking this time of year. I wonder, would this work in a crock pot as well? Say bring to a boil and then transfer to crock pot and cook on high. I might try that as well. Never thought about cooking and freezing them. Great idea all the way around!
After doing this instead of freezing could you can them in a pressure canner since I don’t have that kind of freezer space?
I haven’t ever tried using them in a pressure canner before so I am not sure! Sorry!
I just finished canning 36 pints of beans, which have to be softened/cooked first. I found instructions in my Ball canning book. They HAVE to be canned in the pressure cooker…at my elevation here in the mountains of Utah, I have to have 14# pressure for 1 hour 30 min. It is worth it…they are better than store-bought and MUCH cheaper
Thank you! My husband is Jamaican so “rice-n-peas” is a staple in our diet, however most times I forget to soak the beans ahead of time. I tried this last night and they were delicious. I don’t have a dutch over so I used my Pyrex casserole dish with a glass cover and it work great. Do you buy your beans in bulk? My local store sells them for $1.50/lb a bag which is still cheaper than canned but I was hoping for a better price.
I just purchased 25 pounds for $13 at the Grocery Outlet here in CA.
250 degree farenheit or celcius?
Fahrenheit.
Yes it will work in a crock pot too, I do that all of the time. I either put the washed/clean beans in the crock pot all day and they cook during the work day and are dione in time for dinner, or I throw them in the pressure cooker for 1hr and they are always done to perfection. I never soak, and they always turn out great. In fact, I just put up an instructable (perfect, authentic, easy refried beans on instructables.com) that first shows how easy it is to first cook them without soaking and be done in an hour!
I looked for your recipe there, but didn’t find it. Can you email me your link (or recipe)?
It looks like your dutch oven is cast iron. Does it ruin the seasoning of the cast iron to cook with water like this?
I haven’t had any problems with it!
I use a lot of beans when I cook and have been looking for a way to make my own. Can’t wait to try this.
Love your website. I have a dutch oven. I used it to make pinto beans and they turned an aweful gray color. Why did they do that? not very appetizing to look at.
I wanted to cook pinto beans and forgot to soak them the night before and ran across your recipe. WHAT A LIFESAVER!! My dutch oven is metal and I was concerned if the beans would still turn out good and they did! Thanks so much I will never cook beans the long way again lol.
I love finding ways to shorten those LONG processes! Glad it could help you in a pinch. 🙂
I feel compelled to comment, even after several years. I heard it as:
I eat my peas with honey.
I’ve done it all my life.
It does make them taste funny,
But it keeps them on my knife.
Mine didn’t cook withing 75 mins they were no where near done at this tiī
Thank you for this recipe! I made these today, and they turned out great. So creamy with no fat! They needed an extra 15 minutes to get soft enough. i also added a few shakes of garlic powder and onion powder before they went into the oven. So tasty with cornbread.
I tried this and after the 75min in the 250 degree oven they were still very hard. Did I miss something?
I had this happen today for the first time – which is strange, because I’ve done them this way about three times and had them come out perfectly every other time. It may be that the beans I used this time were an older bag, not sure. At any rate I had to boil a cup or two more water and add it and pop them back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Not a huge problem, but I’m glad I wasn’t on a time crunch.
Thank for sharing many infomative knowledge! So that black baked beans can be freeze land last in the freezer like other baked beans is, can’t it?
Great recipe! For a little quicker version…
I do
1 pound of pinto beans
12 cups of water
Hour and five minutes in the pressure cooker
Spice as you will