How to cook beans - instructions
You will need: a glass of beans, water for soaking, water for cooking
Although the beans take a long time to cook, the process itself is very simple. Half the success is in soaking. Before cooking, rinse the red beans thoroughly under warm water and soak in boiled water: three glasses of water per glass of beans, cover and leave at room temperature in the shade. It’s better to change the water every couple of hours, but if this is not possible, then just put the cereal in the refrigerator. During this time, the beans will swell well - which means that the cereal is suitable for cooking and will definitely turn out soft. Here are a couple of tips: the most convenient way is to soak the beans in the morning and cook in the evening, or at night to prepare lunch. You shouldn’t soak the cereal for more than 12 hours, it may turn sour. If you are in a hurry, you can pour boiling water over the cereal and leave it warm for an hour. But the natural method of soaking in cold water is more gentle on vitamins.
As you can see in the photo, the beans have swollen considerably and absorbed a lot of water. For cooking you will need more water - add a couple of centimeters extra.
The next stage is even simpler: the beans are washed, filled with water in a saucepan and placed on low heat. Cover the top with a lid and add salt immediately (in moderation). Well, or soaked beans are added to the soup broth. This stage does not require labor - it is only important that there is plenty of water, check it occasionally. After 40 minutes the cereal will be cooked, but it is always better to taste it. It is very simple to understand that the beans are cooked: cool 3 beans and taste them; they should be very soft when you bite them. If the beans are soft enough, stop cooking, but if they are too hard, cook for another 20 minutes.
3. After cooking, the water is drained, and the cereal can be added to a salad, soup, side dish, and so on.
This is the easiest way to cook beans. All other methods - without soaking, with soda, in a pressure cooker, etc. - are emergency and, other things being equal, not optimal. Their use requires more labor and control, and the result may not live up to expectations due to the properties of the cereal or errors when using an unusual method.
To make the beans softer
: - after washing, generously pour boiling water over the beans; - add sunflower oil when cooking; - drain the first boiling water, rinse the beans with ice water, continue cooking in fresh cold water; - soak the beans with the addition of soda: 1/5 spoon of soda per glass of beans, and rinse thoroughly before cooking.
How long to cook red beans without soaking
Modern housewives often face a problem when there is a catastrophic lack of time to prepare dishes. In such a situation, the relevant question is how to cook red beans without soaking. There is such a recipe.
- Before cooking, the cooked beans are removed from excess debris. Those with flaws should also be removed.
- The product, placed in a colander, is thoroughly washed with running water. After this, everything is transferred to a pan filled with water about two-thirds.
- A saucepan with beans placed on the fire should boil for 15 minutes, after which all the water is drained and new, clean water is poured in. A similar procedure must be repeated one more time. After this, the beans are cooked for another 40-50 minutes.
In order not to miscalculate the cooking time, the beans need to be boiled for 40 minutes, and then taste the beans for readiness every time after 10 minutes.
But there is another way, which tells how to quickly cook red beans without soaking. It may seem unusual to some, but it's still worth a try.
- You will need water, beans and seaweed. The leaves of this vegetable, dried prematurely, are added to the grains before cooking. Boiling will take about 40 minutes. If you season this mass with spices, you will get a tasty and aromatic broth.
How to cook beans in a slow cooker
1. Place two cups of red or white beans in a wide bowl, cover with 5 cups of cold water and leave for about 8 hours to swell. This will save cooking time in the future. 2. During the soaking process, you need to change the water every 3 hours. Do not use drained water under any circumstances, replace it with fresh water. After time, the beans should increase in volume by 2-3 times. 3. Rinse the swollen beans thoroughly in a colander under running cold water, allow the water to drain and place in the multicooker. 4. Salt the beans at the rate of 1 teaspoon of table salt per 1 cup of beans, add ground black pepper to taste, mix gently and add fresh water so that it covers the beans by a centimeter. 5. Turn on the “Stew” mode on the multicooker and set the timer. Depending on the color of the beans, the cooking time will be different: for red beans it will take one and a half hours, for white beans a little less - one hour. After cooking, taste the dish - well-cooked beans should be absolutely soft. Your beans are ready, bon appetit!
Methods for Soaking Beans
- The slow way . The beans are poured with cold water and placed in a cool place for about a day. For a glass of grains you will need 5 glasses of clean water. The advantage of this method is the disappearance of the unpleasant consequences that appear after eating legumes.
- Fast way . If you don’t have time to soak for too long, fill the pan with dry beans and fill with clean water. The ratio between grains and liquid is no different from the cold method. Place the cookware on the hob. After boiling, time for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the stove. Cover with a lid and leave to steep for an hour.
Note! After soaking or boiling, the size of the beans increases several times. Choose large dishes.
How to cook beans in a double boiler
1. Sort beans (red or white), remove damaged beans. In appearance, the beans should be even, smooth, uniform in color, firm to the touch and not peel off. 2. Pour the sorted beans into a deep bowl and add cold water in the proportion of 1 cup of beans - 2 cups of water. 3. Leave the beans for about 8 hours to swell; for white beans, you can skip the soaking step. During the soaking process, you need to change the water every 3 hours. After time, the beans should increase in volume. 4. Rinse the swollen beans thoroughly in a colander under running cold water and allow to drain. 5. Pour water into a special steamer bowl, place the beans in it and cook at a temperature of 80 degrees. This way the process of moisture evaporation will occur more slowly, the steam will simply heat the water. 6. Cook white beans without soaking for at least 1 hour, red beans for about 1.5 hours. During the cooking process, monitor the presence of water in the bowl and add it if necessary, as well as promptly drain the resulting water from the pan. Once the beans are completely soft and tender in taste, you can put them on plates and serve them - they are cooked.
Selection and storage of red beans
When choosing, you should be guided by several rules. High-quality red beans have good flowability and a smooth, even surface. There should be no plaque or dark spots. A sealed bag preserves the beneficial properties of legumes, so you need to pay attention to the integrity of the packaging. The presence of foreign particles is not desirable. The grains should be approximately the same size. If the shell is wrinkled, then most likely the beans were harvested a couple of years ago. The presence of condensation on the packaging provokes the formation of mold, which can lead to poisoning.
Did you know?
The weight of one medium bean is 1 gram.
Every year more than 25 million tons of this crop are harvested around the world. The height of some varieties reaches 3 meters. Red beans can be stored in the form of dry seeds for up to 2 years. This is provided that the packaging is sealed and stored in a cool, dark place. However, it is worth remembering that after 2 years the beans dry out and lose their beneficial properties. The skin of red beans is very dense, this protects against the penetration of bugs.
Amount of ingredients for cooking beans:
- Red beans – 500 gr;
- Water for soaking – 1 l;
- Salt – 1 tsp.
Preparing the beans
Before cooking, it is necessary to sort out the grains, eliminating those that are wrinkled and unsuitable for cooking. Dried out beans will not become soft no matter how long you cook them. Next, you need to rinse thoroughly under the tap in a colander.
Important to remember! Eating red beans raw can cause poisoning. Toxins disintegrate only after heat treatment.
Beans in the microwave
Cooking beans in the microwave is quite risky - they can boil into porridge or require additional cooking time, which calls into question the feasibility of the method.
1. Place the beans in a deep microwave-safe dish and add cold water in the proportion: 1 cup of beans to 2 cups of water. Leave to swell for about 8 hours. 2. Carefully drain the water from the bowl. To prevent the beans from accidentally falling out of the bowl, you can cover the bowl with a flat plate, leaving a small gap. Excess liquid will drain through it. 3. Pour clean water over the beans and place in the microwave. Cook red beans at maximum power for 10 minutes, white beans for 7 minutes. 4. Stir the beans, add salt and sprinkle with oil. 5. Return the beans to the microwave and cook at 700 W - 20 minutes for red beans and 15 minutes for white beans. 7. Remove the beans from the microwave and place in a colander to drain any remaining liquid.
How to cook delicious red beans
There are no special rules for selecting red beans; all of them can be applied when choosing beans of any color. All beans must be the same size with uniform coloring, although the shade may vary from batch to batch or package. The exception is grains with a marbled pattern.
The condition of the skin covering the grains depends on the specific variety and the method of drying it. Sometimes it can be a little wrinkled, which does not mean poor quality. What the packaging should definitely not contain are traces of pests (holes the size of a needle in individual beans), and there should be as little grain fragments as possible.
Some debris - dried stems and pod crumbs - may be present in loose beans, but this is not a sign of poor quality. When packaging in bags or boxes, particles of pods are carefully removed. It is customary to soak beans before boiling.
How to cook delicious red beans
Sources indicate different durations, but there are similar requirements:
- the water must be clean, boiled and cooled, the container must be glass or enamel;
- Beans must be washed first;
- optimal soaking temperature – +10…+16 °C;
- The water is replaced with fresh water as coloring progresses.
Do I need to boil the beans in the water in which they were soaked, or refill them with clean water? There is no clear solution; you have to coordinate your actions with the recipe. The calorie content of beans of different varieties in comparison with other popular cereals and legumes is shown in the table.
Information about the composition of nutrients per 100 g is given:
Correct heat conditions are important for uniform cooking of beans. Beans are not placed in boiling water, except when they are added to an already cooked broth. Heat the beans with water and then cook at a low simmer. The biggest mistake is salting the beans before they are cooked to the desired state. Ideally, bean dishes are salted almost ready.
Beans in a pressure cooker
1 cup of beans about 250 grams - the output will be about 500 grams of boiled cereal
1. Rinse the beans and soak for 8-12 hours in cold water. 2. Set the pressure cooker for 1 hour with the valve closed and full pressure; if the pressure cooker is electronic, select the “Beans” mode. 3. Cook the beans for 20 minutes after gaining pressure. 4. Turn off the pressure cooker and, without opening the lid, wait 40 minutes until the pressure is released and the beans are cooked due to the accumulated temperature.
How to cook beans without soaking?
Beans can also be cooked without pre-soaking, but in this case they will take much longer to cook and there is a possibility that you will end up with porridge rather than whole soft beans. Let's consider step by step how to cook beans without soaking (white and red):
- We carefully sort and wash the beans, then put them in a saucepan and fill them with water (in the ratio: 3-4 glasses of water per 1 glass of beans).
- Over medium heat, bring the water in the pan to a boil, drain it, then add new water in the same proportion and bring to a boil again over medium heat.
- After the water boils, reduce the heat and cook the beans for 3.5-4 hours until tender, it is important to ensure that all the water in the pan does not boil away (add water if necessary). There is no need to cover the pan with a lid during cooking.
- 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add salt (1 teaspoon per 1 cup of beans).
- At the end of cooking, check the beans for doneness; if they are not cooked, cook for another 10 minutes and check again.
Fun facts about beans
— Cooking beans without soaking
takes quite a long time, which not every housewife has. On average, it will take up to 4 hours to cook such beans. You need to cook over low heat and constantly make sure that the water in the pan does not completely evaporate, and add it in a timely manner. In addition, prolonged cooking can damage the structure of the beans, and they will begin to fall apart.
- Cooking time for beans may vary depending on the size and type of beans. Check readiness
beans can be prepared as follows: remove 3 beans from the pan and taste each of them. Well-cooked beans should be absolutely soft. If at least one grain is too hard, you need to continue cooking. Then try 3 beans again. You can start checking the hardness of the beans 40 minutes after you put the beans on the fire, and do this every 10 minutes. This method will allow you to accurately determine the optimal cooking time and prevent the beans from overcooking. The finished beans should be soft and mash well with a fork. Another way to check is to blow on the beans immediately after they come out of the pan.
How to quickly soak beans before cooking
Beans can be soaked in a quick way before cooking, but it is more labor-intensive and requires more activity in the kitchen: 1) sort, rinse, pour the beans into a saucepan, add water in a ratio of 1:3 (for 1 cup of beans, 3 cups of water); 2) bring to a boil over low heat, keep for 5 minutes over high heat; 3) turn off the heat and leave the beans in the broth for 3 hours; 4) cook in the usual way.
Proportions of water and beans
— There are 200 grams in 1 glass of beans. — During cooking, the beans increase in size by 2-3 times. — To prepare 2 servings of a side dish, use 1.5 cups of beans. — Water and beans should be taken in proportions of 1:3, that is, to cook 1 cup of beans you need 3 cups of water.
Important when cooking beans
1. White beans do not require soaking; they can be cooked immediately (for the same amount of time).
2. Beans are salted at the end of cooking (10 minutes before) or when salting the final dish, because salt slows down the cooking process. Benefits of beans
Beans are rich in vegetable protein. Beans are the second highest amino acid content product (the first is meat). 100 grams of green beans contain 20 milligrams of vitamin C, vitamins PP, B1 and B2. Beans are beneficial for improving skin health. When cooked, beans do not lose their beneficial properties. Calorie content of red beans is 292 Kcal.
The price of beans in Moscow
The cost of red beans is 70 rubles per kilogram. The cost of white beans is 80 rubles per kilogram.
Useful tips
- White beans do not need to be pre-soaked.
- Beans are salted 10 minutes before the end of cooking, as salt slows down the cooking time.
- Use a large container for soaking - the size of the beans increases.
- When stewing, the beans may darken. Therefore, do not cover the pan with a lid.
- In summer, soaked grains are placed in the refrigerator.
- Do not eat undercooked beans as they contain harmful substances.
- Add salt at the beginning of cooking if you need whole beans.
- If you want to cook crumbly beans, add salt to the water at the end of cooking.
- Stirring the beans causes them to cook. This is how puree soup and pate are made.
Boiled bean salad
Ingredients
Red beans - 150 grams Red onion - 1 head Pickled champignons - 100 grams Parsley - 10 grams Mayonnaise - 2 tablespoons Olive oil - 2 tablespoons Salt and pepper - to taste
Preparation
Cook the beans and place in a colander to cool. Peel, wash and thinly slice the onion into half rings. Fry the onion in olive oil until golden brown. Place beans and onions in a salad bowl, add chopped pickled champignons, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chop the parsley and add to the salad. Mix well.
The benefits of beans and their harm
Beans are a high protein product. There are 22.3 grams of vegetable protein per 100 grams. A true meat substitute for vegetarians! The calorie content is 308.9 kcal.
See also: What kind of broth to cook soup with?
Another strength of the legume crop is its high potassium content - as much as 1100 mg per 100 grams of beans. Potassium has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system and prevents the development of diseases.
In addition, legumes contain a high content of B vitamins, zinc, phosphorus and sulfur, which has a good effect on immunity, brain activity and skin condition. Everyone should know that raw beans contain toxic substances. Eating raw beans can lead to stomach problems and diarrhea. But not everyone can eat ready-made beans.
❌ Beans are contraindicated for the following diseases:
- gastritis
- pancreatitis
- colitis
- ulcer
- cholecystitis
This product should be used with caution in the elderly, pregnant women and children under 12 years of age.
Vegetable puree with white beans
Ingredients for puree with boiled beans
Dry white beans - 300 grams Tomato - 4 medium tomatoes Carrots - 1 piece Onion - 1 head Garlic - 2 cloves Lemon - half a lemon Parsley - 10 grams Sugar - teaspoon Salt and pepper - to taste
How to cook vegetables with boiled beans
1. Soak the beans, rinse and cook for 40 minutes (not until completely cooked). 2. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water, remove the skin, and chop using a blender. 3. Peel, wash and finely chop the onion. 4. Grate the carrots on a fine grater. 5. Peel the garlic and pass through a garlic press (or finely chop). 6. Wash the parsley, dry and cut. 7. Pour olive oil into the pan, add onion and sauté for 5 minutes. 8. Add carrots, garlic, sugar, squeeze the juice from half a lemon. Simmer for 15 minutes. 9. Add beans, stir, add water so that it completely covers the beans), cook for another 1 hour. 10. Serve with peeled lemon slices and sprinkled with parsley.
Red bean side dish
Products
Red beans - 600 grams Onions - 2 pieces Carrots - 2 pieces Sweet pepper - 2 pieces Urop and parsley - 1/2 bunch each Garlic - 2 cloves Spicy ketchup - 4 tablespoons Salt, ground black pepper - to taste Sour cream - 6 tablespoons Butter - 20 grams
How to cook red bean side dish
1. Sort 600 grams of beans and soak in a saucepan in cold water for 8 hours. 2. Drain the beans from the water they were in and add new water to lightly cover the beans. 3. Place the pan on the fire and cook for 90 minutes. At the end of cooking, leave the beans on the stove to brew for about half an hour. 4. Place the finished beans in a colander or sieve and let drain. 5. Pour a little water into the pan to cover the bottom and place on high heat. Add 20 grams of butter and quickly stir it in the water. 6. Place the beans in the pan and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes. 7. Season the beans with 4 tablespoons of hot ketchup and 2 cloves of garlic passed through a press. 8. Peel 2 onions, finely chop and add to the beans. 9. Wash 2 sweet peppers, remove seeds, cut into cubes and also mix with beans. 10. Scrape 2 small carrots with a knife, grate them on a coarse grater and add to the vegetable mixture. 11. Sprinkle the side dish with salt and pepper to taste, mix well and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. 12. Place the finished dish in a deep bowl, mix with 6 tablespoons of sour cream. 13. Rinse half a bunch of dill and parsley, chop and sprinkle on top as a decoration.
How to Soak and Boil Red Beans
Before directly cooking the beans, they should be soaked in water for a sufficiently long time. It is not recommended to skip this step! Of course, soaking speeds up the cooking of the beans, but in addition, it promotes better absorption of the beans' carbohydrates, which means it helps prevent digestive problems.
- Soak the beans in cold water (!) at a ratio of 2 parts water to one part beans.
- It is advisable to soak red beans for at least 8 hours, but no more than 12 hours, to avoid possible fermentation of the water. For the same reason, if possible, it is worth changing the water every 3 hours.
- Keep in mind that “quick” methods of soaking beans, for example, with soda, lead to the destruction of beneficial substances.
How to cook red beans:
Drain the water in which the beans were soaked, rinse the beans thoroughly and fill with fresh water so that the beans are covered approximately to the phalanx of a finger. Cook the beans over low heat, avoiding excessive boiling of the water and without covering the pan with a lid. Carefully monitor the water level in the pan and carefully add water as needed. The total cooking time for beans is about 1-2 hours. This depends on how long the beans have been stored. The older your beans, the longer they will cook.
There are several subtleties that need to be taken into account when cooking red beans:
- If you cover the pan in which the beans are cooked with a lid, the beans will turn brownish-brown in color.
- Salt the water at the very beginning of cooking the beans if you want to keep the shape of the beans, and at the end of cooking if you want the beans softened.
- Stirring the beans will help them cook. Do this only if you are preparing cream soup, pate or other dishes in which the shape of the beans is not important.
How to determine if beans are done:
To determine whether the beans are ready, you can use a method often used by chefs in classic European restaurants. Having taken three beans out of the pan, try each one; if all are soft, the beans can be drained. If at least one of them is undercooked to your taste, continue cooking and use the same method to check after 10-12 minutes.
Take advantage of the rich collection of red bean recipes collected on our website to fully appreciate the taste and benefits of this wonderful legume.
White bean side dish
Products
White beans - 2 cups Onion (medium) - 2 pieces Tomato - 4 pieces Sweet pepper - 4 pieces Garlic - 2 cloves Tomato paste - 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil - 4 tablespoons Salt, ground black pepper - to taste Bay leaf - 2 pieces Dill - 1/2 bunch
How to cook a side dish of white beans
1. Sort 600 grams of beans and soak in a saucepan in cold water for 8 hours (overnight). 2. Place the pan on the fire and boil until tender (a little over an hour). Well-cooked beans should be absolutely soft. 3. Place the beans in a sieve or colander to drain. 4. Wash 4 peppers, cut lengthwise, remove seeds and cut into cubes. 5. Peel 2 medium onions and chop finely. 6. Heat a frying pan with 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil and lightly fry the chopped peppers and onions. 7. Rinse 4 ripe tomatoes, grate on a coarse grater and add to the frying pan along with 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. 8. Pour a little water into the vegetable mixture, add salt and pepper to taste, 2 bay leaves and stir. 9. Close the pan with a lid and simmer the beans for 10 minutes. After time has passed, remove from heat. 10. Pass 2 cloves of garlic through a press, chop half a bunch of dill and mix with the side dish. 11. Close the pan with a lid and let the dish brew for another 10 minutes.
Making bean soup
To make delicious hot bean soup, you will need the following ingredients:
- Meat 600 g
- White beans 300 g
- Tomato paste 6 tbsp. spoons
- Potatoes 4 pcs.
- Carrots 2 pcs.
- Onions 1 pc.
- Vegetable oil
- Celery
- Green onions, dill, parsley
- Salt pepper
- Spices
Preparation
- A few hours before cooking, soak the beans in water. Let it brew.
- Prepare the broth. To do this, you will need to place the meat in a saucepan and add three liters of water. Bean soup can be cooked with beef, pork or chicken - in any case, the broth will be very tasty.
- Pour the beans into the pan; they need quite a long time to cook.
- Take one of the carrots, cut it into slices, throw it into the broth, and let it boil for 15-20 minutes.
- After an hour, remove the meat from the broth and cut into small pieces. After this, return to the pan for further cooking. Don’t forget to pull out the carrot rings, they have already given the broth a unique smell and aroma.
- Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes and add them to the broth. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- Let's fry. To do this, cut the onion into small pieces and fry in vegetable oil. Fry the onion over low heat until it turns golden brown. After this, grate the carrots, add them to the onions in the frying pan, pour in the tomato paste, and fry for 5 minutes.
- Add frying to the soup. To make the soup more flavorful, cut a stalk of celery into small slices and place in a saucepan. Let the soup boil, cook for another 10-15 minutes.
- Don't forget to salt, pepper, and add your favorite spices. Cook for another 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Let the soup brew for a few minutes. Pour into a bowl. Some cooks add herbs or a slice of lemon.