Beans are cheap. Dried beans are cheaper. Like 70% cheaper than canned. And with none of the pesky BPA that lines many cans. Cooked beans can also be frozen, to make them nearly as convenient as canned beans. If you’ve been putting off using dried beans because you always forget to soak them overnight, you’ll be glad to learn that that requirement has been debunked: you can start with dried beans right from the pantry and have a delicious finished product in 1-3 hours on the stove, depending on the variety. Which happens to be just about the amount of time needed to do a load or three of laundry, so it’s win-win. Or you can use your slow-cooker and come home from a long day’s work to a delicious dinner that’s crazy inexpensive
The Internet abounds with recipes for cooking dried beans, but this past weekend, I used this Tejano Pinto Bean recipe from The Food Charlatan. Actually, I adapted the recipe to use some of the stock I made from our Thanksgiving smoked turkey carcass, which made the beans smoky and awesome, and amazing on nachos!
Do you have a favorite dried bean recipe? Please share in the comments!
Little Hippie House 
I must have forgotten to post here.
Now that I have a pressure cooker, I am canning my own beans. They are so much more delicious than canned beans from the store, I may have eaten some cold ones right out of the jar! And soaking before canning has been debunked as well. I put them straight into a jar with the ingredients of my choosing and 90 minutes later, BAM, shelf stable ready to eat home cooked beans.
We don’t have a pressure canner yet. Which one do you have, and do you recommend it?
Dried beans are awesome! I have a small confession. In the last few years I have bought quite a few bags of dried beans/lentils/peas etc. and put them in Mason jars, stacked nicely on our open kitchen shelves. They sure looked pretty but mostly sat there unused.
A few weeks ago, I dove in and was so surprised to find how easy it is to cook them. Intimidated by some unknown fear I never used them, but now am realizing how easy and healthy they really are. I have heard you can freeze them after cooking, although I haven’t tried yet.
Thanks for your fun posts. I especially love the Frugal Tuesday ones. 🙂
I totally get you about the “unknown fear” thing… that’s definitely delayed some of my projects, too! And then once I do it, I think “Well, why didn’t I try this years ago?!” So I’m glad you jumped in and tried it! We’ve frozen beans after cooking, in 1 qt bags, and they work just fine instead of canned beans. Go crazy and try it yourself sometime!
Now I just need to make the room in the freezer… 🙂 Thanks for the great tips!