16 Recipes to Make with Dried Beans

March 17, 2020

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If your pantry is full and you’re wondering what to do with those dried beans, these recipes are the answer. Whether you have black beans, cannellini, pinto or even chickpeas, these recipes will work with any type of legume. Recipes like Slow-Cooker Cuban-Style Black Beans and Tuscan White Bean Soup are filling, comforting and pantry-friendly.

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Tuscan White Bean Soup

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A pound of dried beans is the inexpensive foundation for this simple, hearty meal. Serve it with slices of whole-wheat bread or a side salad for a complete and satisfying lunch or dinner. Source: Diabetic Living Magazine, Winter 2019

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Southwestern Three-Bean & Barley Soup

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Serve this zesty bean and barley soup garnished with chopped fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime, if desired. Source: EatingWell Soups Special Issue April 2016

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Smoky Slow-Cooker Black Beans with Collard Greens

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Cooking black beans in a slow cooker with a ham hock gives them a wonderful smoky flavor. Don't forget to soak your beans overnight for the creamiest, most luscious results. Serve over brown rice with lemon-curry collard greens for an easy healthy dinner that's super-satisfying. Source: EatingWell Magazine, September 2019

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Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice

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This traditional Creole recipe is made with sausage, pork, and red beans, and it's flavored with zesty spices. Source: Diabetic Living Magazine

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Baked Chickpeas with Orange, Lemon & Squash (Revithia me Kolokytha)

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On Crete, chickpeas are commonly flavored with Seville orange, a pleasingly bitter variety grown locally. Orange zest along with lemon juice makes a good substitute. A little mustard deepens the flavor. Source: EatingWell Magazine, March 2020

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Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

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Packed with protein and fiber, this soup doesn't need meat to be satisfying. Soaking and cooking the beans yourself, rather than opening a can, ensures you'll have wonderful flavor and texture. (And the slow cooker does most of the work!) Source: Diabetic Living Magazine

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Slow-Cooker White Bean, Spinach & Sausage Stew

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Reach for this recipe on a chilly morning when you know you'll want a steaming bowl of slow-cooker sausage stew for supper. To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten-free sausage. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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Slow-Cooker Cherry Baked Beans

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Serve these slow-cooker baked beans at your next cookout! They pair well with beef or pork barbecue. Cooking them with the sour cherry jam and mustard gives them the unexpected tangy sweetness that makes them unforgettable. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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Vegetarian Pinto Bean Sloppy Joes

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This vegetarian Sloppy Joe recipe uses pinto beans and a heap of veggies tossed in a sweet, tangy sauce for the filling of a tad messy kid-friendly sandwich you can make in your slow cooker. Source: EatingWell Magazine, May/June 2014

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Pressure-Cooker Baked Beans

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Make this classic version of sweet and tangy barbecue baked beans in an electric pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, in a fraction of the time it would take in the slow cooker or on the stove. Source: EatingWell.com, May 2018

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Soup Beans

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Like poor people everywhere, mountain people in the South thrived for centuries on food that was indigenous, inexpensive and healthful. These days “soup beans” speak instant comfort to anyone who had familial connections from Appalachia, where every garden produced shelling beans that could be eaten fresh or grown to maturity for dry beans. Serve this thick, stew-like soup with cornbread, pickle relish and diced sweet onion. Source: EatingWell Magazine, Soup Cookbook

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Vegan Black-Eyed Peas

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Two Cypriot specialties--good olive oil and fresh lemons--lend sunny flavor to this simple bean dish, served as a side in Cyprus. Chard adds a hearty touch. Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt, or nondairy yogurt to keep it vegan, for a meatless meal. Source: EatingWell Magazine, March 2020

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Slow-Cooker Cuban-Style Black Beans

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These slow-cooker beans are super flavorful and tender. To save time, process the garlic cloves in a small food processor instead of mincing them by hand. You can also make this a day ahead and refrigerate overnight to give the flavors more time to mingle. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, if desired. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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Slow-Cooker Irish Sausage, Bean & Cabbage Stew

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The abundance of springy sausage, soft beans and tender cabbage packed into this slow-cooker recipe means that each bite is loaded with varied texture. To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten-free sausage. Serve with bread and Guinness, if desired. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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Bobby Flay's Honey-Rum Baked Black Beans

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Chef Bobby Flay cooked these baked black beans, spiked with chorizo and rum, on one of his television shows, Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, to compete with a more-traditional batch of Carolina baked beans. We adore the results. If you bring them along to a summer party, reheat before serving or bring them in a crock-pot and plug it in when you get to the party. Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay's Throwdown! by Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas and Miriam Garron (Clarkson Potter, 2010). Source: EatingWell Magazine, May/June 2011

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Slow-Cooker Southwestern Bean Soup

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Get dinner on the table on a busy day with ease with this load-&-go crock pot recipe. This zesty soup can simmer in the crock pot for an entire workday, making it perfect for a busy weekday meal. Bump up the Southwest flavors with a garnished of chopped fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime, if desired. Source: EatingWell.com, March 2018

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