Low-Calorie Bean Recipes

Traditional three-bean salad gets a healthy, fresh spin with the addition of black soybeans, snap peas and a tarragon-infused dressing. Find black soybeans near other canned beans; they're a sweeter, creamier relative of the green ones you're probably familiar with.

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.

Avocado, fresh chives and spinach are blended right into the creamy, bright-green dressing in this healthy edamame salad recipe. Pink beans are popular in the Caribbean, but you can substitute pinto beans or light red kidney beans if you can't find them.

By cooking your own dried beans, you save money, reduce sodium and get better flavor along with, surprisingly, more vitamins and minerals. If you can't use the whole batch, freeze surplus cooked beans for later use in soups, salads and dips. The range of time for cooking beans is wide and varies with the age and the type of beans selected.

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.

This lima bean recipe is the creation of Mable Clarke, a South Carolina cook and activist. This side dish is on the menu for Clarke's monthly fish fry that she started to save the Soapstone Baptist Church. No need for ham hocks with this recipe--her onion-rich roast turkey stock gives these humble beans a rich, savory flavor, but store-bought will also do the trick. A long, slow simmer coaxes the creaminess out of the limas.

The combination of whole-grain brown rice and fiber-rich beans makes this a nutritionally super side dish. And because we use instant brown rice and canned beans, it's also super-fast. Try it with pork or chicken, or sprinkle with cheese and wrap in a flour tortilla for lunch or a vegetarian supper.

Stash mirepoix blend—a basic building-block combo of chopped carrots, celery and onion—in your freezer and save some serious prep time on this simple bean side dish.

Instead of getting flavor from a ham hock, this mess of black-eyed peas and collards gets its smokiness from canned chipotles and caramelized shallots, thereby keeping it vegetarian.

This simple, fresh-tasting salad adds delicious variety to grilled foods, such as salmon, halibut, chicken or pork. Browning the corn in a skillet gives it a nutty, caramelized flavor that contrasts with the sweetness of the mango.

An easy, tasty way to jazz up canned refried and pinto beans for the perfect side to accompany any Tex-Mex meal. Opt for fat-free refried beans and no-salt-added pinto beans to keep this dish as healthy as possible.

Enjoy this vegetable-rich nibble as they do in Spain, spooned onto small rounds of fresh or lightly toasted bread.

Master the technique of cooking dried beans with this basic recipe. The cooking time will vary based on the age and size of the beans, so begin to check for tenderness after 1 1/2 hours and continue cooking until the beans are tender.

These delicious veggie patties are a great side dish, but can also be a fulfilling and meatless main meal. Ready in just 35 minutes, the patties are made with garbanzo beans, zucchini and carrot and are served topped with Greek yogurt and an oregano-flavored vegetable topping.

With heat from chipotles in adobo sauce and sweetness from brown sugar, this healthy stovetop baked beans recipe is a spicy twist on the classic. We slashed more than half the sugar and three-quarters of the sodium--and a few hours of cooking time--as compared to a traditional recipe. Serve at your next cookout or BBQ and be prepared for people to rave.

It's easy to purchase baked beans in a can, but making your own in the slow cooker results in a rich and deliciously flavored side dish that you'll feel better about serving to guests.

These savory white beans--flavored with garlic, thyme and bay leaf--are the perfect accompaniment for roast leg of lamb or other slow-cooked meat.

Succotash is a traditional Southern dish made with corn and lima beans. This slow-cooker recipe also uses potatoes, chicken, and spices to add delicious flavor.

Think hummus meets tabbouleh in these vegetarian stuffed grape leaves, bursting with chickpeas, parsley and bulgur tied together with a lemony, garlicky sauce. The grape leaves will seem soft when just finished cooking, but will firm up as they cool. We prefer these at room temperature or cold--perfect for bringing to work for lunch.

These easy black beans are the perfect accompaniment to any Mexican fiesta.

For this sauté, soft, smooth black-eyed peas make a mellow match for the assertive flavors of dark leafy greens. Country ham or Italian prosciutto makes a nice change from the salt pork or ham hocks that greens are traditionally cooked with.

Take 5 minutes to toss together a fiber-rich chickpea and tomato salad for a satisfying snack.

The pleasantly sweet-and-sour pomegranate molasses in the tangy vinaigrette here is made by reducing pomegranate juice into a syrup. Look for it at well-stocked grocery stores and Middle Eastern markets.

Stir in your favorite jarred salsa for extra zing. Also good the next day for lunch.