Guide to Cooking and Freezing Dried Beans
A simple guide that answers the question, "can you freeze beans?" to save money, control ingredients, and keep your kitchen stocked.
Servings: 16 cups
Calories: 40kcal
Equipment
- Large Stockpot
- 16-ounce or 8-ounce freezer containers (glass containers preferred)
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried beans, any kind*
- 6 cups water
Instructions
- Put the amount of dried beans you want in a stock pot (soaked or not, your choice). Cover with water using a ratio of 1 cup of beans to 3 cups of water. (So for 1 pound of beans you'd need 6 cups of water).
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat to keep beans at a simmer for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Do a taste test to see if they are done to your liking, they should be soft enough to eat, but relatively firm - don't let them get too soft or they will fall apart after freezing.
- Drain beans in a colander and rinse well with cold water (this cools them faster).
- Divide into freezer containers, leaving 1½ to 2-inches of head space to allow for freezer expansion.
- Fill with cold, fresh water to just above the beans. There should still be a 1½-2-inch space between beans/water and the top of container.
- Seal and label with the date and type of bean (a piece of masking tape and a permanent marker work fine).
- Place in the freezer and store for 6-8 months.
- Defrost before using in any recipe that calls for canned beans (about 1½ cups = a 15oz. can).
Notes
*The exceptions to this are lentils and split peas, which do not need to be soaked ever and will take a lot less time to cook, more like 30-45 minutes.
1 pound of dried beans cooked = about 4-5 cans of beans.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/3 cup | Calories: 40kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
