Even 100 years ago, housewives knew how to soak beans before cooking, and most importantly, why. Today this practice is not so popular. As a result, legume dishes turn out bland and are harmful to health. The wrong cooking method can ruin any product. We suggest you learn how to soak beans correctly in order to extract the maximum benefit from them for the body.
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.
Interesting questions
Does soaking beans reduce gas?
If you want to avoid the famous gas that comes with beans, you should soak and drain the beans before cooking, rinsing the beans thoroughly. The reason for this is that soaking the beans removes some of the sugars that release gas during digestion, and soaking also helps reduce cooking time.
Why do you need to drain the water after soaking?
Soaking the beans removes the sugar that causes gas, making them difficult to digest. Beans also should not be washed before packing and selling as this can cause mold, so the water may retain some of the dirt from the beans. That's why it's best to drain the beans, discard them, and then rinse the beans thoroughly before cooking in fresh, cool water.
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!
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.
Secrets of experienced housewives
The increase during cooking depends on the size of the grains. Red beans are rarely overcooked. It is advisable to cook only young beans without soaking. For soups, it is better to choose smaller varieties. And for salads and side dishes - large ones. When cooked without soaking, only the shell will be soft, the inside of the product will remain hard. Stirring frequently will cause the beans to become mushy.
It is better to cook on low heat. Many housewives drain and pour new water into the pan after boiling. This will reduce cooking time and also remove bitterness. Vegetable oil makes the taste soft, emphasizing the nutty notes. The bright, rich color is preserved even when the lid is open. Mixing different varieties during cooking will spoil the taste of the dish.
Interesting fact! Cleopatra used legume powder as a face powder. The skin looked young and velvety. The powder filled in fine wrinkles and other imperfections.
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.
Cooking time
The cooking time depends on the type and size of the grains. To find out exactly how long beans are cooked, with or without soaking, you should follow a simple rule:
- Light varieties will be ready after 60 minutes of vigorous boiling.
- Dark varieties take longer to cook, so it is better to use the method of adding cold water for them. The total time is 1-2 hours.
- Beans in pods cook much faster. The procedure takes 5-6 minutes for a fresh product and 8-10 minutes for a frozen one.
You can determine the exact time for how long to cook the beans in a simple way. Pour water over a few grains and leave in a cool place. Remember the time during which the beans absorb all the liquid - the same amount will be needed to cook these grains.
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.
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.
Determining the readiness of the product
We have already looked at how to properly cook some types of beans. Now let's talk about determining the readiness of the product. To do this, you need to remove one grain from the pan, cut it with a knife or eat it. The finished boiled grain should be whole, soft, but not porridge-like. If it is still a bit hard, difficult to pierce or crackles, then you should continue cooking further and check readiness at intervals of 5-10 minutes.
The finished grains are soft, whole, and not porridge-like.
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.
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.
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.
Second courses
Again, as with soups, beans can be the main component, replacing meat in whole or in part. Beans can be used large or small, but preferably in accordance with the recipe directions.
Simple lobby
There are up to a dozen main variations of this dish alone. They differ in the varieties of beans, seasonings, details of heat treatment and even the type of greens.
Simple lobby
What to cook from:
- 300 g large red beans;
- a couple of large juicy tomatoes;
- onion – 200 g;
- 2 stalks and a handful of celery leaves;
- garlic;
- pepper, laurel, adjika and suneli hops;
- a handful of cilantro, basil and parsley;
- a pod of hot pepper.
How to cook:
- Dry beans are sorted, removing debris. Wash twice and leave the beans covered with a third water for 8 hours in the refrigerator. Place the pan with the soaked beans over moderate heat and heat the water to a boil.
- The foam from the boiling broth is collected, a bay leaf, peeled onion and celery stalks are dipped into water. Cook the beans until the skin of the beans begins to burst. Part of the broth is temporarily drained.
- Finely chop the remaining onion, crush a small head of garlic, add chopped hot pepper and salt to taste, and grind in a mortar. Separately, grate the tomatoes without the skin, mix the puree with chopped herbs and celery leaves.
- The onion and tomato masses are added to the beans and mixed carefully without crushing the beans. All spices not used up to this point are mixed with adjika and seasoned with lobio, and the dish is brought to the desired thickness with bean broth.
Red beans, recipes for preparing lobio from which are well known not only in the Caucasus, give the dish a special beauty. The dish is lean, but it is good to serve it with fried meat and pickled cheese. Unleavened flatbread will highlight the Caucasian flavor.
Simple bean stew
The dish is prepared literally from 3 main products. Can be served as a separate dish or as a side dish for veal stew.
Simple bean stew
What to cook from:
- a full glass of large beans (red);
- 2 onions – 150 g;
- 800 g potatoes;
- refined butter;
- pepper, cilantro sprigs, a pinch of paprika and salt;
- 80 ml 25 percent tomato.
How to cook:
- Beans soaked for at least 12 hours are boiled at moderate boiling. A little before it is ready, they are thrown into a sieve, and the broth is returned to the stove.
- Potatoes are cut into large slices and dipped into boiling bean broth. Reduce heat and cook covered for 10 minutes.
- Small slices of onion are sautéed in oil until lightly browned and the tomato is placed in the frying pan. Stirring, simmer for 3 minutes, add seasonings and salt the roast.
- The beans are returned to the pan with the potatoes, having first drained the entire broth into a bowl. Place the sauté mixture, add the drained liquid little by little and mix very carefully.
- There shouldn't be a lot of liquid in the stew. Simmer it under the lid until the desired softening of the potatoes.
Portions of the stew are decorated with herbs; if desired, bean broth can be added to deep plates, making something like a very thick soup.
Vegetable stew with red beans
An easy to prepare dish full of vitamins, proteins and healthy amino acids - red beans with vegetables! Vegetarians and weight watchers will certainly be delighted with this food - with a minimum amount of calories, it is very filling and gives energy. The amount of vegetables can be varied at your discretion; there are no strict limits.
Ingredients:
- beans - 1.5 cups;
- onions – 3 pcs.;
- carrots – 3 pcs.;
- tomatoes – 4-5 pcs.;
- potatoes – 6-8 pcs.;
- olive oil – 5-6 tbsp. l.;
- bell pepper – 3 pcs.;
- garlic – 6 cloves;
- bay leaf – 3 pcs.;
- salt pepper.
Preparation
- Cook the pre-soaked beans, chop all the ingredients, grate the carrots, fry the onions and carrots for three minutes.
- Add tomatoes and peppers to the frying pan, then add cooked beans and potatoes, stir, add water, salt, pepper, add finely chopped garlic and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
- A delicious colorful Lenten dish of red beans is ready!
Red bean casserole
Second courses made from red beans delight gourmets all over the world, one of them is casserole. Juicy, incredibly tasty, with a special delicious aroma! Preparing such a casserole is extremely simple, and you can feed the whole family, because by combining two such nutritious ingredients as potatoes and legumes, a feeling of fullness is guaranteed for a long time!
Ingredients:
- beans – 2 cups;
- potatoes – 0.5 kg;
- onions – 2 pcs.;
- vegetable oil – 2 tbsp.
Preparation
- Beans and potatoes are boiled separately, then passed through a meat grinder, salted and stirred.
- The resulting mass is divided into two parts, first lay out one half, put onions on it, then the other half, level it and put it in the oven.
Georgian red bean pkhali - recipe
A tasty and colorful appetizer that is adored in the east is pkhali made from red beans. You will have to tinker with the process, but the result will please you with both its appearance and its incredible soft taste. The secret of success is in proper preparation of beans: they are soaked in water with a spoon of soda in the evening, and then boiled in fresh water.
Ingredients:
- green beans – 150 g;
- red beans – 150 g;
- pumpkin – 100 g;
- sweet pepper – 1 pc.;
- walnuts – 150 g;
- cilantro – 30 g;
- spinach – 50 g;
- rice vinegar - 3 tbsp. l.;
- paprika, coriander, turmeric - 1 tbsp. l.;
- garlic – 1 pc.;
- salt.
Preparation
- Green and red beans are boiled separately, the pumpkin is baked, the nuts and garlic and other ingredients are chopped, the nuts and garlic are mixed. Next, three layers are formed, 1/3 of the mixture of garlic and nuts is added to each of them.
- Green: cilantro, spinach, green beans are passed through a meat grinder and mixed, grated coriand, vinegar and 2 tsp. salt.
- Red: the beans are ground in a meat grinder, half is mixed with paprika, sweet pepper, salt, vinegar is added and stirred.
- Yellow: The remaining half of the bean mixture is mixed with ground pumpkin and turmeric and mixed.
- Roll out three separate layers with a rolling pin and form them into balls.
Stewed beans with pork
The dish can be prepared much faster by using canned beans in any sauce. There are no special requirements for meat; even pork taken out of the freezer will be tender.
Stewed beans with pork
What to cook from:
- pork pulp – 800 g;
- 200 g white onion;
- dry red beans – 500 g;
- a handful of chopped mixed greens;
- pepper and coarse salt;
- tomato sauce;
- 1/2 pack of 82% oil;
- sprig of mint.
How to cook:
- Long soaking is not required; it is enough to soak the beans in cold water for up to 4 hours. Boil the beans at a moderate boil for 60 minutes, remove from heat before they are completely cooked.
- Small pieces of pork are fried in melted butter. When a light crust forms on the meat, it is seasoned with salt and the pot is covered. Reduce heat and simmer pork for up to 10 minutes.
- Add tomato and finely chopped onion to the meat, stir and heat for a short time. Pour in boiling water, just enough so that the top pieces of pork remain above the broth.
- After 30 minutes, add beans to the meat and onions and stir the dish; if necessary, add boiling water or bean broth. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and mint. 5 minutes before turning off the stove, pepper and add salt to the dish to taste.
Of course, you won't need a side dish. In addition to pork, you can cook lamb and fatty poultry in this way.
