Overview: Beans, Pulses and Legumes

There are many ways to prepare beans / pulses / legumes. Here are some things that will change the outcome of any bean recipe:

  • Age of the beans. Younger, fresher beans will be much quicker to cook. Beans that have been stored for a long time will take longer to cook.
  • Type of bean. Some beans are very quick to cook (black-eyed peas) while others take a long time (garbanzos, typically).
  • Soaking or not soaking: Pre-soaking will speed up the rehydration of beans. Methods below.
  • Ingredients used with the beans also can change the length of time that beans cook.
    • Acid will slow or even prevent beans from softening. Acids include tomatoes and vinegars. If you plan on cooking beans in an acidic sauce, you have two options: 1) soften the beans first, then add to the acidic sauce; or, 2) plan to cook for a long time and even then some beans may never soften (not a good choice).
    • Salt is more complicated. Some science-based sources I’ve read say that pre-soaking in salted water will speed up softening without making the skins too soft. I think it works, but others disagree. However, there is relative agreement that cooking beans in salted water slows down rehydration, so I recommend avoiding cooking beans in salted water.
    • Baking soda, in very small amounts, is used by some people to soften beans. This is particularly true if you are cooking beans in water with a high mineral content (i.e. hard water). I’ve very rarely used this method but some people swear by it. Add 1 tsp of baking soda per cup of dry beans, if you try this.
    • Kombu (dried kelp) is an excellent way to both add a bit of flavor to beans and also soften them. I’ve read various things about why it softens beans, but I don’t know if any of it is real. For example, “Kombu contains enzymes that help break down the raffinose sugars in beans, which are the gas-producing culprits.” Who knows. But it works for me!
    • Epazote (sometimes called Mexican oregano) is supposed to have similar properties for beans, helping to soften them. It smells odd in raw form, but it really does give beans a great flavor and I guess it may help soften the beans. Use about 1-2 tsp per pound of beans.
    • Water may have high mineral content (hard water). You may consider cooking beans in filtered water if you find your beans do not soften even after long cooking times.

Basic Bean Recipe

This recipe assumes you're using a Instant Pot. It is only a minor difference to instead use a stovetop pressure cooker; just use a timer and assume high pressure (except when low pressure is mentioned).
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Soak Time6 hours
Total Time7 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 0

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker
  • Spice bag

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup dry beans
  • 1 piece kombu about 4 square inches, which could be a 1” piece if it’s wide, or a 4” piece if it’s skinny – place in a spice bag to make it easy

Bean spices (options; place in spice bag, usually)

  • 1 Bay leaf I put one in nearly pot of beans
  • ½ tsp Peppercorns
  • ¼ tsp Red pepper flakes up to 1 tsp or so, great addition to make the beans spicy to their core
  • tsp Oregano
  • Other potential herbs: rosemary, sage, and thyme
  • 1 clove garlic or about ½ tsp granulated / powder
  • ¼ onion or shallots
  • 1-2 stalks carrots and celery these are particularly good additions if you plan on using the bean cooking water as the base of the rest of the dish.

Instructions

  • I recommend pre-soaking. Rinse the beans and remove any broken pieces. (You can leave in broken pieces if you are making a mashed-bean recipe.) Add to a medium mixing bowl along with about 1 quart water and 2 tsp salt. Mix well. Set aside for 4-8 hours, covered to make sure nothing gets into the soaking beans.
  • If you pre-soaked, drain the beans well before moving to the next step. If you did not pre-soak, measure and rinse the beans well before proceeding.
  • Place the beans in the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Cover with about 1” water – I think this is usually about 1 quart water, but it’s not more than 2 quarts for this few of beans. You don’t want too much water. Add your bean spices (from above options), either in a spice bag (or wrapped in cheesecloth) or into the pot directly. Secure the lid.
  • Set the desired pressure-cooking time and bring to pressure. See below for times.
  • Once the machine has stopped the pressure cycle, I would recommend canceling the “Keep Warm” function (if applicable). Allow pressure to release naturally. I think this is the most critical part for soft, well-cooked, but unbroken beans. You should, however, not let this go longer than 25 minutes if you want whole beans as letting the pressure stay elevated (and therefore the water to stay above-boiling) may overcook the beans.
  • If beans are not fully soft, you can bring to pressure again for 1-2 minutes and then release pressure manually and that should finish them off. If they seem to need a lot more time, try cooking for an additional 5 minutes and then releasing pressure after 10 minutes.

Bean quantity conversions

Converting beans across different types of measures is inherently difficult because each bean is different – pinto beans expand about 3x, but black beans may only expand about 2.5x. And lentils are on the lower end of all of the below quantities – 1 lb is about 2 cups, and 2 cups makes maybe only 5 cups of cooked lentils.

Here are my general rules of thumb. If I am trying to target a specific size of final beans, I tend to use a conservative estimate to make sure I have enough beans. For example, if a recipe calls for a can of beans, I will almost always use ¾ cup of dry beans.

Dry weightDry volumeCooked volumeEquivalent number of 15oz cans
16 oz / 1 lb.2 to 3 cups5 to 7 cups4 cans
8 oz / ½ lb.1 to 1.5 cups2.5 to 3 cups2 cans
4 oz / ¼ lb.1/2 to 3/4 cup~1.25 to 2 cups1 can

Favorite beans

Best place to order beans, by far, is Rancho Gordo because they have huge demand and so the beans are always very fresh. They also have great heirloom varieties grown in California and in Mexico that are subject to very good business practices. They usually sell for about $5-6 per pound, which is more than grocery story dry beans but it is totally worth it.

  • Mayocoba, canary or Peruano beans – great “refried” beans
  • Midnight black or Frijol Negro beans from Rancho Gordo are by far the best black bean
  • Flageolet beans (light green) are incredible with fennel and are a great stewed or braised bean
  • Ayocote Negro are huge black beans that are fantastic – they hold together well but still get creamy
  • Garbanzo – best garbanzos, to me, are the ones from Rancho Gordo kind, but I have recently gotten into Umbrian Chickpeas, which are a classic Italian variety (or are sourced from Italy
  • Kidney bean – they’re all good, I just get generic organic kinds and have had good luck
  • Hidatsa red beans are incredible for red beans and rice (especially with LOTS of paprika)

Bean Cooking Times

Bean (1 cup dry)Pre-soaked beans, natural releaseUnsoaked beans, natural releaseYields (from 1 cup dry)
Ayocote Negro14-16 minutes35-45 minutes3 cups
Black4-6 minutes24-28 minutes2-2.5 cups
Black-eyed peas3 minutes6-7 minutes2.5 cups
Cranberry7-10 minutes20-25 minutes2.5 cups
Desi chana30 minutesn/a3 cups
Flageolet8-10 minutes25-30 minutes2.5 cups
Garbanzos / chickpeas8-12 minutes30-40 minutes2.5 cups
Hidatsa red beans7-9 minutes20-25 minutes2.5 cups
Kidney5-8 minutes12-15 minutes2 cups
Mayocoba / Canary / Peruano5-8 minutes20-23 minutes3 cups
Pinto4-6 minutes20-25 minutes2.5 cups