How To Cook White Beans Delicious Recipes And Tips

This recipe works with most varieties of white beans, including cannellini beans, navy beans, great northern beans, baby lima beans, and butter beans. The beans you see in the pictures are dried Tuscan cannellini beans.

How to cook dried white beans?

Recipes with white beans

Recipes with white beans as a supporting ingredient:

More legume recipes

More cooking basics

Put the white beans in a colander and rinse them with water. Then add them to a large bowl and cover with cold water for 4 inches or 10 cm. Cover the bowl with a plate or cloth and soak for 8 to 24 hours. Tip: Longer soaking times mean shorter cooking time. Soaking is essential because it makes the beans tender and easier to digest. After 8 to 24 hours, the beans should have absorbed some water and doubled in volume. Drain and rinse them well under running water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and let them simmer until tender. Depending on the size and time of harvest, this can take 45 minutes to 2.5 hours. Add the salt 30 minutes into cooking. Skim off the foam that forms on the surface of the water. The beans are ready when you can easily press them between your thumb and index finger. They should mash easily and have a creamy texture.

Storage

Refrigerator: Transfer the white beans and their cooking liquid to a sturdy, airtight container. Let them cool down at room temperature with the lid cracked open, then store them in the fridge for five days. Freezer: Let the beans cool down in their liquid, drain them, and add them to a freezer-friendly bag. Freeze for three months. Thawing: Defrost over several hours in the fridge or add to soups and stews frozen. For this reason, they are excellent for making spreads and adding to soups and stews. You can even blend and use them as a creamer for pasta sauces, stews, soups, and many other recipes.