Beans Beans Beans Recipe

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Beans made in the slow cooker over night what can be easier when using dried beans of any kind?

We have done this for some many years and continue to save money making beans from dry packaging that in a crockpot overnight is super simple and does all the work.

Dried beans never seems to get soft enough just soaked in water, but the slow cooker method does the trick so they come out perfect every time.

IF you love beans try my 20 Beans Recipes, there's something for everyone here.

We still sort them and make sure they are free from all the impurities so rinse, sort and fill your slow cooker with water, set it an forget it till they're nice and soft.

Keep it on low if it's an overnight process, the beans will soften within a four hour period on high.







Easy Steps



If You Don't want to read this whole post:
  1. clean, sort, rinse whatever beans you liked
  2. fill the slow cooker with water
  3. add the beans
  4. place on low for up to 6 hours or on high for 4 hours
Note: if your using lentils or very small Great northern they take less time 2 to 3 hours on high we do not recommend overnight soaking







I am amazed at how much food has gone up. Dealing with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and rising food costs, gave me just a few of the many reasons to use dried beans instead of canned.

Easy to do and so much healthier knowing it's not canned and full of salt.

It's easier than I thought.

I bought several varieties, washed and sorted them then in the crockpot at bedtime they went in the pot.

Ten cups of water to a bag got up in the morning the house smelled wonderful, drained them.

Took what I needed, and into the zip locks, bags went the rest, and then to the freezer!

Wow, how simple. No salt, no mess, inexpensive, the crockpot did the work. What is better than this.




Not only did they taste better, but they were also easier to store than cans and no recycling!

So, I bought red beans, black beans, lentils, northern beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans.

Wow, the money I am going to save and can make so many wonderful meals with these. I thought this was going to be such a chore.

Chili has never been easier, a package of dried beans cost $1.29 and made a full 4 quarts of beans.

Can you imagine the amount of money we spend on all those cans? So it just takes the night before to prepare the beans that will last you a long time in the freezer for up to 3 to 6 months depending on what kind they are.



So, before you go to bed, just wash the dried beans in water, add water to the crockpot and when you wake up.....oh boy do you have beans....lots of them, perfect and ready to add to that special dish your going to make.
Nothing to it!
So here are the many reasons I have found to use dried over canned any day of the week!

Price the purchase of dried beans, they are so inexpensive.
You get a significant amount of more beans by forgoing the canned varieties.
What a difference in price! Sodium-free, you can add what you want, and salt is so bad for your arteries or in general for you.
Canned beans are loaded with salt!

Healthier for sure, and I can tell you dried beans in a package have to have a longer shelf life than cans, and you don't have to worry about botulism in these beans.

No chemicals no preservatives!
.
Much tastier.
My husband woke up to this incredible aroma in the house, after cooking in the crockpot all night, it was amazing how great those beans smell through the house.

Plus slow cooking dried beans is far tastier than eating precooked canned beans.

There is no waste and nothing to worry about throwing out, cans, etc. so it's even good for our recycling! No cans!




So many kinds to chose from.

You may find in the dried bean section several you can't find canned.

It’s awesome to try new varieties every now and then and bypass the canned bean aisle with the same old stuff.

You can use them for the freezer for soups, chili, rice dishes, so many uses. The control in how firm, juicy, or mushy the final bean will be.

Personally, the less I expose myself to chemicals the better.

You can store stacked in the freezer which requires less space than storing canned beans.

Fast and easy prep. So why not try this, it just makes perfect sense. At least you will wake up with a wonderful mouth-watering aroma......thanks for reading ... and try some of these recipes below.

 Pasta Fazool
Old World Bean Chili
Italian White Chicken Chili
Escarole and Beans
Chickpea Shrimp Diavolo
Grandma's Ham, Bacon and Lentil Soup
Depression Bean Soup
Best Split Pea Soup
Lamb Chili and Burgundy Wine
Italian Chili Mac




15 comments

  1. Good idea to freeze beans for later use, if I could find room in the freezer, too many leftovers ....I like using the crockpot too

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  2. Aren't you clever! I use dried beans in lots of things (I know, aren't they so much cheaper?) but I never thought to make the whole thing overnight and then have them on hand. You are a genius!

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  3. Great tip! I definetely need to buy myself a crockpot!!

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  4. Thanks for the idea of freezing the dried beans. I use dried beans whenever possible--they just taste better. That they're better for you and less expensive is a bonus.

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  5. this is a great Idea, I wanted to start using beans that are not out of the can but have always thought that it's to long of a process. But after this I'm definitely trying this tonight and tomorrow going to have nachos with them and with some left over steak.

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  6. I really wish I could do this and freeze the beans - but our freezer is just full to the hilt. We have a side by side and it doesn't give us a lot of freezer space. It is so much healthier and economical.

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  7. great idea..so glad I found it..I almost missed the beans!!

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  8. Great post! You have some great information here!
    You should come check out our blog where every dish features the use of dry beans!

    Thanks for posting!

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  9. I have a new crock pot and now I have another good use for it, thanks for the tips! I have something for you on my blog. Happy Friday!

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  10. I do love this recipe and use something similar a lot. Use them dried also. Just soak them the night before.

    I did receive your messages - I am nuts with work and yes, would love to use your torrone recipe. The catch is - for Examiner- I need to make it myself and then link to you. But will not do so without permission. Happy weekend!

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  11. Every time I make beans, I can't help but chant "Beans, beans the magical fruit. The more you the more you..."

    Is that so juvenile of me?

    Anyway, love your idea of freezing the beans!

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  12. i love using dried beans. I recently started using them when I realized they were cheaper and they taste better! I use them for my meals and then make a dip or hummus with the leftovers for lunch. your picture is beautiful!

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  13. Its so refreshing to read a post including dried beans. They seem so daunting and time consuming, but this post is very inspiring to try them :) thanks!!!

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  14. this looks very healthy I haven't frozen beans
    thank you for sharing Claudia
    and your comment on the yogurt frozen true it is a taste to get used to and becomes something enjoyable

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