How Many Cups of Beans in a Can of Black Beans

Come across my go-to, foolproof black edible bean recipe! If you've ever wanted to larn how to cook black beans from scratch, this guide is for you. These beans are rich and flossy, yet lively and full of flavour. They rival the frijoles negros I've loved in Costa Rica, Mexico and Belize, and they make a succulent side dish or meal component.

Dwelling house-cooked blackness beans offer far more than flavor than canned beans, especially when you include the right seasonings. I'm thrilled with how these turn out. Dried beans are also less expensive than canned beans, and they reduce waste material (no cans to throw abroad).

Plus, blackness beans are very good for you. Black beans are rich in fiber and constitute-based protein, and a fantastic source of folate, thiamin (vitamin B1), phosphorus, manganese and magnesium. If you've ever read that beans are "unhealthy," information technology'due south because beans incorporate lectins until they've been sufficiently cooked. Lectins, which are naturally nowadays in many plant foods, are considered an anti-nutrient. If you're eating properly cooked beans, as instructed below, there'southward no reason for concern.

You might be surprised to hear that blackness beans are actually so blue that they appear black. Black beans are full of anthocyanins, a powerful group of flavanoids that also makes blueberries, purple cabbage and ruddy onions so nutritious. Y'all tin read all about black edible bean nutrition here.

If yous're learning to melt stale beans, offset them early. The wild menu with dried beans is that you lot'll never be 100 percent certain when they'll finish cooking. Better to start cooking well earlier you're in a rush for dinner. Let'due south get to it!

Watch How to Cook Black Beans

Black Bean Seasonings

Many blackness edible bean recipes incorporate salary or lard, but these beans are complimentary of meat products (they're vegetarian and vegan). I played around with spices and flavorings until I came up with a clear winner.

You can simplify the recipe by omitting any of the seasonings listed in the ingredients, but for the best flavor, I recommend using all of them. Hither's what I add together to the pot before cooking:

Red onion and garlic lend a savory backbone to these beans. We'll chop up the onion and add it raw (I tried cooking information technology first, as I practise for nigh recipes, but the flavor is distracting at that bespeak). We'll pare the cloves and add together them whole. Once the beans are washed, we'll just smash them against the side of the pot and stir them in. Piece of cake!
Bay leaves farther amplify the savoriness of these beans, offering an herbal flavour somewhat similar to oregano or thyme. Mexican black beans typically comprise an herb chosen epazote that is somewhat reminiscent of oregano, and so yous can encounter how bay leaf would work as well.
Extra-virgin olive oil (merely a splash) makes these beans cook upwards overnice and creamy.
Ground cumin is usually added to black beans, considering they're perfect together!
Orange zest offers a subtle "je ne sais quoi" flavor. Just one small strip (peeled with a vegetable peeler) makes a large deviation. I never would take thought to add together orange, just Serious Eats suggested this Cuban twist and I honey it.
Red pepper flakes lend some oestrus. If you prefer mild beans, reduce or omit them.

Afterward cooking, I like to stir in some chopped cilantro (skip it if y'all don't similar it) and a squeeze of lime juice to burnish up the whole pot.

Blackness Edible bean Yield & Conversions

Stale black beans are typically sold in one-pound bags, so I wrote this recipe to employ the whole bag. It yields a big pot of beans (nearly six cups). If you lot don't think you'll be able to finish off the whole pot within five days, you can easily halve the recipe, or freeze leftovers for later.

Here are some measurements and conversions that might be helpful:

Dried (raw) blackness beans: 1 pound = 16 ounces = scant 2 one/2 cups
1 pound stale black beans = 6 cups cooked black beans = four 15-ounce cans of cooked black beans
Each 1/2 cup of dried beans yields a little over 1 cup cooked beans

The Swell Edible bean Debates

To Soak, or Not to Soak

Here's a compelling statement for not soaking beans past Kenji Lopez on Serious Eats. In summary, un-soaked beans require merely marginally longer on the stove (as little as 20 minutes longer), have a deeper color (likely as well more nutrients), and amend season (less watered downwards).

Beans that are larger than black beans, such every bit chickpeas, may benefit from a soak. In my experience, soaking black beans is an unnecessary extra step.

To Common salt Before Cooking, or Afterwards

This is another highly contested matter, and once more, I leaned on Serious Eats for guidance. In their experiments, salted beans cooked more evenly. Unsalted beans really captivated besides much water and popped open up before their skins sufficiently softened. You can encounter their side-past-side comparison here.

Another bonus of salting early is that your beans will be more flavorful than if you reserved the same amount of salt until after cooking.

Stovetop vs. Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)

Cooking your beans on the stovetop is the way to become. I truly wanted to offer a reliable Instant Pot shortcut, but my Instant Pot bean experience has been too frustrating to recommend.

Hither's the problem: When you're cooking beans in a pressure cooker, you can't go on an middle on them. Cook times for beans in the Instant Pot vary with every batch, for reasons explained beneath. Many times, you'll need to re-pressurize the pot and melt the beans longer. How much longer is always a guessing game. Sometimes, the beans melt unevenly considering they run out of water along the way. Or, if you accidentally melt them a few minutes too long, the beans go mushy and bland.

You lot'll as well love stovetop blackness beans for their condensed, stewy cooking liquid. Information technology'south succulent! You'll never achieve the aforementioned nice cooking liquid with Instant Pot beans because the water can't evaporate during cooking. Instant Pot beans volition be watery, even if y'all manage to melt the beans properly—such beans would be fine as a replacement for drained canned beans, merely they won't make a great side dish on their own.

Timing Issues with Old Beans and Hard H2o

Here's the frustrating reality about cooking beans from scratch: You'll never know exactly how long they'll take to cook. Sometimes, very old beans volition never soften sufficiently.

If y'all just bought your beans from a store with good turnover, they might be done cooking afterwards but an hour-long simmer. Most probable, they'll be done by an hr and a half to 2 hours.

Check your bags for a harvest or expiration date. Ideally, nosotros'll cook them within a year of harvest. Store your beans in a dark, cool place in the pantry in an air-tight container. If you don't think how long your dried beans take been sitting in your pantry, I can't say how long they might take—or if they'll ever fully melt through. This is a risk you take with cooking beans from scratch.

Another factor, which surprised me, is that the minerals in hard water can slow the cooking process! I live in an area with difficult water, and I've witnessed the difference water can brand. We can thank Melissa Clark for this clue.

My fresh-from-the-store beans cooked upward in a mere hour when I used filtered h2o. My next batch, the same beans purchased at the same fourth dimension, took over an hour and a half considering I cooked them in tap water.

So, use filtered or distilled water if yous can. Here's a map of difficult water areas in the United States, and here'due south the affordable water filter (affiliate link) that seemed to improve my cooking time. I besides have a larger filter organisation at home, which is great.

How to Serve Black Beans

These black beans are a bang-up side dish to serve with Mexican, Cuban or other Latin American-inspired meals. Here are some of my favorite options.

Burritos: Sugariness Potato Burrito Smothered in Avocado Salsa Verde or Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos
Casseroles: Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserole
Chilaquiles: Chilaquiles Rojos or Chilaquiles Verdes
Enchiladas: Black Bean Sweet White potato Enchiladas, Spinach Artichoke Enchiladas or Veggie Black Bean Enchiladas
Quesadillas: x-Infinitesimal Quesadillas or Crispy Mushroom, Spinach and Avocado Quesadillas
Tacos: Favorite Breakfast Tacos, Halloumi Tacos with Pineapple Salsa & Aji Verde or Roasted Butternut Squash Tacos

Or, supersede the bean component in the following recipes with these home-cooked black beans:

Austin-Style Migas with Black Beans
Kale, Blackness Edible bean and Avocado Burrito Bowl
Elementary Kale and Black Bean Burritos
Southwestern Kale Power Salad with Sweet Potato, Quinoa & Avocado Sauce
Spicy Sweet Potato and Dark-green Rice Burrito Bowls

Lastly, these beans are a fantastic burrito bowl component. Add together any of the post-obit:

Rice: Cilantro-Lime Brown Rice or Mexican Chocolate-brown Rice
Something saucy: Classic Pico de Gallo, Flossy Avocado Dip, Cilantro Hemp Pesto, Guacamole, Red Salsa or Salsa Verde
Peradventure some extra greens or veggies: Chunky Avocado Salsa, Fresh Corn Salsa, Quick Collard Greens or Marinated Kale
Garnishes and accents: Quick-Pickled Onions, toasted pepitas, crumbled Cotija or feta cheese, sliced cherry tomatoes, etc.

View all of my recipes containing blackness beans hither.

How to Cook Blackness Beans

Author:
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Melt Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time: i hour 25 minutes
Yield: half dozen cups 1x
Category: Side dish
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Mexican
Diet: Vegetarian

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4.9 from 98 reviews

This foolproof recipe yields perfectly tender and delicious black beans. Brand a pot and savour black beans all week! No demand to soak the beans before using. Recipe yields 6 cups beans (the equivalent of 4 cans); yous can freeze leftovers or cut the recipe in half.

Calibration

Ingredients

1 pound (16 ounces or scant two ½ cups) dried blackness beans*
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 medium cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fine body of water salt
1 teaspoon basis cumin
One strip of orange zest, virtually 2 inches long by ½ inch broad
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (omit or reduce if sensitive to spice)
8 cups water**, more than if needed
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro, optional
1 tablespoon lime juice

Instructions

First, pick through your blackness beans for debris (sometimes tiny rocks tin sneak in). Identify the beans in a fine mesh colander or sieve and rinse very well. Pour the beans into a large Dutch oven or saucepan (4 quarts or larger in capacity).
Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, table salt, cumin, orange zest and red pepper flakes (if using) to the pot. Pour in the h2o.
Comprehend the pot and bring it to a boil over high estrus. Remove the lid and reduce the heat to low to maintain a gentle simmer. Give the beans a stir to brand sure none are stuck to the bottom of the pot, and ready a timer for 1 60 minutes. Leave the pot uncovered and adjust the rut as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer (you should see several pocket-sized bubbles popping to the surface at any given moment).
Once the timer goes off, test a couple of beans by using a fork to press them against the side of the pot. If they're easy to press through, gustation a few (advisedly! they're hot!) to see if they're sufficiently plump, tender and succulent.
Otherwise, continue cooking, testing in 15 to 30 minute intervals every bit needed, until they're done. If you're running low on liquid, add water in 1-cup increments so the beans are covered at all time. (As mentioned in the post, if your beans are old, they tin can have several hours to melt and crave a lot more water, and some very old beans may never cook through.)
Once the beans are very tender and tasty, you can increase the heat a little to reduce the cooking liquid into a more than gravy-like consistency, about 5 to fifteen minutes (information technology volition keep to thicken upwards every bit the beans absurd).
Remove the pot from the heat. Carefully remove the orange zest and both bay leaves. Use a fork to press the garlic against the side of the bowl to pause information technology upwards. Add the cilantro, if using, and lime juice. Stir to combine. Flavor to sense of taste with additional salt, if needed. Use every bit desired.
Let leftover beans to cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 to 5 days. You can also freeze leftover beans for several months.***

Notes

Recipe created with guidance from Serious Eats.

*Bean note: It's very important that your beans are fresh. Freshly purchased beans from a store with practiced turnover can cook in as little as one 60 minutes. Older beans tin can require several hours on the stove (and several more cups of water). Very old beans may never soften all the manner through, and volition never be suitable for consumption.

**Water notation: If you live in an surface area with hard water, the minerals in the water may impede the cooking process (your beans will take longer to cook). Use distilled or filtered h2o if possible.

***Freeze it: I like to freeze leftover beans with their cooking juices in wide-oral cavity, pint-sized mason jars. You could also apply small-scale freezer bags—once frozen flat, they can exist stacked. Regardless of your container, be sure that your beans have cooled to room temperature before freezing. If you're using a rigid container (instead of a bag), allow some room at the top for expansion, and await until the beans are fully frozen before securely attaching an air-tight chapeau. Defrost the containers in the fridge for several hours earlier using as desired.

▸ Diet Data

The data shown is an approximate provided past an online nutrition calculator. Information technology should not exist considered a substitute for a professional person nutritionist'south communication. See our full diet disclosure hither.

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Source: https://cookieandkate.com/best-black-beans-recipe/