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New York Times
31-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
Our Ultimate Guide to Making Beans From Scratch
Everything you need to know about the home cook's secret weapon. Do yourself a favor and always keep beans on hand. Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff. Published March 31, 2025 Updated March 31, 2025 [This article was originally published on April 13, 2016.] Easy, forgiving, healthy and economical, beans are a home cook's secret weapon. Yes, canned beans are convenient, but knowing how to cook dried beans gives you flexibility, and makes for a far more delicious meal. This guide will tell you everything you need to know about preparing beans and some of their relatives in the legume family, including lentils and split peas, both on the stove and in the pressure- or slow-cooker. Check for a date on the beans; freshness matters. Dried beans last up to two years, but are best cooked within a year of harvest. Always rinse beans before cooking, and check for stray rocks, twigs and leaves. Leave substantial time for bean soaking (either overnight or using our shortcut method) and cooking. If you are short on time, choose lentils or adzuki beans, which cook quickly and don't need soaking. To add more flavor, consider cooking your beans in stock or broth instead of water (and see our chapter on seasonings for more ideas). There are dozens of varieties of beans, but these are the ones you're most likely to encounter. Use this list to figure out what to buy when you want them to fall apart into a soup or dal (lentils, flageolet and split peas), or hold their shape for salads (adzuki, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, cranberry and kidney). As a general rule, 1 cup dried beans makes about 3 cups cooked. Craig Lee for The New York Times Adzuki: These small, scarlet beans cook quickly, with a sweet flavor. They're often used in Japanese bean paste desserts, but are versatile enough for salads, soups and stews. Black: Also known as turtle beans, these full-flavored beans are classic in Latin American cooking, usually for soups and stews. Black-eyed peas: These small earthy-flavored beans, also known as crowder peas and cowpeas, are particularly cherished in Southern cooking. Cannellini: These mild, starchy white beans are often used in soups and stews, particularly in Italian cooking. Chickpeas: These nutty-tasting legumes, also known as garbanzo beans, are used all the globe in many guises: soups, stews, dips and even fried or roasted as a snack. Cranberry: These red-and-brown speckled beans have a rich, toasty flavor. They hold their shape well for salads, soups and stews. Fava: Dried favas, also known as broad beans, have a very strong, meaty flavor and a somewhat thick skin. Beloved in Middle Eastern cuisine, they are made into soups, stews and salads. Flageolet: These are a creamy, smooth, pale green-to-white-hued bean from France with a thin skin. They work well for soups and purées. Great Northern: These large white beans with a firm texture and gentle, nutty flavor are great for stews and soups. Kidney: These large red beans are often used in salads and chili. Some people find them particularly hard to digest, but soaking and rinsing before cooking can help, as does using a pressure cooker. Lentils: There are several varieties of these tiny legumes, ranging from shiny black beluga lentils, which remain nicely intact for salads, to orange-hued 'red' lentils, which collapse into a thick purée when simmered. In between, there are brown lentils (good all-purpose lentils) and more expensive French green lentils, also called Puy lentils, which take a bit longer to cook and have a nice sweet flavor. All lentils are relatively quick-cooking and don't need any presoaking. Lima : Large white dried lima beans take on a velvety, creamy texture after simmering, and hold their shape well. Navy: These small white beans have a nutty flavor, and cook more quickly than other white beans. They are the traditional choice for Boston baked beans. Like red kidney beans, they can be easier to digest if you soak and rinse before cooking. Pinto: These are small brownish-pink beans frequently used in Mexican and other Latin American cooking, particularly for refried beans, stews and chili. Split peas: Green or yellow split peas are small legumes often used in soups, and in the case of the yellow ones, Indian dals. They do not need to be soaked before cooking. Julia Gartland for The New York Times. (Photography and Styling) Soaking your beans helps them cook faster and more evenly, and it can also make them easier to digest. If you add salt to the soaking water (in other words, make a brine), your beans will cook even faster; the salt helps break down their skins. Here are a few methods; choose the one that best fits your schedule. And keep in mind that you never need to soak legumes like lentils or split peas. Craig Lee for The New York Times To soak beans the traditional way, cover them with water by 2 inches, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine salt) per pound of beans, and let them soak for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain them and rinse before using. Another option is quick-soaking, which allows you to make a pot of beans within a few hours flat without sacrificing flavor or texture. Put the beans in a pot on the stove, cover with water by two inches, add salt if you like, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let them soak for an hour. Drain, rinse and proceed with your recipe. Here's a secret you may not know: You don't actually have to soak your beans at all. Just add them to your pot and plan on cooking your recipe for another hour or two beyond the usual cooking time. Keep an eye on the level of liquid, adding more water, broth or stock if the pot looks dry. There should always be liquid covering your beans as they cook. You can simmer beans and other legumes in nothing but plain water with salt and get great results. But before you start cooking, take a minute to add the herbs, spices, stock and aromatics that make beans even better. Even a humble onion and a bay leaf works wonders. Craig Lee for The New York Times There's a myth out regarding beans and salt — specifically, that you should never salt your beans before cooking because the salt keeps them from cooking through. That's just not true. You can add salt to your bean pot at the beginning of cooking, and your beans will be better seasoned for it. If you've ever cooked beans for hours without them softening, it's probably because you're using old beans, or you've got hard (mineral-rich) water, or there's an acidic ingredient in the pot, which can slow down cooking. Using distilled water solves the hard water problem. (And soaking your beans in salt water before cooking not only adds flavor, it can also help them cook more quickly.) Don't stop at salt and black pepper. Spices like cumin, cinnamon, coriander, ground chiles and allspice add depth and complexity to your bean pot and are traditional additions in many cultures. To give spices a richer character, toast them in the pot for a few minutes until you can smell them, then add beans and liquid. Fresh or dried branchy herbs — rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, oregano, sage — work best with beans when they are added at the beginning of cooking. Tie them up with some kitchen string if they are still on their branches, or just throw them into the pot if you don't mind retrieving them later. For a good, all-around basic bouquet garni, tie 1 bay leaf (preferably fresh) together with a sprig or 2 of rosemary, a couple of thyme sprigs and some parsley and/or sage. Loose dried herbs can be tossed directly into the cooking liquid. Soft herbs — cilantro, basil, parsley, chives — can be scattered on top of cooked beans as a garnish, or added during the last 15 or so minutes of simmering. A few aromatics added to your bean pot at the beginning of cooking turns the pot liquor into a rich, heady broth. Add garlic, celery, carrots, chiles, ginger, onions, leeks – anything that you'd add to a stock will work well with beans. Tie aromatics up in cheesecloth for easy removal, or just throw them into the pot and fish them out later. Consider cooking your beans in stock instead of water. Vegetable, chicken or beef stock will add a rich depth of flavor; consider chicken stock for cannellini beans, or vegetable stock for lentils. If you use stock, you may want to adjust the amount of salt you add to your beans. If you decide to add meat to your pot, put it in at the beginning of cooking. Bacon and ham (or a ham bone) will add wonderful smokiness that pairs deliciously with pinto, cranberry or white beans. After the beans have finished cooking, remove the meat, chop it up and add it back to the pot. Christopher Testani for The New York Times You've soaked your beans (or maybe not) and they're ready for some heat. Simmering them on the stove is the time-honored method, and we'll tell you how to do it. But you can also cook them in a slow cooker or a pressure cooker — whatever you prefer. Place your beans in your pot and cover them with at least 2 inches of water, and turn the heat to low. Stir them gently and occasionally, never letting them hit a strong boil; this can burst their skins and make them mushy or unevenly cooked. Depending upon the variety, dried beans will cook quickly (about 15 minutes for red lentils) or slowly (up to 3 to 4 hours for unsoaked chickpeas or lima beans). To use a slow cooker, cover your beans with 2 inches of water or broth and salt to taste, and toss any aromatics you like into the pot. Set your machine to the low setting and cook until the beans are done, usually 3 to 6 hours. If you are cooking kidney beans, you need to boil them on the stove for 10 minutes first before adding them to the slow cooker. This makes them much more digestible. Christopher Simpson for The New York Times To cook beans in a pressure cooker, place your soaked or unsoaked beans with enough water to cover by 2 inches into the pressure cooker. Add salt, any aromatics you like, and a tablespoon of neutral oil to help keep the foam from clogging the vent. Make sure not to exceed the maximum fill line for your brand of pressure cooker. This is usually around the halfway mark for beans. Cook at high pressure for anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes for small beans such as black-eyed peas, lentils and split peas, to up to 35 to 40 minutes for larger beans such as chickpeas. Soaked beans will cook more quickly than unsoaked beans. How do you know when your beans are ready to eat? Read on for the signs that it's time to taste — and don't toss that cooking liquid. To make sure your beans are cooked thoroughly, scoop up a couple of beans and blow on them. The skin should curl and wrinkle. Then taste. They are done when they're tender and cooked through to the center (but not mushy). Let them cool in their cooking liquid. A tip: Don't throw out your bean cooking liquid, that tasty pot liquor. Salt it if need be, and save it. It's basically a rich vegetarian stock that freezes well for up to six months; use it as you would any other chicken or vegetable stock. Craig Lee for The New York Times How and where you store your beans, lentils and more, both before and after cooking, can dramatically affect flavor and texture. Store uncooked dried beans in a dark, cool cabinet for up to a year. They really go downhill after two years, so throw out all your old beans, especially if you can't remember when you bought them. If you can find a harvest date on your package of beans, all the better. Some beans may have been stored in a warehouse for months or even a year before they arrive at your market. Cooked beans are best stored in their cooking liquid in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or drain the beans and toss them with a little oil, salt and pepper (or a vinaigrette) before chilling. This both preserves them and flavors them. Beans can turn mushy in the freezer, but if you do want to try to freeze them, do so in their cooking liquid.
New York Times
11-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
15 Easy Dinners That Start With a Can of White Beans
It's time to spill the beans … literally. Melissa Clark's white bean salad with crisp cheese is a hearty, delicious no-cook recipe that starts with canned beans. Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Published March 11, 2025 Updated March 11, 2025 Canned white beans are a hero of weeknight cooking. Like their chickpea counterpart, they're cheap, easy to use and highly adaptable. And, unlike dried beans, which need to soak overnight, this hearty pantry staple turns into a delicious dinner in practically no time. Here are 15 recipes that let them shine. Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. 'Marry me beans.' 'Pizza beans.' 'THA BEANSSS.' No matter what you call them, one thing's for sure: You'll love Alexa Weibel's recipe, which has earned something like celebrity status on Reddit. You might ask yourself after making this dish, as this one punny commenter did, 'Where has this recipe bean all my life?' Recipe: Creamy, Spicy Tomato Beans and Greens Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Hetty Lui McKinnon coats braised leeks in a punchy miso vinaigrette, then tosses them with creamy white beans and serves with a jammy egg for a comforting midweek meal. If you like to meal prep, the miso leeks get better over time and can be made up to three days in advance. Recipe: Miso Leeks With White Beans Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. This Sue Li recipe, based on lemon, leeks, garlic and butter, comes together quickly enough for dinner on a busy night, but also feels special enough for a party. Feel free to substitute the shrimp with a flaky white fish or seared scallops, or feed a larger group by serving it over pasta. Recipe: Lemony Shrimp and Bean Stew Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. This versatile recipe from Hetty Lui McKinnon pairs bok choy (or whatever other sturdy green you have on hand) with an assertive ginger-maple dressing and, of course, white beans. Cilantro adds even more brightness, lifting the beans out of winter and into spring. Recipe: Charred Bok Choy and Cannellini Bean Salad Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Melissa Clark gives a cheesy bean bake a fiery glow-up in this easy weeknight recipe. For some heat, she recommends adding your favorite chile crisp or chile paste slowly, tasting as you go. (Different brands vary in their spiciness.) The hot beans are then topped with Cheddar and baked until the cheese has melted and toasted around the edges. Recipe: Cheesy Chile Crisp White Beans Kerri Brewer for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. You could soak dried beans for this vegetarian Moroccan stew and get a truly lovely dinner, but Nargisse Benkabbou gives you the quicker option of using canned beans. This generous recipe hangs out beautifully in the fridge, even making a great breakfast with fried eggs or a lunch side with grilled meat. Recipe: Loubia (White Bean and Tomato Stew) David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Christian Reynoso simmers shallots, garlic, stock and cannellini beans (or any other creamy white beans) until soft, then adds a cup of grated Parmesan for a silky, pesto-inspired meal that yields maximum flavor with minimal effort in just 35 minutes. Recipe: Pesto Beans David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Did you know you can marinate canned beans? That's what Melissa Clark does here, infusing them with brightness and a touch of heat via red-pepper flakes. While the beans marinate, and the pasta cooks, she sautés asparagus in olive oil for a layered dish that's ready in 30 minutes. Recipe: Lemony Pasta With Asparagus and White Beans David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Soy sauce and harissa are the special ingredients in Yasmin Fahr's nontraditional take on a classic. Dress it up however you like, but skip the finish of yogurt or sour cream and the final sprinkle of cheese to keep it vegan. Recipe: Harissa and White Bean Chili Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. While refried beans are typically made with pinto or black beans, they don't have to be. Here, Ali Slagle uses canned white beans whose extra-starchy liquid speeds up cooking time, then adds a rich, spicy egg for a full meal. Tip: You can also cut some of the richness by finishing each egg with a few drops of vinegar. Recipe: Refried White Beans With Chile-Fried Eggs Kerri Brewer for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards. Carolina Gelen's five-ingredient recipe is the perfect choice for when you need a low-effort meal to warm you up. Top with crunchy garlic chips and sink into the couch with your favorite comfort movie. Recipe: Garlicky Alfredo Beans David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. 'When I told my friend that this was the best thing I'd ever eaten, she said 'How can that be?' IT BE,' one reader commented on Melissa Clark's 30-minute pantry masterpiece. Canned beans are quickly braised with olive oil, rosemary, tomato, chile flakes and lemon zest until the skins burst. Cooked down onions add both texture and a sweet, caramelized element. Recipe: Rosemary White Beans With Frizzled Onions and Tomato Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Yotam Ottolenghi cleverly uses halloumi in this quick weeknight pasta. He has you grate it to add fluffiness to the pasta as well as a delicious cheesiness. Lemon pulls it from the edge of being too rich as does an elegant pesto cleverly built on arugula. Recipe: Pesto Pasta With White Beans and Halloumi Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. The textures and flavors in this hearty salad from Melissa Clark are delightful, especially because it comes with very little effort. Thin slices of fennel bring sweetness, while baby arugula and fresh basil add some green. Then, just before serving, crumbled store-bought Parmesan crisps are tossed in, making the whole thing crunchy, salty and very fun to eat. Recipe: White Bean Salad With Crispy Cheese Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. This 30-minute soup from Ali Slagle owes its deep, complex flavor to a full head of garlic browned and simmered with canned white beans and tomatoes and then blended until creamy. Make it spicy with harissa, smoked paprika or chipotle. Serve with a crusty bread or top with pesto, croutons, cheese, cooked grains, greens or a fried egg. The possibilities are endless. Recipe: Tomato and White Bean Soup With Lots of Garlic Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram , Facebook , YouTube , TikTok and Pinterest . 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New York Times
05-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
15 Easy Baking Recipes for When You Really, Really Need a Treat
15 Easy Baking Recipes for When You Really, Really Need a Treat Be ready when the craving strikes. This banana bread is made even better with the simple addition of espresso powder and cardamom. Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Sometimes baking is about the journey: It's fun to whisk warm sugar into egg whites for an Italian meringue, then fold it carefully into a batter. And sometimes, it's about the destination. You want a baked good — as soon as possible. That's when the recipes below come in handy. Rest assured that they're just as satisfying as those bigger baking projects, but, this time, you can linger over the eating, and not the whisking or kneading. Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. You don't have to cut butter into flour in this simple recipe, which is easier, even, than a classic cream scone recipe. Here, Genevieve Ko instead drops the batter onto a sheet pan, ensuring there's no chance of overworking the dough (and practically guaranteeing success). The recipe calls for blueberries, but you can fold in any seasonal fruit — dried or fresh. Recipe: Easy Blueberry Cream Scones Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. These cookies come together in one bowl, but what's even better is how Samantha Seneviratne, who created the recipe, lets you skip scooping and shaping individual balls of dough. Just bake all the dough in one skillet. It's easier, and who doesn't love a giant cookie? Simply slice it into triangles, and serve it warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Recipe: Skillet Chocolate-Chip Cookie Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. This quick, easy banana bread recipe from Sheela Prakash levels up the complexity of the original by adding cardamom and coffee, a well-loved combination in the Middle East. A coffee glaze on top drives home its flavor, but it is an extra step, so if you want to keep it easy, just sprinkle the bread with Demerara sugar for added texture. Recipe: Cardamom Coffee Banana Bread Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Setting aside any lengthy discourse about what makes for a buckle versus a cobbler versus a crumble, this easy dessert from Vallery Lomas really lets the fruit shine. An ultra buttery batter strings together apple slices, which become jammy and caramelized when they bake, for a dessert that isn't a pie but is still all about apples. Recipe: Easy Apple Buckle Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. We're in a golden age of microwave desserts: This Ali Slagle recipe is big enough for two, providing double the comforting flavors of sticky toffee pudding. A cool scoop of vanilla ice cream on top is absolutely advised. Recipe: Microwave Sticky Toffee Pudding Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi. This classic cake from Yossy Arefi is a must if you're looking for an easy, satisfying bake. The batter is sturdy, so it will unmold from even the most elaborate Bundt pan, which, in turn, gives the illusion that you went to more effort than you actually did. Recipe: Vanilla Bundt Cake Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. This chocolate cake from Amanda Hesser tastes so much more complicated than it actually is. Simply mix all of the ingredients over medium heat in a pot, and then you 'dump it,' or pour it, all into a cake pan. The icing is just melted chocolate chips stirred together with sour cream. Some commenters suggest choosing high-quality dark chocolate instead, but it's also perfect as is. Recipe: Chocolate Dump-It Cake Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Sohla El-Waylly uses store-bought puff pastry for this delightful large-format almond croissant. Simply thaw frozen all-butter puff pastry in the refrigerator and bake crisp. Then, make the almond filling, which goes between and on top of the pastry, and bake it once more, for a showstopping brunch centerpiece. Recipe: Giant Almond Croissant Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Pie is difficult, but crisps? Crisps are easy — especially in this Ali Slagle recipe, which doesn't even require turning on the oven. You'll make a topping in the microwave, and then simmer frozen berries on the stovetop until they form a compote, adding a few closer to the end for pops of fresh fruit flavor. Since you add the crisp at the end, you ensure that it stays just that way — crisp. Recipe: Stovetop Berry Crisp Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards. Lemon bars are a go-to easy dessert, but this Melissa Clark recipe adds sophistication with olive oil and sea salt. An oil with lots of herbaceous, peppery flavor will lend adult complexity to the dessert you made with your mom as a kid. Recipe: Lemon Bars With Olive Oil and Sea Salt Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Carrie Purcell. Strawberries aren't in season (for now), but the beauty of this simple cake from Jerrelle Guy is how defrosted frozen berries work just as well. The warm, jammy and caky scoops are excellent on their own, or garnished with ice cream or ribbons of fresh basil. Recipe: Strawberry Spoon Cake Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. When you want an easy dessert, brownies are an obvious choice (and we certainly have a recipe for them), but get a little more creative by making Vaughn Vreeland's cross between brownies and cookies. They scratch that itch for a chewy, fudgy dessert — and, great news — they bake in way less time. Recipe: Chewy Brownie Cookies Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Laurie Ellen Pellicano. If you've never tried a cake that uses a whole orange — yes, including the peel — let this be your sign. The orange is bright and sweet in Samantha Seneviratne's recipe, but including the rind adds an intriguing and pleasant bitterness, like candied peel or marmalade. An orange juice glaze ensures that you'll want to slice off a little piece to have with coffee for breakfast. Recipe: Whole-Orange Snack Cake Lisa Nicklin for The New York Times These cookies, adapted from 'The King Arthur Flour Cooking Companion' have all the jammy, buttery appeal of a linzer cookie, but they're far less complicated. There's no rolling or stamping out dough. There is, however, rice flour, but if you don't have any, feel free to use all-purpose. Recipe: Shortbread Jammers Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Judy Kim. Genevieve Ko's one-bowl version of a classic is the perfect snacking cake to keep around for guests who might drop in (or for yourself, when little treat o'clock strikes). In another twist, instead of cream cheese frosting, the cake gets a sour cream and cream cheese topping baked on top of it for a result that's a cross between cheesecake and carrot cake and easier to make than either. Recipe: One-Bowl Carrot Cake Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.
