These are my best bean recipes. I include both canned bean recipes and dried bean recipes, and I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!
Canned bean recipes
Canned beans are a great resource to build on when making meals for your family, especially when you need to cook from your pantry.
Using canned beans is quick and convenient. Of course you can substitute cooked beans (that you cooked from dry) in the same measurements, and these will still work!
I know many of you cook up big batches of dried beans and put them in the freezer to use in recipes. By all means, use those if you have them.
So without further ado, here are my best canned bean recipes.🙌🏻
Chili – I have multiple chili recipes:
- Classic beef chili – Instant Pot, slow cooker and stove top instructions all included
- Healthy turkey chili (pictured) – Instant Pot, slow cooker and stove top instructions all included
- Instant Pot white chicken chili (soupier version, not thick) and
- Instant Pot vegetarian chili
Vegetarian nachos (pictured) – these use canned black beans. You could totally use salsa in place of the fresh tomatoes. I also have epic beef nachos supreme and chicken nachos, which use canned refried beans.👌🏻
Chili mac and cheese – feeds a huge crowd (or gives you great leftovers!)
Taco soup – very much resembles a chili type situation, but uses more cans and fewer fresh ingredients. Super delicious, and even the pickiest eaters go crazy for it. We love ours with a side of tortilla chips.
Taco Bowls – we love these! Seasoned ground beef, pintos, rice and all the toppings. SO good.
Chicken burrito bowls are very similar to the above, but they use Mexican shredded chicken instead of beef. I also have a chicken quinoa burrito bowl. We like canned black beans in these, but pintos would be great too.
Hummus – I have tons of options here!
Take your pick! Clearly, I love all kinds of hummus.😜😍🙌🏻
Chicken tortilla soup – I make Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup most of the time. The original recipe called for 1.5 pounds of chicken and a can of black beans. Lately I have been using just 1 pound of chicken, plus an added can of pinto beans to the black beans in the original recipe. I actually kind of like this better!
Oh yes, I also have a slow cooker chicken tortilla soup if you prefer. You could use the same modifications there, if you want more beans.
Cowboy caviar – use it as a dip, or a topping on quesadillas, tacos, nachos, etc. Heck, you could even eat it with a fork as more of a bean salad type side.
Quinoa black bean salad – this recipe is vegan, but everybody loves it! It can totally be a main dish, especially if you have have some avocado or guacamole to put on top. It also makes a great side to grilled chicken, fish or even tacos.
Vegetarian salad with chickpeas and eggs – great way to make a salad feel more filling, if you don’t want to use meat. If you can get your hands on fresh produce, this is a great one!
Dried bean recipes
These are my best dried bean recipes. Most of them are Instant Pot bean recipes, but there are some slow cooker bean recipes too.
Instant Pot pinto beans – I am so glad y’all are loving this one! It is super versatile. The original recipe is vegan/ vegetarian. But! You can cook these in any kind of stock, and you can absolutely use diced ham or a ham bone/ ham hock if you have one.
Instant Pot black eyed peas and ham – once a New Years staple, but these are making a comeback! 😎👊🏻Dried black eyes peas are so easy to keep on hand. As above, these are easy to modify. Just use bullion or stock, if you don’t have any ham or ham hock.
You can also freeze them after cooking. These make a ton, so freezing would be a great option to pull out as an easy, reheat-only side dish.
Seasoned black beans – I am getting a lot of people writing in saying this reminds them of their momma’s beans from various Latin American cultures (Cuba, Brazil, etc.). I am honored to think mine hold a candle to these cultures!🙌🏻 Of course, feel free to add ham, or use any type of stock (mine are vegan).
Vegan burrito bowls – you can absolutely do these with canned beans. But I much prefer my seasoned black beans in these. Since there is not meat, I think the seasoning on the beans is of utmost importance.
Lentil soup – a newish recipe, but many of y’all are already raving about it, which makes me super happy. Again, originally a vegan recipe, feel free to modify.
Black bean soup – I have and Instant Pot black bean soup 👈🏻 and a slow cooker black bean soup. Both are awesome!
Ham and 15 bean soup – slow cooker and Instant Pot instructions are included.
Red beans and rice – I have both and Instant Pot red beans and rice and a slow cooker red beans and rice. Both have gotten rave reviews, even from the authentic cajuns.👏🏻
Well, that’s it! Clearly I love writing bean recipes.😜 I hope this helps you feed your families during this time. Let me know if you try anything. Stay safe and well, friends. 🙏🏻💖 And be sure and stay connected on socials. We are doing a lot of vlogging-type stuff over on Instagram stories, if you are into that kind of thing.
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