Until recently, I had no idea how to cook dried beans fast and I really, really love beans! I could eat them every day. With anything. Or just plain. I love them with cilantro lime rice, shredded chicken, slow cooker barbacoa, topped with salsa, topped with fresh herbs, topped with cheese. So many options.
The only problem with using dried beans to satisfy my bean craving is that it can take soooo long. Until now.
I don’t know why I thought my only option to get savory, tasty beans was to soak them all day or overnight. You don’t have to do it. I promise you. If you’ve been wanting to know if there is a good way to cook dried beans fast, there is.
Your body will thank you.
How To Cook Dried Beans Fast
How To Cook Dried Beans Fast
No more soaking overnight! Learn how to cook dried beans fast!
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried beans
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 T salt
Instructions
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Cover the beans with water in a large pot, bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, set aside for at least an hour. When you're ready to cook the beans, drain and rinse, put back into a pot, cover with water again, add salt and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes.
I have started doing as instructed. I haven’t seen the outcome yet. But thank you. Cooking dry beans have been a nuisance to me
Thanks so much! It makes it so much easier this way.
Okay, Erin. I have been failing at cooking dried beans the same day for nearly 35 years now. I’m giving it a shot your way. If I fail again, I won’t hold you responsible. I’ll just make canned fava beans and fried eggs instead. But I REALLY want to make this spicy white chili. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Yay!!! I hope it is a huge success!!
I hope it was a success!!! Fingers crossed!!
You never updated us on if it worked I want to try it but NOBODY has given any type of after review or anything of the sort…. Now I’m hella nervous like I’m assuming if they were bad ppl would come back and let us know it didn’t work at the same time if they were good I’m assuming ppl would come back and tell us how good they were now I’m torn.. I’m just gonna do the soak as the 40 min so I don’t have to do the overnight soak and I gotta stick with the crockpot
Thanks for the advice,will cook some beans tomorrow
Thanks, Gloria!! So happy to hear that.
This technique worked! After 40 minutes of simmering, the skins flew off the beans when blowing on them. Time to get them in the bean pot, Thanks!
Thanks so much, Athena!
I call bullshit
Ha! It really works. I swear!
Does this work with kidney beans?
YES!! I have used this technique on lots of different beans.
This was a life saver when I forgot to soak beans overnight!! Thank you!
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
This didn’t work for my black beans. I added water 3 times and simmered for a couple hours. Ended up putting the pot in the fridge and went to bed.
Today I went to work, came home, tasted the beans. They’re good. Still firm with a good texture. Like next day beans but with extra work.
I’ll give it another try but I’m not confident it will work.
Hmmm… I haven’t done this with black beans! I will definitely give this method a try with them.
Thanks for the method you use. One question if you please, supposing I don’t rinse the beans after the one hour soak, but cook the beans in the water in which they were soaked; how about that?
I have not done it that way! If you do it, let me know if it works!
Can you dehydrate the beans and cook later quickly
I have not tried that!
I am so grateful for your simple and quick method of cooking dried beans.I tried this out today and it came out perfectly soft and delicious!
Thanks so much for your comment, Samantha! I am so glad it worked well for you.
I tried it with pinto, red, and black beans exactly as directed. They were all way too firm. I am trying to finish in a crockpot because I know cooking too long on the stove gives a burned flavor.
I am so sorry this method didn’t work for you! Did you try to cook all three types of beans at once?
Hi Erin thank you very much for this info. It’s my first time cooking beans period. At first I was turned off from trying to cook some pinto beans mainly cause every set of directions I came across made it seem like it took anywhere between 8 to 12 hours to cook. So I was quite pleased when I came across your post, I am in the mist of doing the final step (boiling\simmering). Do you think Cajun seasoning would go good with them just out of curiosity . Also as I mentioned before this is my first time ever cooking beans. How will I know that they are done or how would I know if I cooked them too long?
PS to the gentleman that was very rude. Why don’t you try it before just automatically trying to call bullshit on the post when clearly it’s worked for several other people.. If in fact you did try, but failed maybe you should go back through and redo it and read the steps carefully, because I don’t see how it would work for everyone else except for you. If on the other hand, you didn’t even try before being rude and voicing your opinion might I suggest you grow up a little bit? This young lady, put a lot of thought and effort into giving the world some great information. It was not necessary for you to be rude like you were.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment! I love adding cajun seasoning to just about anything. That would be delicious in beans.
This recipe worked perfectly. I used a 1 lb bag of red kidney beans.
So glad to hear that!
I think the speed of cooking hard dry beans may depend on just when those beans were harvested. If they’ve been sitting in a warehouse for 3 years or so prior to being put on the store shelves, they will take forever to cook regardless of what method you use. You would probably have to soak for many hours first, before cooking on the stove or in a slow cooker, for hours.
I have grown beans, harvested them hard and dry, and been amazed at how (relatively) fast they cooked up fast.
I hadn’t thought about that!
This process worked perfectly! I used Rancho Gordo Borlotti beans and as they appear a bit larger than standard, I cooked them a little longer than 45 minutes (maybe an extra 30?) and they came out SO creamy and delicious. This will be my go-to prep for beans going forward! I truly appreciate your clear and concise directions. Thank you!
I love Rancho Gordo beans! Glad this worked out for you!
Cooking dry beans this way has always worked for me. My mother-in-law also has a trick if the beans won’t soften enough. I noticed some brands don’t. During the last 20 minutes of cooking, add a pinch of baking soda. I was amazed!
Great tip! Thank you!