recipes

86 Bean Recipes to Always Keep in Your Back Pocket

What's for dinner tonight? These 86 great recipes for beans.
Image may contain Plant Food Vegetable Bean Produce and Soy
Photo by Gentl & Hyers

Beans are healthy, delicious, and cheap. Maybe THAT'S why they're called the magical fruit… Well, anyway, here's a heck of a lot of canned and dried bean recipes!

  • kale minestrone with pistou
    Christopher Testani
    1/86

    Kale Minestrone With Pistou

    This rave-worthy soup is all about layering powerful flavor-enhancers that you probably already have on hand—tomato paste, herbs, Parm, and, of course, kosher salt.

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  • Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food Styling  by Mieko Takahashi, Prop styling by Emma Ringness
    2/86

    Boston Baked Beans

    Rich, smoky, and complexly sweet, these from-scratch baked beans are worth the long—mostly hands-off—cook time.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Dayna Seman
    5/86

    Homemade Refried Beans

    This refried beans recipe comes from cookbook author Rick Martinez’s dad, who uses salt pork and bacon drippings for deeply savory beans.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Chris Morocco, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen
    6/86

    Caramelized Leek and Fava Bean Toast

    Piled high with softened leeks and fresh fava beans, this tartine might—might!—make you forget about avocado toast.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig
    15/86

    Low-Commitment Wedding Soup

    This recipe takes all the right shortcuts and none of the wrong ones.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Chris Morocco
    16/86

    Smooth and Spicy Pinto Bean Soup

    Some of us still have nightmares about bad puréed black bean soups that were once a “thing.” Creamy puréed pinto beans, chiles, and lots of mix-ins set this soup on the right path.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Sue Li, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    23/86

    Weeknight Beans on Toast

    This recipe will make more ragù than you need, but the leftovers can be repurposed as a quick topper for pasta on another night.

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  • Alex Lau
    24/86

    Rigatoni with Sausage, Beans, and Greens

    Our favorite and best method of making pasta—the same one the pros use in restaurants—is one in which the pasta finishes cooking in a glossy sauce made by emulsifying cheese into the pasta cooking liquid. It’s so easy and good it might change your life (or if not your entire life, then definitely your weeknight pasta game).

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    27/86

    Crispy Mushrooms With Creamy White Beans and Kale

    If you’ve ever tried maitake mushrooms, then you already know this, but they have an unbelievably rich flavor and aroma of piney forest floor and fresh fallen leaves. This recipe celebrates everything we love about them.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Yekatarina Boytsova
    28/86

    Chicken Tinga Tostadas With Bacony Black Beans

    Everything you could possibly want in a tostada (and then some): shredded chicken smothered with a smoky, spicy tomato salsa, bacony refried beans, and a smattering of cilantro and cheese.

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  • Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    31/86

    Navy Bean and Escarole Stew with Feta and Olives

    There’s no stock in this wintry vegetarian stew recipe—it relies on the starchy bean cooking liquid for its flavor (which is a polite way of saying sorry, but you can’t use canned beans here and get the same results).

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  • Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    32/86

    Sausage, Greens, and Beans Pasta

    The genius of this pasta recipe is in the contrast of the textures and flavors. If spicy isn’t your thing, sub in any fresh sausage you like.

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  • Alex Lau
    49/86

    Chicken Stew with Cannellini Beans and Dried Cherries

    If you’re not following our weekly meal plan and not making the Grilled Cheese (though you really should; it’s delightful), which you need wheat bread for, use country loaf or sourdough bread, crusts removed, for optimal breadcrumbs for this chicken stew recipe. Check out step-by-step photos here.

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  • Photo by Ditte Isager
    50/86

    Spicy Beans and Wilted Greens

    Two humble ingredients have big impact here: The Parmesan rind adds richness; the dried beans deliver creaminess.

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  • Peden + Munk
    53/86

    Brothy Beans

    When your beans are tender, take them off the heat and focus on the cooking liquid, doctoring it with good olive oil, salt, and pepper, tasting and seasoning it until the liquid itself is straight-up delicious.

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  • Alex Lau
    54/86

    Butter Bean Ragout

    Customize it: Use carrot instead of celery root and any other white bean (gigante, cannellini) you like.

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  • Alex Lau
    71/86

    Coconut Rice and Peas

    If you opt for canned instead of dried beans in this recipe, they won’t be quite as creamy, but you’ll save yourself some time.

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  • Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    72/86

    Stewed Cannellini Beans with Chiles and Thyme

    This bean recipe is purposely brothy; if you have leftovers, reheat and smash them—they're great on toast with an egg. Also, if you have any leftover meat, throw it in during the last few minutes of cooking for an even heartier flavor, just as we did.

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  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    83/86

    Pantry Pasta With Vegan Cream Sauce

    Many vegan cream sauces rely on blended nuts or steamed cauliflower, but this sauce is made of beans and pasta water alone—no soaking or blending necessary. It’s important that the beans are adequately hydrated: Once you start mashing, make sure there’s plenty of pasta cooking liquid in the pot and don’t let it evaporate.

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  • 84/86

    Chickpea Salad with Lemon, Parmesan, and Fresh Herbs

    An easy starter that takes just 10 minutes to prepare.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova
    85/86

    A Better Turkey Chili

    Pair ground turkey with white beans and a robust dried chile purée for a bowl of winter comfort with major body and richness.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio
    86/86

    Brothy Beans With Kimchi and Squash

    This stick-to-your-ribs stew gets heft from creamy white beans and winter squash.

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