Soaking and Cooking Dried Navy Beans
Cooking your own beans isn't as difficult as it seems and you can do a large batch and store them in the freezer. Cook the beans to your liking and save some money!
Servings: 4 cups
Calories: 70kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dried Navy beans
- ¼ of an onion
- 1 bay leaf
- cold water to cover for both soaking and cooking
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Quick Soaking
- Sort through dried beans and remove anything that doesn't belong there.
- Rinse beans under cold tap water.
- Place in large pot and cover with 2" of cool water. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1-4 hours. Amount of soaking time could affect cooking time later.
- Drain and discard soaking liquid
Cooking the beans
- Place soaked beans in a large pot and cover with 2-3 inches of cool water. Add onion, bay leaf, and any other aromatics you might like such as garlic, thyme, rosemary, peppercorns etc. Tie up herbs and peppercorns in cheesecloth or put in a tea infuser.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 25 mins. then add 1 teaspoon sea salt. Continue to simmer for another 15 mins or until done to your liking.
- When done, drain over a bowl to reserve cooking liquid. Let cool and use in recipe, or store in cooking liquid in fridge or freeze, drained, flat in ziplock bags.
Notes
- If adding peppercorns or fresh herbs to cooking liquid tie in cheesecloth or use a loose tea infuser.
- Store beans it the fridge in it's cooking liquid for 3-5 days.
- Place drained, cooled beans in resealable bags. Lay flat in the freezer. Can be frozen for 6 months.
- Keep the cooking liquid to use in your favourite soups, stews or chilis instead of, or in addition to stock.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving (½ cup) | Calories: 70kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Potassium: 708mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 1g