How to cook red beans: cooking technology and simple recipes

Red beans are a product that is popular in many countries. It is rich in proteins, healthy and nutritious. Bean dishes are included in vegetarian diets and lenten menus. Red beans are added to meat and vegetable salads, soups, hot and cold appetizers. There are dozens of recipes for baking and desserts based on this product. How to cook red beans with and without soaking?

How long to cook

The cooking time of the beans is affected by how long they are stored. The older they are, the longer they will cook.

Also, the speed of cooking red beans depends on the preliminary preparation. If you keep the beans in water before cooking, then after soaking they cook in a saucepan for about an hour. Without pre-treatment, this process takes longer (at least 4 hours).

You can cook frozen beans without soaking. It is enough to boil it over medium heat - and after 20 minutes the product will be ready for use.

In a slow cooker, soaked beans reach the desired softness in 1.5 hours. In a double boiler it is much faster - in 40 minutes.

To determine if the beans are ready, remove three from the pot/slow cooker and taste each one. If the beans are soft, you can drain the water. If at least one is undercooked, continue cooking. Check again after 10–12 minutes.

How to prepare beans

Before figuring out how long to cook beans, you should figure out how to properly prepare them. First you need to thoroughly clean it of various debris. To do this, pour white or red beans onto a towel and sort them by hand. It is necessary to remove those beans that have turned yellow, are damaged, or have changed their shape. Any strange changes are a good reason to select such beans from normal ones.

Soaking is mandatory. After soaking, the product cooks much faster and retains a lot of useful properties. Be sure to rinse the beans well.

In a pot with soaking

To properly and quickly cook red beans, follow the following technology:

1. Soak the beans in cold water in a certain proportion: 1 part beans to 2 parts water. Keep for at least 6–8 hours, but no more than 12, to avoid fermentation. If possible, change the water every 3 hours. Do not use quick soaking methods (for example with soda). This will destroy all the beneficial substances.
2. Boil the product in fresh water. Place 1 cup of beans in a saucepan and add 3 cups of liquid.
3. Place the container on low heat and wait until it boils.
4. Drain the first water, add fresh water and bring it to a boil again. Cook the red beans for an hour. Do not cover the container with a lid, avoid excessive bubbling of water. Monitor the level of liquid in the pan and add it as needed.
5. At the beginning of cooking, add 2-3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, and at the end - salt to taste.
6. Try not to overcook the beans, otherwise the structure of the beans will be disrupted and they will burst.

Why soak beans before cooking?

Many housewives soak beans to make them cook faster. So, red must be cooked for at least 4 hours. And if you prepare it in advance, the time will be reduced by 3 times. But there are other reasons why soaking legumes is beneficial.

• Improved taste

If the seeds are not pre-soaked, the shell will not cook completely and will be slightly bitter. The density will be uneven: some grains will remain solid, while others will turn into puree. But after cooking, soaked beans become soft, tender and aromatic.

Many people didn't like pea or bean soup as children because of the known side effects. The reason is that legumes contain oligosaccharides. The human body is not able to completely break down and absorb them. As a result, undigested oligosaccharides enter the intestines, where they begin to ferment.

Legumes are soaked to break down these substances. Then after eating bean soup you will feel lightness and not rumbling in your stomach.

Beans are rich in vitamins B1, B4, B5, B6, PP, and folic acid. However, with prolonged heat treatment, the beneficial substances decompose. Since the soaked seeds are cooked for less than an hour, some of the vitamins can be preserved.

• Neutralization of harmful substances

They are also called antinutrients. Beans contain phytic acid. This substance protects the beans from sprouting. But when it enters the body, phytic acid binds molecules of zinc, iron, copper, silicon and other trace elements. It turns out that when eating unprepared beans, minerals pass through the stomach and intestines in transit. In essence, you are eating an “empty” product.

Beans also contain lectin, which damages the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract and provokes inflammatory processes. The risk of colitis, Crohn's disease, leaky gut syndrome and other digestive problems increases. Soaking partially deactivates the lectin.

Legume seeds contain digestive enzyme inhibitors. They prevent the body from properly digesting proteins, so the pancreas works twice as hard. If you soak the beans before cooking, nothing will interfere with the digestive enzymes, which means the dish will be better digested.

In a slow cooker

If you are afraid that the beans will burn, cook them in a slow cooker. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Place the pre-soaked beans in the mixing bowl.
2. Add seasonings to taste and salt (1 tsp per 200 g of beans).
3. Stir everything thoroughly and fill the container with fresh water. The liquid should cover the dish.
4. Select the “quenching” mode. The multicooker will set the cooking time automatically.
5. After the stew is finished, try the red beans. It should be soft.

In a slow cooker, cook red beans in the “Stew” mode.

Soaking dry beans

Before you start soaking your beans, you need to prepare them. It doesn't have to take long at all and can be a truly therapeutic experience!

1. Peel the beans
   First you will need to peel the beans. Place the beans in a shallow pan, such as a baking sheet. Go through the beans and remove any foreign objects such as small stones, broken beans or leaves. Because the beans do not undergo any processing before packaging, foreign objects can often be found among the beans.
2. Rinse the beans
   Place the beans in a laundry strainer or colander and rinse under cold tap water. Run your hands into the beans while they are under cold water to make sure all the beans are thoroughly rinsed.

Red Bean Recipes

Red beans go well with vegetables. In some dishes it can replace meat because it contains a lot of protein. Salads, soups, and side dishes are prepared from beans. Below are some simple recipes.

With vegetables

To prepare the dish you will need:

• red beans – 600 g;
• sweet pepper – 2 pcs.;
• onions – 2 pcs.;
• garlic – 2 cloves;
• carrots – 2 pcs.;
• sour cream – 6 tbsp. l., spicy ketchup - 2 tbsp. l.;
• butter – 20 g;
• a bunch of greenery;
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Pour a small amount of water into the pan. Place the container on maximum heat.
2. When the water is hot, add the butter and stir everything quickly.
3. Place pre-cooked beans in a bowl and simmer for 7 minutes. Stir the contents periodically.
4. Season everything with squeezed garlic and ketchup.
5. Cut the pepper into cubes and the onion into strips. Grind the carrots on a coarse grater. Add ingredients to vegetable mixture and season with salt.
6. Mix everything thoroughly and simmer over medium heat for a quarter of an hour.
7. Place the finished dish in a large bowl and add sour cream. Garnish with dill and parsley.

In tomato

Required ingredients:

• red beans – 400 g;
• carrots – 1 pc.;
• tomatoes – 3 pcs.;
• onions – 1 pc.;
• garlic – 1 clove;
• sunflower oil;
• salt to taste, a bunch of herbs.

Preparation:

1. Dice the onion. Fry it in sunflower oil.
2. Add chopped carrots. Mix everything thoroughly and fry for 3 minutes.
3. Cut the tomatoes in half and chop on a grater. Place the resulting mass in a frying pan.
4. Simmer the sauce for 10–15 minutes.
5. Add pre-cooked beans to the vegetables, add squeezed garlic and salt to taste.
6. Simmer the mixture for 10–15 minutes.
7. Before serving, decorate the finished dish with herbs.

Bean soup with mushrooms

Required list of products:

• red beans – 150 g;
• smoked sausage – 250 g;
• mushrooms – 350 g;
• tomato paste – 40 g;
• carrots – 2 pcs., onions – 1 pc., garlic – 1 clove;
• chicken broth – 1 l;
• a bunch of greenery;
• vegetable oil;
• a pinch of salt and black pepper.

Preparation:

1. Cut garlic, onion and carrots into small cubes. Place the chopped mushrooms and remaining vegetables into the pan. Fry everything in vegetable oil.
2. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
3. Cut the sausage into small strips and place in a container.
4. Pour in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil.
5. Add tomato paste, cooked beans and boil again.
6. After 10 minutes, turn off the burner. Add chopped greens to the soup.

Red bean salad

Prepare the following components:

• red beans – 150 g;
• pickled champignons – 100 g;
• red salad onion – 1 pc.;
• mayonnaise – 2 tbsp. l.;
• olive oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
• a bunch of parsley;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:

1. Boil red beans.
2. Peel and cut the onion into half rings. Fry the vegetable in oil until golden brown.
3. Place beans, onions, and chopped mushrooms in a large bowl.
4. Salt and pepper the ingredients.
5. Season the salad with mayonnaise, mix thoroughly and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.

Canned Bean Soup

• Time: 1 hour.
• Number of servings: 6 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 21 kcal.
• Purpose: for lunch.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

Beans are a very important and healthy product for humans. The protein and B vitamins they contain are absorbed by the body by 70-80%. Bean soup is also a healthy dish, and it cooks very quickly with a canned ingredient. This recipe is for those who have little time for culinary exploits. The basic set of ingredients is lean, without meat, but you can vary it at your discretion.

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Ingredients:

• canned beans – 1 b.;
• frozen corn – 100 g;
• water – 2.5 l;
• carrots – 2 pcs.;
• zucchini – 200 g;
• oil (vegetable) – for frying;
• greens, salt, pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

1. Grind the carrots, cut the zucchini into strips, and fry.
2. Boil water, throw in the corn, after 20 minutes add the fried vegetables and beans.
3. After 15-20 minutes, add spices. Garnish with parsley.

Useful tips

Experienced housewives always have several culinary secrets in their arsenal. To properly prepare a red bean dish, consider the following points:

• Soak the beans in a large container, as the fruits absorb liquid and increase in size 2-3 times. Also, their volume increases during cooking (2 times).
• During stewing, the color of the product may change to brownish-brown. To avoid this, do not cover the pan with a lid.
• In summer, soaked fruits should be kept in the refrigerator.
• Make sure the beans are fully cooked. Undercooked ones contain a substance harmful to the body - phytohemmaglutin.
• If you want to maintain its shape, salt the water at the beginning of cooking. If you need loose beans - at the end of cooking.
• Stirring the beans helps them cook. Do this if you are making pate or puree soup.

If you are trying to eat healthy, red beans will become an integral part of your diet. It is saturated with vegetable protein, amino acids, vitamins B, C and PP. The peculiarity of the product is that after cooking it does not lose its beneficial properties. If you know how to cook red beans, then any dish made from legumes will be within your power.

Fun facts about beans

— Cooking beans without soaking

takes quite a long time, which not every housewife has. On average, it will take up to 4 hours to cook such beans. You need to cook over low heat and constantly make sure that the water in the pan does not completely evaporate, and add it in a timely manner. In addition, prolonged cooking can damage the structure of the beans, and they will begin to fall apart.

- Cooking time for beans may vary depending on the size and type of beans. Check readiness

beans can be prepared as follows: remove 3 beans from the pan and taste each of them. Well-cooked beans should be absolutely soft. If at least one grain is too hard, you need to continue cooking. Then try 3 beans again. You can start checking the hardness of the beans 40 minutes after you put the beans on the fire, and do this every 10 minutes. This method will allow you to accurately determine the optimal cooking time and prevent the beans from overcooking. The finished beans should be soft and mash well with a fork. Another way to check is to blow on the beans immediately after they come out of the pan.

How to quickly soak beans before cooking

Beans can be soaked in a quick way before cooking, but it is more labor-intensive and requires more activity in the kitchen: 1) sort, rinse, pour the beans into a saucepan, add water in a ratio of 1:3 (for 1 cup of beans, 3 cups of water); 2) bring to a boil over low heat, keep for 5 minutes over high heat; 3) turn off the heat and leave the beans in the broth for 3 hours; 4) cook in the usual way.

Proportions of water and beans

— There are 200 grams in 1 glass of beans. — During cooking, the beans increase in size by 2-3 times. — To prepare 2 servings of a side dish, use 1.5 cups of beans. — Water and beans should be taken in proportions of 1:3, that is, to cook 1 cup of beans you need 3 cups of water.

Important when cooking beans

1. White beans do not require soaking; they can be cooked immediately (for the same amount of time).
2. Beans are salted at the end of cooking (10 minutes before) or when salting the final dish, because salt slows down the cooking process. Benefits of beans
Beans are rich in vegetable protein. Beans are the second highest amino acid content product (the first is meat). 100 grams of green beans contain 20 milligrams of vitamin C, vitamins PP, B1 and B2. Beans are beneficial for improving skin health. When cooked, beans do not lose their beneficial properties. Calorie content of red beans is 292 Kcal.

The price of beans in Moscow

The cost of red beans is 70 rubles per kilogram. The cost of white beans is 80 rubles per kilogram.

Subtleties

There is a fairly common myth that salt gives beans body and toughness, so you need to add it at the end. In fact, salt has no effect on the consistency of the beans, unless, of course, you are going to pour handfuls of them into the pan. Herbs and spices can also be added at any time.

If a recipe calls for adding acidic ingredients such as lemon juice, wine, vinegar or tomatoes, do so after the beans are cooked. Otherwise, the beans may not turn out as tender as you would like.

Cooked beans can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It is recommended to use flat, shallow containers for this.

Do you have your own secrets for cooking beans? Share them in the comments.

Beans can be either an independent dish or a component of salads. It contains many useful vitamins and microelements that can be preserved by knowing how to cook beans so that they remain nutritious and tasty. Let's consider options for preparing this type of legume.

How to cook beans correctly

Beans are a product that requires special knowledge regarding its preparation. The most important point in the heat treatment of these seeds is time. Find out how long to cook your beans so they don't turn into an unappetizing mess or remain hard.

According to culinary specialists, there are as many answers to this question as there are varieties of beans and methods of preparing them. Let's look at the basic rules that will reveal the secret of how to cook bean pod seeds:

1. Don't mix different types of beans.
2. Go through them and remove any debris.
3. Rinse them and soak in water (3 to 12 hours).
4. Boil water: pour water into a saucepan at the rate of 250 g of beans per 2 liters of water.
5. Pour in the beans, add salt, and simmer over low heat.

From green beans

• Time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Number of servings: 7 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 19 kcal.
• Purpose: for lunch.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

This green bean soup can be cooked at any time of the year. Naturally, during the vegetable season it will be much healthier, since they contain more vitamins. However, you shouldn’t refuse such an amazing treat in winter. Green beans are always on sale, and you don’t need a lot of them first, so buying them won’t put a dent in your pocket.

Ingredients:

• beans (green) – 270 g;
• carrots – 200 g;
• potatoes – 2 pcs.;
• egg, onion - 1 pc.;
• salt, pepper - to taste;
• oil.

Cooking method:

1. Cut the potatoes into cubes, add 2.5 liters of water, and let them cook.
2. When it boils, add ½ part of the chopped onion.
3. Fry the remaining half with carrots.
4. Half an hour after introducing the onion, add the legumes and fry, cook for another 20 minutes.
5. At the end, add spices and a boiled egg cut into cubes.