How to Boil Your Own Beans

When I figured out how incredibly simple, delicious and inexpensive it was to cook my own beans from dried, I could not shut up about it. And here I am, nearly a decade later typing up this post How to Boil Your Own Beans. I just feel like it’s such a game changer and if you’re trying to follow and unprocessed diet, this is such a simple tweak.

The Clean and Colorful Solution

In 2015 I created the Clean and Colorful Solution. It is a simple, universal dietary approach that includes three fundamental diet strategies behind unprocessed plant forward eating:

1. Eating More Whole Food (Less Processed)
2. Eat all 5 colors every day (From Plants)
3. Leverage Power of Liquid Plants (Juices, Smoothies and Soups)

Following those simple guidelines will leave you brimming with more energy and glowing from the inside out. And learning how to boil your own beans fits right into the first fundamental strategy of unprocessing your diet.

Why beans are the magical fruit

Beans are super good for you for so many reasons:

• They’re high in fiber
• They are an awesome source of plant based protein
• They’re packed full of vitamins and minerals
• They’re filling

I really think that beans should be a staple in our diet. Plus they taste good! They are a part of so many of our favorite dishes such as chili and nachos, so beans are most definitely a part of a the Plant Forward Pantry.

We normally buy our beans in a can, rinse them and go about eating them. It’s super easy, and that’s not terrible. Canned beans are still an awesome source of plant based protein, but they’re still processed. And my goal with the Clean & Colorful Solution is to un-process your diet.

Just a few reasons why you should consider learning how to boil your own beans

There are so many reasons why you should boil your own beans. But for starters, it’s super easy! But that tactic aside, here are my other top reasons for recommending this process so much.

1. It’s cheap!

A one pound bad of most beans will run you no more than two dollars and sometimes less than one. Each bag of dry beans is equivalent to about four and a half cans of beans. This is why I’ve included them in my top 8 of the most budget friendly health foods. Basically there’s a huge cost savings to buying dry beans, boiling them and saving them for later. And don’t worry, you can bag them up in ziplocks and freeze them for months.

2. It’s better for the environment!

A smaller bean means less packaging. Less packaging is less waste and less junk to fill up our landfills. Think about the space 4.5 cans of beans takes to one baggy?

3. There are health benefits to boiling beans!

Soaking, rinsing and boiling beans gets rid of those anti nutrients that can cause an upset stomach after eating beans. That’s one of the main reasons the Paleos say you shouldn’t eat them.

They are also lower in sodium. A can of beans has about 140 mg of sodium whereas a bag of beans has about 20 mg of sodium. This is about 7 times less sodium if you boil your own beans.

The only ingredients in soaking beans are, well, beans. Some canned beans contain other ingredients that aren’t so good for your health.

4. They taste better!

This one you’re just going to take a leap of faith and trust me. Once you give it a try, let me know if you agree!

How to Boil your own beans in three simple steps:

1. First, you need to rise your beans. I mean they come from the ground so they aren’t the cleanest things ever. Rinse your beans in a colander. You can also pick through the beans to pull out any of the ugly ones.
2. Once the beans are all squeaky clean, you can put them in a large pot and fill it until the beans are covered plus two inches because they will double in size. If you notice any floaters while you’re doing this just remove them. Then let the beans sit for 6-8 hours or overnight.
3. After soaking the beans they’re ready to be drained. Next, you can put them back in the pot with the same amount of water and cook them over medium heat until they boil. Check for doneness after an hour of boiling. Use the chart below I just pulled from my 10-Day detox as a guide.

Storing your Cooked Beans

Just a quick note, these beans will spoil somewhat quickly. Some as quick as just a few days in the refrigerator. I store them in freezer baggies or containers in about two cup servings and pull them out as I need them. They are safe in the freezer for months and defrost wonderfully.

These very beans will be cooked next Monday in a batch of enchiladas for the Clean & Colorful Kitchen which is my meal prep company in San Diego. Cool, right?