How to Convert Dried Beans to Canned Beans in Your Recipes

Inexpensive dried beans are a pantry staple which you can store for years. Using them instead of canned beans reduces recyclables in the garage and frees up valuable food storage space in the kitchen. They also offer significant cost savings per pound compared to canned beans and allow for greater control over the salt content in your dishes.

Although dried beans take longer to prepare—requiring soaking and extended cooking time—they can easily substitute for canned beans in most recipes. Calculating how many beans to swap from dried to canned in a recipe is straightforward once you know the basic measurement equivalents. Remember, beans vary widely in size, so if you opt for a different dried bean than the variety specified in the recipe, you may need to adjust the amount accordingly.

We Weighed Sugar, Flour, Coffee, and More to Find the Best Kitchen Scales

Measurements

Here are some helpful average conversions and general rules of thumb for measuring dried beans:

• 2 cups of dried beans = 1 pound of dried beans
• 1 pound of dried beans = About 6 cups of cooked beans
• 1 part dry beans = 3 parts cooked beans
• 1 cup dried beans = 3 cups of cooked beans
• 1/3 cup dried beans = 1 cup of cooked beans

While these provide a great starting point, remember that these rules of thumb can vary depending on the size of the bean. Larger varieties, like pinto and lima beans, tend to yield slightly less when cooked, whereas smaller ones, such as garbanzo and navy beans, yield more. Keep in mind that dried beans typically more than double in both volume and weight during cooking, which should help you estimate the amount you need in most instances.

Conversions and Equivalents

Keep these tips for bean equivalents in mind:

• A heaping 1/2 cup of dried beans = one 15-ounce can of beans
• 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans, drained = one 15-ounce can of beans
• 1 1/2 pounds dried beans = one #10 can of cooked beans (109 ounces)

Canned beans equate to cooked beans. Therefore, cooking dried beans before measuring them for a recipe designed for canned beans usually yields a more accurate conversion.

For recipes requiring precise proportions, you should always cook and drain the dried beans before you measure them, using the average equivalents as a rough guide to estimate the amount of dried beans you need to prepare. Many bean recipes are fairly forgiving and adjustable. But for just the right balance in a three-bean salad or in a pot of mixed bean soup, you might need to make some adjustments when you convert from canned to dried ingredient amounts so one bean doesn't dominate the dish.

Substitutions

When using dried beans in place of canned, you may need to increase the salt you add during cooking. While you can purchase canned beans with no added salt, many contain sodium chloride for flavor and preservation. Rinsing canned beans can remove some of this added salt, but recipes specifically designed for canned beans often adjust by requiring little or no added salt. Since dried beans contain no salt, you'll need to add it for flavor when you cook the beans or increase the salt in the recipe to taste.

Interchanging beans in a recipe usually works fine. For example, you can substitute kidney beans for pinto beans in a chili recipe or a bean salad without much alteration to the appearance or overall flavor. In dishes with beans as the main ingredient, such as hummus or refried beans, you may or may not be happy with the result, however. Hummus, which typically calls for mildly nutty garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas), won't taste the same if you use dark red kidney beans, although you may ultimately really like the flavor.

Generally, versatile beans make it easy to experiment and use what you have on hand. As a tasty source of protein, they can also stand in for meat when you want to cook with pantry staples instead of making a run to the store.