The Case for Cooking Dried Beans from Scratch

Canned beans are a fine convenience, but a pot of dried beans simmered with aromatics is a different food entirely, creamier, more deeply flavored, and surrounded by a savory broth that is a gift in its own right. The difference is hard to overstate.

Forget the rigid rules you may have heard. A long soak is helpful but not strictly required, and a pinch of salt in the cooking water seasons the beans from within without toughening them, despite the old kitchen myth to the contrary.

Cook a big batch and freeze it in portions with some of the liquid. Future you will have the base for soups, stews, and quick lunches ready to go, at a fraction of the cost and with a flavor no can can match.