This No Soak Oven Beans recipe is the easiest way to cook dried beans with less hands-on time, more even cooking and less likely to crack the beans! So, stop with the canned beans and use this easy and better way for cooking beans in the oven!
Hallelujah, I have finally found a way to cook dry beans with NO SOAKING required.
I always prefer to cook beans from scratch when I can.
Dry beans are so much cheaper than the canned stuff and have much less sodium as well.
I am also of the opinion that they taste better. They are creamier and have more of an earthy taste to them.
For ages I followed my weekend routine of soaking black beans overnight on Saturday and cooking them in the pressure cooker on Sunday mornings.
The beans lost so much of their beautiful black color overnight leaving them looking like a grape skittle that has been sucked on for a few minutes. Not very appetizing.
Cooking them in the pressure cooker was time-efficient, but the beans would burst and I could never guarantee the same texture twice.
Finally, I found this recipe from The Kitchn for cooking beans in the oven and it has changed my life.
So, how do you cook no soak beans in the oven?
Simply dump your ingredients (without soaking the beans!) into an oven-safe pot or a dutch oven, with the cover on put it in the oven, and an hour and fifteen minutes later you have perfectly cooked dutch oven beans, every time.
We eat them with various meals throughout the week, or for a quick snack we’ll throw a few in a bowl, put cheese and scallions on top, and nuke it in the microwave for thirty seconds. Pintos and cheese, ole!
Here’s the Recipe!
No Soak Oven Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. dried beans - any kind, but not lentils
- Salt
- Seasonings - I usually toss in a bay leaf, some cumin, chili powder, minced garlic, and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Sort through your beans and remove any debris.
- Place the sorted dry beans in a 3-quart or larger Dutch Oven with a tight-fitting lid.
- Add 2 teaspoons of salt.
- Add enough water to cover the beans by 1 inch.
- Put on the lid and bake for one hour and fifteen minutes.
- Check the beans and stir them. If they are tender, take them out of the oven.
- If they aren't done, put them back in the oven for 15-minute intervals. If they appear
to be drying out, add a cup of hot water. - Store in the fridge, covered. You can also divide the cooked beans and freeze them for later
use.
NOTES
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Thank you for posting a time-saving version of the oven-cook method. I recall cooking large batches of beans in an extra large roaster pan in the oven when I was a teenager but as an adult I got lazy and replaced them with the canned variety. The problem was, having been spoiled by cooked-from-scratch beans growing up, the flavor of canned beans leaves something to be desired. As a result, my diet came to rely too much on meat as a source of protein because canned beans rarely appealed to my tastes. A few years ago, as an alternative, I began using a pressure cooker. But the appeal of that started to fade quickly, too. The pressure cooker method didn’t allow for large batches that I could then portion and freeze for later use. Recalling how my older sister used to oven-cook large batches of beans after returning from two years of international travel, I decided to search online for a recipe that would approximate what I remember. I first came across an oven method that required an overnight soak AND parboiling on the stovetop, followed by a 75 minute cook in the oven. Growing up, I recalled soaking beans overnight but never boiling them on the stovetop. I knew if I didn’t find an easier way to do it, I would just keep buying overpriced canned beans. Long story short, thank you for confirming what I recall from 35 years ago — that the stovetop step is not necessary. Your recipe confirms what I recall: Cooking beans can be quick and easy!
My garbonzo beans tasted much better than the canned stuff. Getting ready to cook some black beans now.
Way too much water leftover for me, had to leave them in over two hours
You can always drain any excess water. You’re just trying to cook the beans.
This is a great recipe for black beans. I tried this a few weeks ago and it was a big hit. Leftovers lasted over a week getting better it seemed every time we reheated them.
I do this, too! I love beans baked in the oven! Sometimes, the beans get pretty stuck on the pan. Do you ever oil your dutch oven before you bake your beans?
I haven’t had that problem yet – I’m using an enameled cast iron Dutch oven… what kind are you using?
I’d rather save time with the pressure cooker than let them for 75 minutes in the oven.
So your recipe is different than the one posted on the kitchn. They say you bring the beans to a boil first on the stove but in yours you just throw it all in the oven. Have you tried it both ways?
I haven’t tried boiling it first, I just put mine straight into the oven 🙂
I am doing this now with black beans. It is certainly taking longer than an hour and 15 minutes. The water is only half gone and beans are still crunchy. Advice?
Hmm, I’ve never had that problem so I’m not sure what the issue could be! Maybe the beans are old? Sorry I can’t be of more help – I make my beans like this every week so I can’t fathom what the difference might be!
Anetta,
I’m a bit confused by the recipe. You state that “you didn’t change the recipe on bit”; however, when I looked at the recipe at The Kitchn ….. it clearly states to soak the beans overnight….. and you DID NOT SOAK THE BEANS.
So do you have the soak the beans?
Thank you
Hi, Samantha! So sorry, this was one of my first blog posts ever and I wasn’t very good with recipe writing back then. Do NOT soak the beans. Just put them in a pot with the water and pop the whole thing in the oven 🙂
Anetta,
Thanks so much for your quick reply. I appreciate.
These are by far the best tasting beans I’ve ever eaten! In the past, used the soak method, but I’m always looking for new and improved recipes–this is it for beans! I bought local red and black beans from New Seasons, added the bay leaf, minced garlic, salt, pepper. Planned to use them in a chili recipe, but my husband and I couldn’t stop eating them as they were!