My neighbor Deb convinced me to stop being scared of dried beans

I always bought canned beans because I thought dried ones were too much work. Last week my neighbor Deb saw me grabbing a 12 pack of canned black beans at the store and laughed. She told me she spends like $1.50 on a bag of dried beans that makes three times as much as my $8 worth of cans. She came over and showed me her method: soak them overnight, rinse, then cook on low for an hour. No fancy pot needed, just my regular big saucepan. The texture was way better and I saved about $6 per batch. Now I'm wondering what else I'm wasting money on just because I assumed the shortcut was worth it. Has anyone else switched from canned to dried for other stuff like chickpeas or lentils?

2 comments

2 Comments

harper_wells14d ago

and honestly that's how they get you, right? i had this same exact moment of clarity about three years ago with chickpeas. deb is doing the lord's work i swear. i used to buy canned chickpeas for like $2.50 a can and then my co-worker maria told me to just buy a bag of dried ones for two bucks and i got like four cans worth out of it. the texture was different at first, a little firmer, but after a few tries i actually liked it better. now i'm the annoying person who tells everyone at the grocery store they're getting ripped off with canned lentils. but here's the thing nobody talks about with dried beans - you gotta plan ahead. i've definitely had nights where i forgot to soak them and then i'm just staring at a bag of rocks while my dinner plans fall apart. still worth it though.

haydenburns14d agoTop Commenter

It's funny how the most annoying advice always ends up being the right one. Really makes you wonder what other "shortcuts" we're all paying for without thinking twice.