If you enjoy flavorful beans and saving money then you will want to try canning a variety of your own cans of beans. Canning beans fresh or dried is the basis for a nutritious, quick, and tasty meal that will lower your grocery budget. It's easy to learn how and a great first recipe for pressure cooking.
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What beans can you can at home?
It's easy to can your own black beans, chickpeas, great northern beans, kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans, lima beans, and many others. Generally, the process is the same for all kinds of beans.
Safty
All beans are low acid foods (pH above 4.6) that provide a good environment for the growth of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterial cause of botulism. For safety, beans must be pressure canned by a scientifically tested process.
How do you can beans in a waterbath?
The simple answer is, you don't. To can beans safely, you must use a pressure cooker to avoid botulism! Please don't risk it.
Learn how to pressure can
If you are new to canning, then be sure and read through HOW TO START CANNING AT HOME. Learning the basic steps of canning for beginners is a fun and economical way to make great tasting fresh foods available to enjoy year-round.
If you are new to pressure canning or want to get more confident using your pressure canner, please visit my post Learn How To Pressure Can.
Pressure canning at home is easy and safe if you take the time to learn proper procedures. Start by becoming familiar with A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO CANNING TERMS.
Measuring beans for canning
How many pounds of beans per pressure pot?
Beans vary in size, so the outcome is different depending on what type of bean you are canning. I found that one pound of dried limes equals 2 pints. However, 1 pound of red beans equaled a little over 3 pints. One pound of chickpeas equals 2 pints.
Usually, 5 pounds of beans are needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 3¼ pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints.
How to measure beans when cooking
1 pound dry beans = 2 cups dry beans. This will yield 5-6 cups of cooked beans. This is an average figure, and the size of the bean might change the outcome.
Instructions
You can choose to can just picked fresh beans or dried beans. Both create a delicious addition to meals.
How to can dry beans
- Overnight method: Place dried beans or peas in a large pot and cover with water. Soak for 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Quick method: To quickly hydrate beans, you may cover sorted and washed beans with boiling water in a saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, soak for 1 hour and drain.
- Drain water.
- Cover beans soaked by either method with fresh water and boil for 30 minutes.
- Add ½ teaspoon of salt per pint or 1 teaspoon per quart to the jar, if desired.
- Fill jars with beans or peas and cooking water, leaving 1-inch headspace.
- Place lids on jars and screw ring on finger tight.
- Process according to chart.
How to can fresh shelled beans
- Shell the beans and wash them thoroughly. Fill the jars loosely, leaving 1-inch headspace
- Cover beans in a large pot with water and heat to boiling.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to pint jars or 1 teaspoon to quart jars.
- Fill the jars loosely, leaving 1-inch headspace. Process according to chart.
Tips
- Don't skip rehydrating dried beans. This will help keep them from expanding too much in the canning jars. If they are not rehydrated, they absorb all the liquid leaving them in a dry jar. This will yield a dry, tough bean.
- Be sure to strain out the soaking water. This will remove the starches they’ve released during soaking and result in higher quality home-canned beans.
- Follow instructions carefully and do not change the processing time to assure you have a safe and delicious product.
Recipes for canned beans
There are so many ways to use your home-canned beans easily. It's cheaper than regular canned grocery beans, and the flavor is better when you can your own, which makes your recipes even better.
Soup recipes with canned beans
Vegan White Bean Chili is a healthy and hearty meal loaded with three varieties of canned beans, fresh corn, and authentic Mexican spice. It’s also gluten and dairy-free.
Add your canned beans to the best Copycat Wendy’s Chili from the popular Wendy’s restaurants; it’s delicious and easy to make at home. Wendy's uses pink beans in their chili, but you can use any favorite variety.
Hummus recipes with canned beans
One of my favorite ways to use my canned chickpeas is hummus. Canning your own yields a better flavor bean than store-bought cans. This leads to better-tasting hummus.
Canned chickpeas: One of my favorites is Garlic Hummus. It is an easy homemade recipe that is delicious and a great way to use your canned chickpeas.
Canned black-eyed peas: Black-Eyed Pea Hummus is where the south meets traditional hummus with a twist in this delicious, slightly nutty flavored dip.
Canned lima beans: Lima bean hummus is a smooth buttery dip that is perfect with crackers, bread, and vegetables or as a condiment on sandwiches.
Try some of these 50 delicious and unique hummus recipes—fun ingredients such as beetroot, carrot, avocado, and various veggies, beans, and spices.
Recipe
Canning Beans
Ingredients
- 5 pounds beans fresh or dried
- 7 teaspoons salt
- water
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Instructions
Canning Dried Beans
- Overnight method: Place dried beans in a large pot and cover with water. Soak for 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Quick method: To quickly hydrate beans, you may cover sorted and washed beans with boiling water in a saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, soak for 1 hour and drain.
- Drain water.
- Cover beans soaked by either method with fresh water and boil for 30 minutes.
- Add ½ teaspoon of salt per pint or 1 teaspoon per quart to the jar, if desired.
- Fill jars with beans and cooking water, leaving 1-inch headspace. Run your bubble popper through the jar to remove air bubbles and wipe the rims.
- Place lids on jars and screw ring on finger tight.
- Place the jars carefully into the pressure canner on the canning rack. Leave space in between the jars. Once the jars are all in the canner, adjust the water level per your pressure canner’s instructions. If adding water, use the hot water from the small pot you used to warm your lids.
- Process pint jars of beans at 10 pounds of pressure 75 minutes at altitudes of less than 1,000 ft. Process quart jars of beans at 10 pounds of pressure 90 minutes at altitudes of less than 1,000 ft. Follow the directions for your pressure canner and adjust processing time for your altitude.
- When the processing time is done, turn off heat; cool canner to zero pressure. After 5 minutes, remove the lid. Let jars cool 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner and place on a towel. Do not retighten bands if loose. Cool for 24 hours. Check seals. Remove rings, wipe jars, and store in a cool dark, and dry pantry.
Canning Fresh Beans
- Shell the beans and wash them thoroughly.
- Cover beans in a large pot with water and heat to boiling.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to pint jars or 1 teaspoon to quart jars.
- Fill the jars loosely, leaving 1-inch headspace. Run your bubble popper through the jar to remove air bubbles and wipe the rims.
- Place lids on jars and screw ring on finger tight.
- Place the jars carefully into the pressure canner on the canning rack. Leave space in between the jars. Once the jars are all in the canner, adjust the water level per your pressure canner’s instructions. If adding water, use the hot water from the small pot you used to warm your lids.
- Process pint jars of lima beans at 10 pounds of pressure 75 minutes at altitudes of less than 1,000 ft. Process quart jars of beans at 10 pounds of pressure 90 minutes at altitudes of less than 1,000 ft. Follow the directions for your pressure canner and adjust processing time for your altitude.
- When the processing time is done, turn off heat; cool canner to zero pressure. After 5 minutes, remove the lid. Let jars cool 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner and place on a towel. Do not retighten bands if loose. Cool for 24 hours. Check seals. Remove rings, wipe jars, and store in a cool dark, and dry pantry.
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Nutrition
MORE CANNINNG RECIPES
Pressure Canning Potatoes is easy and yields delicious cooked potatoes ready to use for quick meals, soups, or stews on busy nights and is a great way to keep your food budget low.
Canned Cowboy Candy is the perfect way to preserve a bunch of jalapenos in an addictive sweet and spicy sauce. Perfect on burgers, Mexican foods, in dips, and pimento cheese spread.
This Brandy Spiced Pear Compote recipe has a combination of pears and brandy simmered together in spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg creating an elegant and delicious compote.
