Ingredients Beans + Legumes 27 Canned Beans Recipes We Love By Food & Wine Editors Updated on April 9, 2020 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Alison Miksch As far as pantry staples go, canned beans can really come in handy. We're talking canned black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, and more—if you have a few lying around in your cabinets, you can use them to bolster all kinds of meals, ranging from beef chili to a quick cassoulet. Read on for some of our favorite ways to use them. 01 of 27 Tuna-and-White-Bean Salad This simple salad has less than 10 ingredients, with canned white beans (cannellini is preferable) and canned tuna as the stars. More Salads with Seafood Go to Recipe 02 of 27 White-Bean and Prosciutto Bruschetta Strips of prosciutto top each toast and are topped in turn with a mound of creamy white beans and sprinkling of crisp red onion. If you like, serve these with the Bruschetta Duet to make a tantalizing trio. Cocktail Party Recipes Go to Recipe 03 of 27 Cannellini and Escarole Soup with Garlic Oil © Karen Mordechai A great pairing for this dish would be either a Long Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc or a Silverado Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc. Amazing Soup Recipes Go to Recipe 04 of 27 Warm Spinach Salad with Cannellini Beans and Shrimp © Antonis Achilleos The combination of sweet shrimp and meaty little cannellini beans here transforms a simple warm spinach salad. More Spinach Recipes Go to Recipe 05 of 27 White Bean Huevos Rancheros Neal Fraser’s take on huevos rancheros uses simmered whole white beans; here, the beans are mashed with ham to form the base of the dish, then piled with corn tortillas, fried eggs and queso fresco before broiling. A warm tomato salsa tops it all off. More Brunch Recipes Go to Recipe 06 of 27 Black Bean Soup with Crispy Tortillas This ultra-simple soup requires little more than a couple of cans of black beans, some onion and a bit of cumin. A topping of fried tortillas (or store-bought chips) adds crunch. More Black Bean Recipes Go to Recipe 07 of 27 Butter Bean, Tuna and Celery Salad © Antonis Achilleos Big, creamy butter beans give a tuna and celery salad terrific heartiness. The salad would also be delicious spooned over slices of warm grilled country bread. Amazing Tuna Recipes Go to Recipe 08 of 27 Minestrone with Black-Eyed Peas and Kidney Beans The fiber-rich beans in this soup make it satisfying enough to be a main course. This version gets an extra healthy boost from cabbage, a completely underrated vegetable that's loaded with fiber as well as vitamins A and C. Cooking Guide to Soup Go to Recipe 09 of 27 White Bean and Chicken Soup © Dana Gallagher By using chicken thighs instead of breasts, Melissa Rubel Jacobson gives this hearty, jalapeño-spiked soup ultra-rich flavor. More Warming Soup Recipes Go to Recipe 10 of 27 Littleneck Clam Soup with Butter Beans and Saffron © James Baigrie If you prefer to add the clams without their shells and want to avoid the cumbersome process of shucking them raw, steam them in an inch of water or white wine. Remove the clams from their shells, and add them to the soup with their steaming liquid. Fish and Seafood Cooking Guide Go to Recipe 11 of 27 Grilled Squid Salad with Celery Leaf Pesto © John Kernick Melissa Kelly's inspiration for this salad is a dish she ate in Santa Margherita, on the Ligurian Coast of Italy. It includes butter beans; they're a terrific source of potassium, iron, copper and manganese and rich in soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol. More Italian Recipes and Tips Go to Recipe 12 of 27 White Bean and Ham Soup When Grace Parisi was growing up, her mother made white bean and escarole soup every Friday. To transform the soup into a main course, Parisi substitutes ham and spiced croutons for the greens. More Warming Soup Recipes Go to Recipe 13 of 27 Classic Beef Chili This chili recipe uses two different kinds of canned beans—dark red kidney and black (make sure you drain and rinse them). A hearty batch is ready in just under an hour. Go to Recipe 14 of 27 Cacio e Pepe Broccolini with Crispy White Beans and Burrata Victor Protasio This dish captures the rich, elegant, simple flavors of the classic Italian pasta and rounds them out with charred Broccolini and crispy, creamy, flash-fried white beans. No burrata? Fresh mozzarella will work here, too. Go to Recipe 15 of 27 Blackened Skillet Pork Chops with Beans and Spinach Victor Protasio Cannellini beans are simmered with chicken stock, shallots, and spinach for a tasty side to accompany pork chops. Go to Recipe 16 of 27 Kidney Bean Soup Justin Chapple Warm, hearty and deeply comforting, this kidney bean soup gets a nice kick from crushed red pepper and brightness from a bit of mustard. Go to Recipe 17 of 27 Lazy Chicken-and-Sausage Cassoulet Alison Miksch You can use canned or home-cooked white beans in this fast version of cassoulet, a hearty French casserole of beans, various meats, sausages, and poultry. Go to Recipe 18 of 27 "Steak Bomb" Rice and Beans © Fredrika Stjärne Chef Jamie Bissonnette of Toro in Boston and New York City describes a steak bomb as a sub sandwich stuffed with a delicious mess of shaved beef, onions, peppers and cheese: “It’s New England’s answer to Philly cheesesteak.” He upgrades this pizza parlor staple by simmering thicker strips of beef with black beans and fresh tomatoes to serve over rice. Go to Recipe 19 of 27 Bean and Cheese Vegetarian Enchiladas © Molly Yeh Sweet bell peppers and two kinds of beans are the stars in this vegetarian dish. They're held together with melty Monterey jack cheese. Go to Recipe 20 of 27 New Orleans Red Beans and Rice with Pickled Peppers In New Orleans, red beans and rice are traditionally served on Mondays because the dish uses up leftover Sunday ham. Grace Parisi’s version swaps out the ham for smoky bacon. Go to Recipe 21 of 27 Roasted Leek and White Bean Gratin Leeks, canned cannellini beans, garlic, chicken broth, and Gruyère cheese come together in this comforting gratin. If you have leftovers, you can mash them and serve them as a dip or spread for toasts. Go to Recipe 22 of 27 Black Bean Tlacoyos Victor Protasio These tlacoyos are filled with seasoned black bean and topped with nopales, cheese, cilantro, salsa, and chopped onion. No nopales on hand? No worries. Go to Recipe 23 of 27 Mustard Salmon with Cannellini Bean Ragù The cannellini beans don't cook for very long in this recipe, but they have a rich, rustic flavor since they're simmered with prosciutto and escarole. Go to Recipe 24 of 27 Skirt Steak with Pinto Beans and Pasilla Chile Vinaigrette © Christina Holmes Instead of serving juicy skirt steak with steak sauce, Hugh Acheson makes a flavorful vinaigrette with pasilla chile and adds it to pinto beans as a very tasty, hearty accompaniment to the meat. Go to Recipe 25 of 27 Smashed Cucumber Salad with Butter Beans and Tarragon Jennifer Causey Gently crushing the cucumbers for this salad releases their aroma and creates nooks and crannies for soaking up the dressing. They still retain plenty of crunch, a great contrast to the rich, creamy butter beans. Go to Recipe 26 of 27 Three-Bean Dal © Lucy Schaeffer Vikram Sunderam’s three-bean dal can be sped up by using quick-cooking split yellow peas and canned beans. Go to Recipe 27 of 27 Beans and Bacon on Buttered Toasts © Christina Holmes This hearty fork-and-knife dish from Hugh Acheson, which features navy beans, is perfect for a quick, easy dinner for two. Go to Reicpe Updated by Bridget Hallinan Bridget Hallinan As an Associate Food Editor, Bridget Hallinan primarily focuses on home cooking content for Food & Wine.com. She writes and edits recipe content, interviews chefs for helpful tips and tricks, and works on franchises such as our cookbook roundups and taste tests. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit