Ingredients Beans + Legumes 27 Canned Beans Recipes We Love By Food & Wine Editors Updated on March 9, 2023 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 black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, and more — if you have a few cans stocked 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 dishes with convenient canned beans. 01 of 27 Smoky Beans and Greens in Tomato Broth Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland This soul-satisfying bowl of beans and greens hits the spot on a night when you're low on time and energy and the fridge seems a bit bare. Smoked paprika adds a welcome hint of smokiness, while the combination of tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes delivers an aromatic broth in record time. Feel free to use your favorite canned or home-cooked beans. Get the Recipe 02 of 27 Tuna and White Bean Salad © Sarah Bolla This simple salad has fewer than 10 ingredients, with canned white beans (cannellini is preferable) and canned tuna as the stars. Get the Recipe 03 of 27 Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) Tacos Photo by Rachel Vanni / Food Styling by Judy Haubert This creamy, richly spiced vegetarian kidney bean curry is usually served over rice with roti or naan, but it also makes a surprisingly delicious filling for corn tortillas. You can assemble the tacos before serving them, or make a giant taco platter with the rajma, toasted tortillas, and all of the toppings, and let your guests build their own to their liking. Get the Recipe 04 of 27 Spring Minestrone with Grated Egg Pasta Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Multiple ingredients in this bountiful spring vegetable soup give it a deep, satisfying flavor. The Parmigiano-Reggiano rind and vegetable umami both contribute a delicious, salty richness, while curly leaf spinach maintains a fresh, vegetal taste that you can’t get from baby spinach. Get the Recipe 05 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. Get the Recipe 06 of 27 Mushroom-Chickpea Pozole Caitlin Bensel Celebrity chef Marcela Valladolid’s quick, vegetable-packed version of pozole features baby portobello and shiitake mushrooms. It uses canned chickpeas in place of dried hominy. Get the Recipe 07 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. Get the Recipe 08 of 27 "Steak Bomb" Rice and Beans © Fredrika Stjärne Chef Jamie Bissonnette of Toro in Boston 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. Get the Recipe 09 of 27 White Bean and Ham Soup Diana Chistruga When former F&W editor 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. Get the Recipe 10 of 27 Classic Beef Chili CAITLIN BENSEL 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. Get the Recipe 11 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. Get the Recipe 12 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. Get the Recipe 13 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. Get the Recipe 14 of 27 Crispy Cheese Burritos with Chorizo and Eggs Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee When Richard Chang was chef and owner of Tacos La Tehuanita truck in Los Angeles, he wowed crowds with his burnt-cheese-roll taco, made by griddling cheese until crisp and rolling it up around various fillings. This version pairs chorizo-studded black beans and scrambled eggs with creamy avocado for richness. Get the Recipe 15 of 27 Ribollita Jen Causey This savory and cozy Tuscan soup is simmered with a sofrito cooked in peppery olive oil; earthy, rustic bread; and small, thin-skinned white beans. Get the Recipe 16 of 27 Marinated Chickpea Salad with Radishes, Cucumber, and Queso de Freir Farrah Skeiky This quick chickpea salad from pastry chef Paola Velez is packed with vegetables and tossed with a simple, flavorful lemon-garlic and cumin dressing. Crispy, melty strips of fried queso de freir — a favorite cheese from Velez's childhood — take the dish over the top. The salad comes together in 30 minutes, making it ideal for busy nights. Get the Recipe 17 of 27 Gina Mae's Baked Beans Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell For this summer-perfect side, scholar Regina Bradley dresses up store-bought barbecue sauce and canned baked beans with extra brown sugar; apple cider vinegar cuts through the smoky sweetness. Get the Recipe 18 of 27 Bean and Cheese Vegetarian Enchiladas © Molly Yeh Sweet bell peppers and two kinds of beans are the stars of this meatless meal. They're held together with melty Monterey Jack cheese. Get the Recipe 19 of 27 Kale and White Bean Stew Diana Chistruga Combining two Portuguese favorites — kale-sausage soup and a bean, sausage, and tomato stew — makes a simple, sensational one-pot meal. To keep the focus on the vegetables, we've used just a tiny amount of fresh sausage; you can add more, if you like, or substitute dried chorizo or pepperoni. Get the Recipe 20 of 27 Roasted Leek and White Bean Gratin © Sneh Roy 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. Get the Recipe 21 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. Get the Recipe 22 of 27 Mustard Salmon with Cannellini Bean Ragù © Con Poulos 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. Get the Recipe 23 of 27 Skirt Steak with Pinto Beans and Pasilla Chile Vinaigrette © Christina Holmes Instead of serving juicy skirt steak with steak sauce, chef Hugh Acheson makes a flavorful vinaigrette with pasilla chile and adds it to pinto beans as a very tasty, hearty accompaniment to the meat. Get the Recipe 24 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. Get the Recipe 25 of 27 Beans and Bacon on Buttered Toasts © Christina Holmes This hearty fork-and-knife dish from chef Hugh Acheson, which features navy beans, is perfect for a quick, easy dinner for two. Get the Recipe 26 of 27 Chickpeas and Kale in Spicy Pomodoro Sauce Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver This recipe from chef Missy Robbins of Brooklyn's Lilia was named one of Food & Wine's best in 2018. Here, Robbins swaps tangles of kale and chickpeas for pasta in her riff on spicy pomodoro. She finishes the dish with a shower of fresh herbs and salty pecorino cheese. Get the Recipe 27 of 27 White Bean Huevos Rancheros © John Kernick Chef 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. Get the Recipe 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