27 Canned Beans Recipes We Love

By Food & Wine and Bridget Hallinan
Updated April 09, 2020
Credit: 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.
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Tuna-and-White-Bean Salad

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This simple salad has less than 10 ingredients, with canned white beans (cannellini is preferable) and canned tuna as the stars.

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2 of 27

White-Bean and Prosciutto Bruschetta

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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.

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Cannellini and Escarole Soup with Garlic Oil

Credit: © Karen Mordechai
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A great pairing for this dish would be either a Long Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc or a Silverado Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc.

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Warm Spinach Salad with Cannellini Beans and Shrimp

Credit: © Antonis Achilleos
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The combination of sweet shrimp and meaty little cannellini beans here transforms a simple warm spinach salad.

5 of 27

White Bean Huevos Rancheros

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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.

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Black Bean Soup with Crispy Tortillas

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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.

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Butter Bean, Tuna and Celery Salad

Credit: © Antonis Achilleos
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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.

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Minestrone with Black-Eyed Peas and Kidney Beans

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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.

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White Bean and Chicken Soup

Credit: © Dana Gallagher
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By using chicken thighs instead of breasts, Melissa Rubel Jacobson gives this hearty, jalapeño-spiked soup ultra-rich flavor.

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Littleneck Clam Soup with Butter Beans and Saffron

Credit: © James Baigrie
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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.

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Grilled Squid Salad with Celery Leaf Pesto

Credit: © John Kernick
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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.

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White Bean and Ham Soup

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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.

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Classic Beef Chili

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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.

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Cacio e Pepe Broccolini with Crispy White Beans and Burrata

Credit: Victor Protasio
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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.

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Blackened Skillet Pork Chops with Beans and Spinach

Credit: Victor Protasio
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Cannellini beans are simmered with chicken stock, shallots, and spinach for a tasty side to accompany pork chops.

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Kidney Bean Soup

Credit: Justin Chapple
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Warm, hearty and deeply comforting, this kidney bean soup gets a nice kick from crushed red pepper and brightness from a bit of mustard.

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Lazy Chicken-and-Sausage Cassoulet

Credit: Alison Miksch
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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.

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"Steak Bomb" Rice and Beans

Credit: © Fredrika Stjärne
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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.

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19 of 27

Bean and Cheese Vegetarian Enchiladas

Credit: © Molly Yeh
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Sweet bell peppers and two kinds of beans are the stars in this vegetarian dish. They're held together with melty Monterey jack cheese.

20 of 27

New Orleans Red Beans and Rice with Pickled Peppers

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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.

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Roasted Leek and White Bean Gratin

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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.

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22 of 27

Black Bean Tlacoyos

Credit: Victor Protasio
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These tlacoyos are filled with seasoned black bean and topped with nopales, cheese, cilantro, salsa, and chopped onion. No nopales on hand? No worries.

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Mustard Salmon with Cannellini Bean Ragù

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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.

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Skirt Steak with Pinto Beans and Pasilla Chile Vinaigrette

Credit: © Christina Holmes
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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.

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Smashed Cucumber Salad with Butter Beans and Tarragon

Credit: Jennifer Causey
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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.

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Three-Bean Dal

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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Vikram Sunderam’s three-bean dal can be sped up by using quick-cooking split yellow peas and canned beans.

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Beans and Bacon on Buttered Toasts

Credit: © Christina Holmes
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This hearty fork-and-knife dish from Hugh Acheson, which features navy beans, is perfect for a quick, easy dinner for two.

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By Food & Wine and Bridget Hallinan