Estimating cooked bean volume from dry?

6 years ago

I have a number of recipes that call for canned beans. I prefer to cook my own then add them, often before they are fully done so they can finish with the rest of the recipe. I almost always overestimate and end up with a lot of extra partially cooked beans.

For example, I may have a recipe that calls for a can of black beans. That’s about a cup. What volume should I measure out dry?

Do they cook up 2 times volume? 3 times?

Does it vary by bean type? The only beans I use (that are available in cans) Black beans, kidney, chickpeas, great northern or cannellini. Thanks!

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Comments (4)

User
6 years ago
When I cook a pot of beans I freeze whatever I'm not going to use immediately. A pound typically yields 4 meals for my needs.
plllog
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Read this explanation on Serious Eats.

Excerpt answer: In practice, this means that if a recipe calls for cooked beans and you want to use dried, you should be safe using half the specified amount [by weight]. You may end up with a little extra, but it's better that than to come up short (and frankly, in many recipes, you can just toss 'em in for good measure). I'd even apply tha (t rule to the outliers like chickpeas and black-eyed peas, because heck, does it ever hurt to have extra of either?

Yes, there are differences between beans. I usually just cook the volume dry that I need canned and then use the rest for something else, because that's easy, but there are conversion charts. I don't trust those so much because not all dried beans are alike. Some are drier, started bigger, etc. So I like the SE rule of thumb by weight better.
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sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
6 years ago
One cup of dry beans will double in volume. Some a smidgen less, some a smidgen more. A bean dish does not matter/suffer if 6 more beans are present. or 24.

Canned beans could have more or less depending on quality and how much liquid/bean is in the can.. (canned commercial suppliers cheat the quantity with liquid/weight). so a recipe with one can of beans? ...dried garbanzos are consistently 2.5 in swelling from dry. But most are simply doubled in volume.

I have never brought out my scale to weigh beans, lol. (good grief! ...no time for that !) Stupid silly to weigh beans dry or wet/canned. A few extra beans less/more will not destroy a meal.

(a tin canned of beans always makes me feel cheated)... like all canned and processed foods.

If you know where your fresh/dried beans are grown....

RancoGordo and Palouse Washington beans from our American growers..
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago) thanked sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
Lars
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
For me, 1-1/3 cups (1/2 pound) of dried beans (red or pinto) will make the equivalent of approximately 2-1/2 cups. At least that is what I have written down from previous experiments, but I could be wrong.

I've measured gabanzos more accurately, and 1-1/3 cups will yield 3 to 3-1/4 cups cooked beans. I never buy canned beans either, as I can cook them very quickly in my pressure cooker.

Lentils increase the least from dried to cooked, it seems, but I still always cook 1-1/3 cups at a time. I use a 2/3 cup dry measuring cup and two of these will equal 1-1/3 cups.

Do you mean Rancho Gordo instead of RancoGordo? He used to post on Mouthfulsfood forum, especially the Mexican and Southwest cooking boards.
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago) thanked Lars

Estimating cooked bean volume from dry?

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