Cooking and freezing beans, peas and legumes (in bulk) from dry is one of the most convenient and cost effective ways of maintaining a handy supply of these protein and fibre packed gems!
How to cook and freeze beans
Quantities: 1kg of dried beans for a large stock pot – 500g dried beans for a large saucepan.
- Sort through the beans to remove any damaged or strange ones as well as any stones or other foreign objects.
- Soak the beans overnight, in your fridge, covered in a generous amount of filtered water.
- Drain and rinse the soaked beans using a colander.
- Add the beans to a pot and cover with cold filtered water (at least 4cm above the level of the beans).
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 min to 1 hour or until the beans are soft (al dente).
- Drain and allow to cool.
- Measure out 2 cups of the cooked beans and seal into PBA free sandwich size ziplock bags.
- Write on each bag the type of bean, quantity and date.
- Spread the bags out flat as they freeze and defrost quicker than in a solid mass.
- The beans will stay fresh for up to three months in the freezer.
Do you also rinse the cooked beans before freezing because the beans you show look like they’ve been rinsed. Also do you add anything to the water when cooking… Gar lice, bay leaf etc.?
Hi Sharon. No I don’t rinse the beans before freezing them. I just strain them well.
Yes, a lot of people would cook their beans with salt, garlic and a Bay leaf. I cook mine plain without any addative so they are salt free and suitable for both sweet and savoury dishes. Have you checked out my Black Bean Chocolate Brownies? https://www.veggiesandme.com/black-bean-brownie