Although a few of us grab canned beans out of convenience, cooking dried beans from scratch is one cooking area skill worth mastering.

There are a lot of viewpoints out there on the very best way to cook dried beans, however we think our versatile Southern-style recipe, which can be made with any dried bean of your choice, is the method to go. Our Test Kitchen set out to develop a method that was as simple as can be, while still yielding an ultra-tender bean, and we think they accomplished. You can definitely put your own spin on our standard plan, however it’s an excellent standard dish you can go back to again and again.

Learn how to cook dried beans, and impress yourself with how tasty something so simple can be.

Ingredients for Easy Southern-Style Beans
This is all that you’ll require to make these yummy beans, aside from salt, naturally.

Dried beans: You can use any bean you like in this dish, however cook time will differ. Whether you have black, pinto, or cannellini beans on the menu, this recipe will work for you.
Chicken broth: We opt for a mix of water and chicken broth for taste in this recipe, however it’s important to use lower-sodium broth to avoid extremely salted beans. For extra credit, you can use our dish for Homemade Chicken Stock. You can also utilize veggie broth to keep the dish vegetarian.
Smoked ham hock: This provides a deep tasty taste to the beans. If you choose not to utilize pork, smoked turkey wings can include a light, yet meaty richness. A choice for vegetarians is to utilize coconut aminos (a vegan, gluten-free replacement for soy sauce) and a dash of liquid smoke for that smoky meat taste without using any actual meat.
Vidalia onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves: These are the aromatics we utilize to taste the beans. This is a relatively traditional combination that enables these beans to be a delicious, however versatile side meal.
Sodium bicarbonate: This is our trick to tender beans in less time, as baking soda assists break down the difficult skins on dried beans quicker.
Pepper sauce: These beans are ended up with pepper sauce for a little heat and a pop of acidity to brighten them up. Your favorite punchy hot sauce would likewise work.
How To Cook Dried Beans
The complete dish for our Easy Southern-Style Beans is even more below, but here’s a short summary of the procedure:

Step 1. Combine ingredients: Add all active ingredients, other than the salt and pepper sauce, in a big pot. Bring to a boil; stir in salt, and lower heat to medium-low.
Action 2. Simmer the beans: Cover and cook the beans, stirring occasionally up until tender, 1 to 3 hours depending on the kind of beans, making certain to include water as required to ensure the beans stay covered.
Completing touches: Remove, discard, or save the ham hock for another usage (alternatively you can shred the meat and add it back into the beans). Stir in pepper sauce. Season with additional salt and pepper sauce to taste.

Tips For Cooking Dried Beans
The Southern Living Test Kitchen swears by these pieces of dried bean cooking knowledge.

Sort: Comb through dried beans before including them to the pot to make certain they don’t consist of any debris.
Salt: Don’t listen to old bean folklore; you ought to constantly salt your beans while cooking! That way the salt has time to penetrate and season them evenly from the within out.
Cover: Keep the liquid above the beans as they cook so they soften and do not start to dry.
Conserve: Don’t toss the cooking liquid– freeze it to contribute to soups or stews for richness and depth.
Four Ways To Upgrade The Flavor of Dried Beans
Onions, bay leaves, and fresh herbs like thyme are traditional additions to a pot of beans, but these are a few of our preferred flavor-packed components to also throw in the pot.

Dried Chiles: Bring the heat with guajillo, ancho, or other dried peppers.
Lemon Peels: Add intense notes with these typical kitchen scraps.
Parmesan Rinds: Infuse the cooking liquid with the tasty richness of our preferred difficult Italian cheese.
Fennel: Swap out your go-to onions for the sweet anise taste of this crunchy vegetable.
To Soak Or Not To Soak?
This recipe is created to prepare beans without soaking. (Yes! It’s possible). While soaking assists pre-hydrate the beans, requiring less water while cooking, it’s not necessary to the success of the final product.

It’s worth keeping in mind that smaller, thin-skinned beans, like black beans or black-eyed peas, are always much better unsoaked and will formulate more delicious if you cook them directly from dry. Whereas other kinds of beans, especially older or lower-quality ones, may need a soak to avoid strength or excessively long cook times. That stated, try to avoid utilizing old beans, as even with soaking, they may never get truly tender.

Takeaway: If you’ve constantly soaked your beans, there’s no damage in keeping up custom. Feel in one’s bones that you can skip soaking, especially with fresh, good-quality dried beans, if you want to.

How To Store Cooked Beans
To store beans for another meal, utilize a slotted spoon to move them to 2 (1-quart) heatproof containers with tight-fitting covers. Ladle over enough of the cooking liquid to cover the beans. Let cool totally to room temperature level, about 45 minutes. Seal the containers and store them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For a longer service life, you can freeze the beans for up to 6 months.

How To Reheat Cooked Beans
You have two options for reheating prepared beans. For ease, go with the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds to 1 minute to guarantee they reheat equally. The other method is on the stovetop, where you can gently reheat over medium-low, adding a splash of water if needed, and stirring occasionally, until heated through.

Editorial contributions by Alana Al-Hatlani.

Active ingredients
1 lb. dried beans, selected over and rinsed

4 cups lower-sodium chicken broth

4 cups tap water, plus more as required

1 (14-oz.) smoked ham hock

1 medium (8 to 10 oz.) Vidalia onion, cut into eighths

4 medium garlic cloves

2 (6-in.) thyme sprigs

2 dried bay leaves

1 Tbsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 Tbsp. pepper sauce, plus more to taste

Fresh thyme leaves

Instructions
Add most components to a pot:
Location beans, broth, 4 cups tap water, ham hock, onion, garlic, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and baking soda in a 6-quart pot.

Give a boil, then simmer for several hours:
Give a boil over medium-high. Stir in salt, and lower heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer over medium-low, stirring occasionally, up until beans are tender, 1 to 3 hours depending upon kind of bean used (describe package guidelines, if available, for suggested cooking times), including extra water as required to guarantee beans remain covered.

Remove herbs and ham hock:
Remove from heat. Remove and dispose of ham hock, thyme sprigs, and bay leaves.

Season, garnish, and serve:
Stir in pepper sauce. Season with additional salt and pepper sauce to taste. Serve using a slotted spoon, and garnish with thyme leaves.