Some of us reach for canned beans out of benefit, cooking dried beans from scratch is one kitchen skill worth mastering.

There are a great deal of opinions out there on the best method to prepare dried beans, but we believe our versatile Southern-style dish, which can be made with any dried bean of your choice, is the way to go. Our Test Kitchen set out to create an approach that was as basic as can be, while still yielding an ultra-tender bean, and we believe they accomplished. You can definitely put your own spin on our basic plan, however it’s an excellent basic recipe you can return to again and once again.

Discover how to prepare dried beans, and impress yourself with how delicious something so simple can be.

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

Dried beans: You can utilize any bean you like in this recipe, but cook time will differ. So whether you have black, pinto, or cannellini beans on the menu, this recipe will work for you.
Chicken broth: We go with a mix of water and chicken broth for flavor in this recipe, but it’s crucial to utilize lower-sodium broth to prevent overly salty beans. For additional credit, you can use our recipe for Homemade Chicken Stock. You can also use vegetable broth to keep the meal vegetarian.
Smoked ham hock: This lends a deep tasty flavor to the beans. If you prefer 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 real meat.
Vidalia onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves: These are the aromatics we utilize to flavor the beans. This is a relatively classic combination that permits these beans to be a delicious, however versatile side dish.
Baking soda: This is our secret to tender beans in less time, as sodium bicarbonate assists break down the difficult skins on dried beans quicker.
Pepper sauce: These beans are completed with pepper sauce for a little heat and a pop of acidity to brighten them up. Your favorite punchy hot sauce would also work, though.
How To Cook Dried Beans
The complete dish for our Easy Southern-Style Beans is further below, however here’s a short outline of the procedure:

Action 1. Integrate active ingredients: Add all active ingredients, other than the salt and pepper sauce, in a big pot. Give a boil; stir in salt, and reduce heat to medium-low.
Step 2. Simmer the beans: Cover and prepare the beans, stirring occasionally till tender, 1 to 3 hours depending upon the kind of beans, making certain to add water as required to guarantee the beans remain covered.
Ending up touches: Remove, dispose of, or save the ham hock for another usage (additionally you can shred the meat and include 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 wisdom.

Sort: Comb through dried beans before including them to the pot to make certain they don’t contain any debris.
Salt: Don’t listen to old bean folklore; you ought to always salt your beans while cooking! That method the salt has time to penetrate and season them uniformly from the within out.
Cover: Keep the liquid above the beans as they prepare so they soften and do not start to dry.
Conserve: Don’t toss the cooking liquid– freeze it to add 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 classic additions to a pot of beans, however these are a few of our preferred flavor-packed ingredients to likewise include the pot.

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

It’s worth noting that smaller sized, thin-skinned beans, like black beans or black-eyed peas, are always better unsoaked and will formulate more tasty if you prepare them straight from dry. Whereas other types of beans, particularly older or lower-quality ones, may require a soak to avoid durability or excessively long cook times. That stated, try to avoid using old beans, as even with soaking, they may never get genuinely tender.

Takeaway: If you’ve always soaked your beans, there’s no damage in maintaining custom. Just know that you can skip soaking, particularly 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 lids. Ladle over enough of the cooking liquid to cover the beans. Let cool entirely to room temperature level, about 45 minutes. Seal the containers and save them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For a longer life span, you can freeze the beans for approximately 6 months.

How To Reheat Cooked Beans
You have 2 choices for reheating cooked beans. For ease, opt for the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds to 1 minute to guarantee they reheat evenly. The other technique is on the stovetop, where you can carefully reheat over medium-low, including a splash of water if needed, and stirring occasionally, up until warmed through.

Editorial contributions by Alana Al-Hatlani.

Ingredients
1 pound. 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
Include most active ingredients to a pot:
Place beans, broth, 4 cups faucet water, ham hock, onion, garlic, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and baking soda in a 6-quart pot.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for numerous hours:
Give a boil over medium-high. Stir in salt, and minimize heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer over medium-low, stirring periodically, until beans hurt, 1 to 3 hours depending upon type of bean used (refer to package guidelines, if readily available, for recommended cooking times), including additional water as needed to guarantee beans remain covered.

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

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