Dried beans vs canned almost cost me dinner last night

I had to choose between soaking pinto beans overnight or using a can at $1.50 each, and I went with dried because the bag was 89 cents. Ended up forgetting to soak them until 4 PM, so I had to quick boil them for two hours and they still came out crunchy in my chili. Anyone else ever mess up a cheap meal by trying too hard to save that extra dollar?

2 comments

2 Comments

martinez.karen1mo ago

I did the same thing last week with black beans for burritos. I got home late and realized I hadn't soaked them so I tried the quick boil method too. It took like 90 minutes and they were still kinda firm in the middle. I ended up just mashing them extra hard with a fork to hide the texture. The chili was fine but definitely not as good as with properly cooked beans. Now I keep a couple cans in the pantry just in case I forget again.

faith_torres831mo ago

Karen exactly right about keeping cans as backup. I got burned by that pinto bean situation too and now I always have 3 cans of black beans and 2 of chickpeas in the cupboard just for emergencies. The real trick I found is if you do the quick boil method you gotta let them sit in the hot water for like an hour after boiling instead of draining right away. That helps soften them up more without extra babysitting. But honestly nothing beats a good slow soak overnight, the texture is just way better for chili.