How to Cook Basic Dried Beans

Ideally, soak your beans overnight, or for a minimum of 4 hours. You can use this method for chickpeas, kidney beans, or cannellini beans — just follow the same steps below, adjusting the timing depending on the bean's age and stubbornness. You can batch-cook and freeze them, or keep a jar in the fridge to build easy meals through the week. Start with good beans, and let the simmer do the work.

250g dried beans (1 1/4 cups) chickpeas, kidney beans, or cannellini

Salt, to taste

2L cold water, for soaking

1 garlic clove or 1 onion

1 bay leaves

2L cold water for cooking

1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil

Large pinch of salt and pepper

Soak the beans overnight or for a minimum of four hours in cold water seasoned with salt.

Drain the soaked beans and place them in a medium, heavy based pot.

Add the garlic and a good pinch of salt, followed by the bay leaves. (If you’d like, toss in a sprig of thyme or rosemary — they don’t mind the company).

Cover with cold water — about 4 inches above the beans (approx. 2 litres).

Bring the pot just to a simmer over medium heat, stirring now and then, to keep things moving gently. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low.

Let the beans quietly bubble away until they’re tender and swollen — somewhere between 30 and 90 minutes, depending on their mood (and freshness). Make sure they stay submerged; add more water if needed.

When the beans are perfectly tender, take them off the heat and strain way the excess liquid.

To serve, pour over the olive oil and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.

You can store the beans in their liquid in the fridge for up to 5 days.

You can use different types of aromatics and seasoning for this base recipe. Italian cooking? Use rosemary and thyme. For a Middle-Eastern or Mexican style bean use cinnamon and cumin.