Learn how to cook black beans like a pro! For tender and creamy legumes, just follow these easy cooking tips on how to soak and finish on the stovetop. Add perfectly cooked beans to salads, dips, soups, stews, chilis, and side dishes for a boost of protein and fiber.
Cooking black beans on the stove top is easy, affordable, and yields the best flavor. Of course, there’s no denying that pre-cooked canned beans are super convenient. It’s often my go-to option when I need a quick vegetarian protein, but unfortunately, they tend to be mushy and over-saturated with sodium.
The process is straightforward, soaking the beans in salt water softens the skins so that the outside is edible and the interiors are soft. For those short on time, I share a “quick soak” option or you can add a pinch of baking soda which will speed up the cooking time.
How to cook black beans
- Pick over broken dried beans and rinse with water.
- Soak in a large bowl with water and salt for 8 to 24 hours.
- Drain and rinse.
- Add soaked beans, 4 cups of water, and add salt to a pot.
- Bring to a boil, simmer, cover, and then reduce to low heat.
- Cook until beans are tender, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- Drain and serve.
Soak the beans before cooking
Yes, soaking gives the tough fibrous, outer seed coat time to evenly absorb water and soften. The starchy centers will turn creamier as more water is able to move inside, heat, and gelatinize. A bonus is that soaking allows the beans to cook faster. By taking a few minutes the night before will save you time later.
What about using an Instant Pot?
When making Instant Pot black beans you can entirely skip the soaking process. Using a pressure cooker, they’ll be ready in about 1 hour.
Does soaking beans help reduce gas?
Yes, it can help to reduce some of the gas and discomfort that a person may experience. How? Beans contain oligosaccharides, small chain carbohydrates that are not easily digestible by humans, but gut-friendly bacteria love to feed on them and the result is gas.
Soaking, either overnight or quickly in hot water for 1-hour helps to remove some of those carbohydrates like stachyose. Make sure to drain and rinse the beans after soaking and cooking.
Speed up the cooking process
Try the “quick soak” method for dried black beans. Simply soak in high heat water for an hour and then cook on the stovetop until tender. This method should take about 2 to 2 ½ hours to prepare, instead of 9+ hours. This works great for any dried beans such as red kidney, navy, pinto, and garbanzo.
Alternatively, add a small amount of baking soda to the cooking water post soaking. This technique creates an alkaline environment that rapidly breaks down the pectin in the skins and can cook the beans in under 1 ½ hour. It also helps to keep the blackish purple anthocyanin pigments stay in the skin. About ⅛ teaspoon of baking soda to 1 cup of beans will do.
How long does it take to cook dried black beans?
- Standard Soaking: 8 to 24 hours in cold water and salt
- Quick Soak method: 1 hour covered in hot water
- Stovetop Cooking: Post soaking; 1 to 2 hours
Flavorful additions
As the beans are simmering, you can add more aromatics and flavor to the pot. Chopped onions sauteed in olive oil, garlic, bay leaves, or seasonings like cumin, coriander, and chili powder are great flavor boosters. Make sure to add any acidic ingredients like tomatoes, lemon juice, or vinegar towards the end of the cooking process. Acid makes the skins stay firm, so the beans will never cook through.
Black bean nutrition
Black beans are from the Phaseolus vulgaris family and they stand out for its fiber-rich qualities. They are also a source of vegetarian and vegan proteins and elevated levels of minerals and B vitamins. They also contain prebiotics that helps to grow and sustain the healthy bacteria in the digestive system.
More black bean recipes
How to know if dried beans are stale
The only way to check for “bad” beans is at the end of the soaking process. Stale beans will have wrinkly skin. When beans are picked and processed, they can get holes in their seed coats from physical bumping, changes in storage temperature and moisture, or microorganism growth which allows water to be picked up. If the entire batch looks like this, toss them out! The texture will be gritty instead of creamy. (Source: Cook’s Illustrated)
How to Cook Black Beans (Stovetop Method)
Ingredients
- 8 cups cold water
- 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 cup dried black beans
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Pick over and discard any broken dried beans.
- Add dried black beans to a colander and rinse with water.
- In a large bowl add 8 cups water and 1 ½ tablespoons salt, stir to dissolve.
- Add the washed beans and allow to soak a minimum of 8 to 24 hours at room temperature.
- Alternatively, the beans can be quick-soaked. Bring the water, salt, and beans to a boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and cover the beans for 1 hour of soaking.
- Drain and rinse the soaked beans.
- In a large pot add the soaked beans, 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Bring water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover and reduce heat to low.
- Gently cook beans over low heat until tender, 60 to 90 minutes.
- Drain and serve black beans warm.
Equipment
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Fred says
You mention using an instant pot…do you have the pressure and release times?
Thank you.
Jessica Gavin says
Yes, I have a recipe for instant pot black beans. Manual high pressure for 30 minutes, 20 minutes natural release. Hope that helps!
Judee Jablonowski says
Just made your black beans, very tasty. Soaked overnight, cooked 1 1/2 hours in salt water with bay leaf. Excellent!!!
Nick says
Thanks mama!
Nick says
If I want to cook two16oz bags of dried black beans at once do I need to use 32 cups of water?
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Nick- For the quick soak or overnight soak, you could do 16 cups of water for 32 ounces of beans. Just make sure the water covers the surface. I would then cook the beans in fresh 16 cups of water after draining.
Aza says
Jessica is right about the salt. Black beans are special because they have thin skins and they blow open easily. Even an 8 hour soak in unsalted water will produce dozens of blown beans. Salting the water slows down water penetration and produces more even softening (with less blow outs and more uniformity of outcome) — not to mention a tastier bean.
Jessica Gavin says
Thanks for your insights!
Jeff Hillmeyer says
I have perfected cooking black, pinto, red beans, and just about whatever type in this category ( you could try other types but will require shorter times). When I moved to a high altitude climate, I discovered one key ingredient to eliminate when cooking. SALT. Almost any bean comes out soft and cooks faster, no matter which method. You simply add it afterwards to taste. But by far, the easiest way to cook is in a crock pot, because no soaking (quick or overnight) is required. When I make pintos or black beans, to give it a good basis to reheat later for any other style, I add whole cumin that I rub between my hands to crack a bit and lots of fresh garlic that I chop coarsely (about 4 cloves per 1 lb bag of beans). Then, after about 4 hours later, check for tenderness, and if to your liking, add the salt then, and only then! Remember one thing, SALT is your enemy while cooking, but absolutely magical to add when you’re ready to eat! Add a lot of water (almost to the top of the crock pot) to get something soup-like, and rememeber you can always cook out water, but you can never add it to make the flavor stand.
Keri says
After cooking the black beans can they be stored in a mason jar in the refrigerator or frozen for later use?
Jessica Gavin says
Yes! You can refrigerate the beans or freeze them for use later.
Steven says
Hello Jessica, hope you are safe and well. I bought Goya black beans soaks them over night, cooked on the stove top, put them in the slow cooker bit they never got nice. Toss them out…What happened. I’m afraid to try again. Thank you much
Louis Urban Kohler says
what to do with excess water after cooking?
Jessica Gavin says
The saltwater can be discarded when the beans are drained and rinsed.
Jessica Gavin says
You can discard the cooking water.
marie says
Jessica, Louis, the water in which the beans are cooked can can be used as stock.
TD says
You can pour the salted water on weeds, not in your vegetable garden, or on grass that grows in cracks of your sidewalks.
Jessica Gavin says
Wow, good to know that the salted water is a natural way of controlling unwanted weeds!