By Nicole Dean
If you have a family budget worked out, you know how hard it is to stick to it without having some real concrete plans and strategies to stretch your money as far as it will go. Usually, the first area we can squeeze a few extra dollars out of our wallets is on groceries. I’d like to introduce you to your new partner in your frugal endeavor, the black bean.
We all find ourselves searching the grocery store for something to cook for the family that won’t take our last few dollars. When you find yourself standing in the middle of the store ready to give up, wander over and take a look at the black beans. First take a look at the price. Then take a look at the nutrition label. How can something with the nutrients you need like protein, calcium, iron, and fiber, also be so inexpensive, and low fat, too? When you can feed your family a healthy, delicious meal for literally pennies per serving, you should consider black beans a pantry must-have. How about a few quick and tasty meals that you can prepare for your family so they can fall in love with the wonderful black bean, too.
1) Easy Bean Soup
What you’ll need for the beans is 1 can each, black beans, garbanzo beans, butter beans, and navy beans (although you may substitute your favorite beans for any of those). Drain each can and set aside. Into a large pot, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil, add 1 cup finely chopped celery and 1 cup of diced onion. Cook on medium low until celery is just tender. Next add 1 clove of garlic, either minced, crushed, or grated, and let cook for just one minute. Then throw all your beans into the pot. Add 1 small can of fire roasted diced tomatoes and 1 small can chicken broth. Simmer nice and slow for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. It’s done!
2) Loads Of Beans Salad
Pick your favorite canned beans like, black beans, garbanzo beans, navy beans, butter beans, waxed beans, kidney beans, and any others that you may like to try. Drain and rinse them all very well. Put them in a nice big serving bowl. Add to the salad bowl some chopped onion, celery, chives, fresh parsley, rosemary if you like, thyme, or any other herb on hand. Season by sprinkling a good vinaigrette salad dressing all over and mixing in well. I prefer for this salad Paul Newman’s Balsamic Vinaigrette; it’s reasonably priced and good for a lot of recipes.
3) Too Easy Black Beans & Taco Sauce
Try it and I guarantee you’ll be wondering why you haven’t thought of this before. My daughter was the person who “invented” this recipe in our family, and now we’re all sold on it. Simply drain and rinse a can of black beans. If you have those little packets of taco sauce laying around, leftovers from carry-out, just squeeze a few in your black beans, give it a toss, and you have an incredibly delicious side dish that is sure to please. You’ll have to try this one to believe it. You might want to try some hot salsa instead of the taco sauce, but use only a little, just enough to flavor the beans. (Throw some shredded cheddar on top and you’re set.)
4) Black Bean Salad with Cottage Cheese
A simple but delicious use for black beans is turning it into a creamy salad. Put a 1 scoop of cottage cheese in a serving bowl, and sprinkle a little salt and freshly ground black pepper on top. Then top with some drained and rinsed canned black beans, about 1/2 cup. Add a bit of chopped celery to the mix and you have a great, crunchy, creamy lunch, packed with protein, calcium, iron and fiber.
5) Use-It-Up Black Bean Burrito
If you have a few staples in your pantry you can whip up this simple burrito. You’ll need a flour or corn tortilla, either heated or not, that’s up to you. Drain and rinse your black beans, then start building your burrito however you want. I add black beans, some diced tomatoes, a little onion, lots of shredded cheddar cheese, a little sour cream, leftover rice, some chopped up pieces of chicken from last night, and whatever else I have to use up. Depending on how I feel that day, I go a little heavier on the black beans and lighter on the other stuff. Get your salsa or taco sauce ready and enjoy.
There are countless ways to enjoy our new friend, the black bean. You will easily be able to take the five ideas I’ve listed here and add your own personal flair to create black bean dishes to suit any taste, even your family’s most finicky eater.
Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane mom and owner of ShowMomtheMoney.com – a fun and informative website to help moms achieve success working from home. She invites you to learn more ways to save money in her Frugal Moms section. Be sure to sign up for her free tutorial for work at home moms.
Man, I have been looking for something just like this for a week now, and here it is, right under my nose! I love your site and adore your articles! thank you!
here dried beans are more frugal. More dried bean recipes!!
Briana, there are quite a few more dried bean recipes here.
We are coping with the fallout from my husband’s job loss, and so are having to eat as cheaply as possible while staying away from refined flours and “cream-of whatever” soup disasters. My husband is diabetic and I recently lost 30 pounds following weight watchers (2/3 of the way there!) so eating healthy is a priority.
One of the whole family’s favorite dishes is crockpot beans n meat. I soak dry beans overnight, then put them in the crockpot just covered over with water. I lay a couple of chicken breasts or pork chops on top after seasoning the beans (usually with salt, pepper, cumin, and creole seasoning) and cook away on low all day. When the meat is done, I take it out and shred it and add it back in. I ladle it into bowls and garnish with whatever I have onhand- shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped onion and tomato- simple, filling, healthy, and good.
I am seeing this more and more. Less from scratch and more from prefab food products. More from scratch.
Here is a great recipe that we love, especially on a hot summer day:
Black beans and rice
1 lb. dried black beans
1 c. brown rice
1 tomato
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno
3 green onions, or 1 small onion
cilantro
1 lime
salt to taste
Soak black beans overnight. Drain, rinse, cover with water (about 6 c.), and simmer for 1-2 hours until beans are soft. While beans are cooking, cook brown rice with 2 cups of water for 45 minutes. Dice tomato, chop garlic, jalapeno, onions, and cilantro. Drain half the beans. Mix with the chopped veggies. Squeeze lime juice over all, and salt to taste. Serve over brown rice. Freeze the rest of the black beans for use later (convenience food at no additional cost!). I like to make this in the morning and serve it cold on a hot summer evening, giving the flavors time to mix. Stir it a bit before serving. All amounts are approximate–add more or fewer veggies as desired.
heat a tablespoon of corn oil and tablespoon of butter in a saucepan
saute onion, garlic and a chopped mild “hot” pepper, like jalapenio until all are soft
Add a can of drained, rinsed black beans and toss.
Yummy with brown rice or as part of a burrito
Slow cooked beans are great, but it’s nice to have a few back up meals from canned beans. These ideas of yours sound like they would be very tasty. One reason I particularly like the canned black beans is that they have less additives than most other beans. I’m not sure why. The commitment here is to inexpensive and healthy meals, to avoid fast food. There are a lot of ways to do that, and we need that info.
I agree with Marlene. It would be great if we could all make everything from scratch, however this isn’t always an option. In our house it comes down to time, if I have the time to cook from scratch it’s great. But if I don’t it’s nice to know that there are tips out there for easy and quick meals.
Rinse some frozen (shelled) soybeans and add to the salad for a beautiful green color. YUM!
A few things we do in our house with black beans:
1. Into a large bowl mix together 1 pint black beans(rinsed and strained), 1 pint sweet corn(drained), 1 pint diced tomatoes, half of an onion(chopped finely), leftover chicken if available, shredded cheese if available, chopped hot pepper to taste, and cooked white rice(1 cup rice, 2 cups water, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1 tsp chopped cilantro). Spoon the mix into flour tortillas, roll it up, then place them side by side in a large baking dish. Pour over enchillada sauce. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.
2. In a large bowl combine 1 pkg jiffy corn muffin mix, 1 pint black beans(rinsed and drained), 1/2 cup salsa, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 egg. Pour batter onto hot, buttered griddle like you would pancakes. Flip when bottom is browned. Serve with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, or just eat plain. Variations include adding creamed corn, fresh herbs like cilantro or green onions, shredded cheese, hot sauce, mashed potatoes, green chiles, etc.
“Canned beans”
I cook 2 lbs dried beans, then freeze them in one pound packages I think I normally get about 4 packags. Then, whenever a recipe calls for 1 can black beans (or kidneys, or …) I get out a package from the freezer, defrost, and add it to the recipe.
Exactly Dawn! Easy peasy! I put two cups cooked beans in a sandwich baggie and freeze in a freezer bag. When a recipe calls for a can of beans I pull them out of my freezer. I freeze them flat so they thaw out quickly.
Black Bean Veggie Burgers are my favorite. Drain some canned black beans and then add grated carrot, bell pepper, cumin, chili powder, & salt. Mash it all up & shape into patties. Dredge in whole wheat flour, then egg whites, then whole wheat breadcrumbs. Drizzle frying pan w/ olive oil, toss patties in, & fry until crispy on both sides. Healthy & yummy!
For those who prefer to use (or are demanding) dry beans instead of canned, you can just substitute the dried beans after they’re cooked–it’s easy! Just sort, rinse, and cook them as directed on the package, and then use them in place of the canned beans in the recipe (you may want to add a pinch or two of salt if the preparation directions on the package don’t call for it).
1 can (14.5 oz.) of drained canned beans is the same as a slightly-heaped 1 3/4 cups of cooked dried beans. Personally, I usually just use 2 cups–we don’t notice a difference in flavor, and it stretches the recipe slightly.
If you cook too many beans at once for the recipe you’re using (or if you just prefer to cook the whole bag at once), you can cool the prepared beans *completely*, then put them in freezer bags or a freezer container (I divide them into 2-cup amounts), and pop them into the freezer for next time.
Once thawed, they’re especially good in slow-simmered chili!
HTH!
Gallo Pinto is a Nicaraguan black bean/rice dish. It’s basically can of rice mixed in with cooked white/brown rice. Very tasty especially if the beans are prepared by boiling for a few hours and refried.
Roasted black beans. Take a can drain/rinse beans. Place on cookie tray and roast at 350 F for about 30. The beans will crack open to yield a crunch shell and a somewhat soft inside.
Eat as a snack mixed with nuts or just by themselves. The roasted beans make a good snack to take along in a bag to eat later.
We like cooked rice with black beans (cooked from scratch or drained, canned ones), drained whole-kernel corn, and drained canned diced tomatoes & green chilis, seasoned with sauteed onion and plenty of garlic. Fresh tomatoes and green chilies, sauteed lightly with the onions when they’re about done, would work if they’re in season. This dish is good reheated and rolled up in a warmed tortilla with a little shredded cheese. Sometimes we just roll up the left-overs in tortillas right after supper and wrap these little burritos in waxed paper, storing them on the shelf in the fridge. They microwave to perfection and taste really good with some chipotle drizzled on them.
Here Here to the roasted black bean comment! They are especially good when you toss them with seasonings before baking. You can use cumin, chili powder, fajita seasoning, curry powder, or whatever your family likes. This is an easy snack to set out when guests are chatting at holiday parties.
I am at home most days, and use my slow cooker to cook beans. Sort beans, rinse, and place in slow cooker. Cover beans with water plus about another inch of water and cook on HIGH. No soaking necessary, and beans are done in 3-4 hours. Check after a couple of hours and add more water if needed, but replace lid quickly. The more heat lost, the longer it takes food to cook. I usually stir in 1 tablespoon bacon grease and salt when the beans are done.
We love black beans served over white rice with mozzarella cheese (slice 8 oz. stick cheese into 16 slices) or other white cheese, such as monterey jack. Lately, since I”ve been watching calories, I skip the rice and just have black beans with salsa and shredded mozzarella. Yummy!
I love my slow cooker! It’s so much easier than standing over a stove and keeping things stirred., especially when I have so many other things to do. My husband’s aunt who lives with us, lived in Louisiana for 30 years. She likes to use Zatarain’s black beans & rice mix with andouille sausage and add an extra can of black beans. Today I started this in my slow cooker before we started homeschool. It was the first time I’ve used the slow cooker for this, but it worked wonderfully! It was so nice to have it ready to eat with so little effort.
By the way, my favorite way to cook roasts or pork loin is in the slow cooker. For roast I used to use cream of mushroom soup and onion soup mix and nothing else with the meat, but last time I only used the onion soup mix and it was still wonderful. I buy pork loin at Kroger and put nothing on it when I cook it in the slow cooker and it is SO good! We live in Alabama and our air conditioner usually has trouble keeping the house below 80 degrees in the summer, so using a slow cooker helps keep the house cooler, too.