Looking for beans recipes and meal ideas? Whether you’re using canned beans, dry beans you’ve cooked yourself, or leftover beans from another meal, this list has over 25 easy ways to incorporate beans into your meal plan – from snacks and soups to salads and hearty main dishes.
One of my favorite things to do is find a versatile, budget-friendly ingredient and come up with a bunch of ways to use it! I like to keep a variety of dry beans on hand and cook them in my Instant Pot because it’s so fast. I know others like to keep canned beans in the pantry. You pick the method you like best. When it’s time to use beans, let these bean recipe ideas serve you well.
Reasons to incorporate beans into your meal plans
It seems like most nutrition experts agree that beans are a good-for-you food, and “beans and rice” has become synonymous with thrift and economy.
Some of the best-tasting comfort foods and snacks have beans as a base. What about burritos? Chili? Chips and bean dip? Hummus? Baked Beans?
The point is, this pantry staple is versatile, cheap, nutritious, and delicious.
Dry Beans or Canned?
For most bean meals, you can use either dry beans you cook at home or canned beans, which do save some time in the preparation process.
When time is short or I just need a small amount of beans, I opt for a can of whatever the recipe calls for. But more often, I’ll cook dry beans in the Instant Pot. Dry beans take up a lot less space in my pantry, so I can always have them on hand. They’re more economical too – at least at the time of this writing. (Prices on staples have fluctuated wildly in recent years, but for decades, you could count on dry beans being inexpensive and readily available in any grocery store.)
Related:
How to Cook Dry Beans in the Instant Pot
Snack and Meal Ideas Using Beans
As I said before, beans are so versatile, but I’ll admit that I didn’t always realize there were so many ways to get them into my family’s diet. The first time I looked at the famous “Daily Dozen” list that nutrition expert Dr. Gregor recommends, the “three daily servings of beans” seemed hilariously difficult. It wasn’t until I clicked through to see what he was calling a serving of beans that I realized I might actually like this suggestion. According to his app, 1/4 cup of hummus or bean dip was one serving. I could easily do that as a snack any day of the week.
What you’ll find here are ideas for beans served hot or cold, as a snack, side or main dish, and in many different flavor profiles. Within the ideas I give you here, you can go even further with the variations.
Have fun incorporating beans into your meal plan!
Bean Dips, Snacks, and Spreads
Bean dip and hummus are two very familiar bean snacks. Hummus is made from garbanzo beans, which are also called chickpeas. (They are the same thing.) The most common homemade hummus recipe calls for blending cooked and cooled chickpeas with extra virgin olive oil, tahini, salt, and one or more flavorful spices, like garlic. When I make hummus at home, I omit the tahini and keep the seasonings simple, but I’ve purchased hummus with roasted red pepper or olives and pretty much all the variations I’ve tried were delicious.
- Hummus
- Classic Bean Dip
- 7-layer Bean Dip
- Cowboy Caviar
- White Bean Dip
- White bean sandwich spread
- Roasted Crispy Crunchy Toasty Chickpeas
- Roasted Crispy Crunchy Toasty Edamame
- Steamed Edamame in the Pod (I had this as a sample at Sam’s Club and bought it. The whole family loved it as a snack.)
Bean Soups and Chili
White bean soup, split pea soup, and bean and bacon are just a few common soup varieties that rely on beans to make up the bulk of the recipe, but you can find others, like minestrone, where beans share the limelight with pasta or another starch. Beans and soup just go together.
- White Bean and Kale Soup
- Zuppa Toscana (but with cannellini beans along with or instead of the potatoes)
- Split Pea Soup
- Minestrone
- Homemade Bean and Bacon Soup
- Taco Soup
- 15 Bean Soup
- Ham and Beans (not technically a soup, but soupy enough to be included here)
- Lentil Soup (lentils are legumes, and super easy & quick to cook)
Chili can be classic with red beans, ground beef, and tomatoes or it can go in wildly different directions. Chicken chili is usually made with white beans. Regional variations of chili veer off into very interesting directions. Yes, strong arguments are constantly being made that chili isn’t even supposed to have beans, but this is an article about meal ideas that use beans, so of course we’re going to include them! (I also happen to very much like beans in my chili. It’s the best part!) You can make chili with almost any type of meat, almost any type of bean, and many flavor profiles.
- Classic Chili
- Chicken Chili with White Beans
- Pork Chili
- Turkey Chili
Bean Salads & Sides
Beans are delicious served as a side all by themselves (perhaps tossed with a little salt and butter, but otherwise alone). For example, lima beans – if you love them, you love them, and nothing could be easier. My southern friend’s grandma used to serve cooked pinto beans and corn bread often for lunch. How she figured out what to make for supper after that was beyond my notice as a little kid, and I haven’t figured it out as an adult. But I remember the taste of those pintos: savory, warm, slightly salty and inherently down-home good. I’m pretty sure she didn’t add much in the way of seasoning except for butter (or lard?) and a little bit of salt.
- Plain cooked hot beans with butter and salt (lima, pinto, black beans, great northern, and more)
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Three Bean Salad
- Greek Chickpea Salad (It is so good! I think this salad is why feta cheese was invented.)
- Mediterranean Bean Salad (this looks similar to the Greek Chickpea Salad but without feta and with kidney beans)
- Beans as Salad Toppings (black beans on a southwestern salad, chickpeas on just about any salad)
- Baked Beans (also known as Barbecue Baked Beans)
- Pork N Beans (It’s not exactly the same as ham and beans. The pork is more like pork fat.)
Hearty Casseroles and Main Dishes with Beans
“Beans and rice, rice and beans” is the meal plan recommended by Dave Ramsey for those who are working toward financial goals and need to cut spending. It’s meant as a humorous – but sound – suggestion and has become almost synonymous frugality. Beans and rice can be delicious! Two of my favorites are classic red beans, rice, and smoked sausage, or black beans, rice, chicken, and salsa (with a variety of other toppings) in a burrito bowl.
And speaking of burritos, what about bean and cheese burritos? This fast food favorite can easily be made at home with flour tortillas, refried beans (either canned or homemade), a little shredded cheddar cheese, and tomato salsa.
Keeping the Tex-Mex theme, cowboy casserole combines ground beef, beans, tomatoes, and corn tortillas or corn bread into a delicious southwestern main course.
- Red Beans & Rice with Smoke Sausage
- Bean Burritos
- Black Bean Burrito Bowls
- Cowboy Casserole
These are basic and not-so-basic bean ideas to help with your frugal meal planning!
Beans are one of those ingredients I keep stocked in my pantry year-round. They’re affordable, nutritious, and so versatile – whether you’re making a quick weeknight chili, a hearty soup, or just snacking on hummus with veggies. The best part? You can use either dry beans you cook yourself or canned beans when you’re short on time. Next time you cook up a batch of beans (or open a can!), try one of these meal ideas. You might be surprised at how many delicious ways there are to incorporate beans into your meal plan!
What’s your favorite way to use beans? I’d love to hear in the comments!
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