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How to prepare white beans

When you want to use white beans in a recipe, most of the time you use dried beans.

They're handy, but they're hard and not easy to use, but don't worry, in this recipe you'll see how to prepare and cook them.

12K 3.5/5 based on 2 reviews

Last modified on: August 16^th 2023

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For 500 g, you will need:

1 500 g white haricot beans
2 2 tablespoons coarse salt
3 ½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of (baking) soda (optional)
Total weight: 530 grams

Change these quantities to make: 250 g 500 g 1 kg 1 kg 500 g

Change measures: Metric

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How long will it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
12 hours 2 min.	15 min.	12 hours 17 min.

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 12 hours

Pour 500 g white haricot beans into a bowl, and cover with plenty of cold water.

Leave overnight to soften.

Stage 2 - 2 min.

The next day, drain and rinse under cold water.

Stage 3 - 15 min.

Pour the beans into a large saucepan over medium heat, cover with plenty of cold water, add 2 tablespoons coarse salt and if possible ½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of (baking) soda and bring to the boil.
At first, a foam may form on the surface - this is normal - skim off the foam and discard.

Continue cooking, covered, until the beans are tender, then turn off the heat.

Stage 4

Drain the beans, they are ready to be used in your recipe.

Remarks

You'll notice that the beans take quite a long time to cook, but if you add a little baking soda in step 3, which tenderizes the bean skin, the cooking time is much reduced.

Keeping

Several days in the fridge, protected by cling film.

Source

Home made.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
680 Kcal or 2,847 Kj	45 gr	120 gr	2 gr
34 %	17 %	11 %	<1 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
128 Kcal or 536 Kj	8 gr	23 gr	< 1 gr
6 %	3 %	2 %	<1 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 500 g : 2.58 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

	White haricot beans: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Duo of slow-cooked pork, Sausages with baked beans, French style, White bean gratin "à l'italienne", Minestrone, Paimpol salad, ... All
	Coarse salt: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: How to prepare broccoli, Salmon marinated like herring, Mackerel rillettes, Preserved lemons, How to prepare endives , ... All

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