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A close up of some kidney beans in a blue bowl with a black rim
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5 from 8 votes

HOW TO COOK CANNED KIDNEY BEANS

This recipe is a basic recipe for canned kidney beans.  There are many options and ideas for other ways to prepare your beans within the post at Loaves and Dishes.  I hope you’ll come back and try many of our other recipes for new cooks!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Side
Cuisine: American
Keyword: how to cook canned kidney beans
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 200kcal

Ingredients

  • 1-2 Slices bacon cut into 8 pieces each slice
  • 1 15.5 Oz can of kidney beans
  • ½ cup of water
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black ground pepper

Instructions

  • In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat on the  stove top cook the bacon until crispy.
  • While bacon is cooking, drain the beans to remove the liquid from the can.  Set the beans aside.
  • When the bacon is crispy, add the beans all at once as well as ½ cup of fresh water.
  • Add the onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and stir well.
  • Cook over medium heat, stirring often until heated through and bubbly.

Video

Notes

Fresh ingredients:

You will see that the recipe calls for bacon, however it is just fine to use sausage, hamburger, ham or another type of meat that you might have a ¼ of a cup extra of (chicken, turkey, etc).
You will need to add 2 Tbs of oil if the meat doesn’ t have any fat.
If you have fresh onion available, you might want to chop some up small and use a slice or two by cooking it with the meat first before adding the beans.  This will add a nice flavor. The recipe is written for the quickest possible cooking with the best possible flavor.
How about if you have fresh garlic?  Use it like the onion, mince a clove and add it to the pan when you add the meat.  You will want to add at least a tsp of oil so that the garlic cooks properly.

Handling the beans:

Drain the kidney beans and then add ½ cup of water to your recipe.  We do this because the canned liquid often doesn’t taste very good and it can change the texture of your beans.  It will NOT hurt you and you CAN ingest it.
You only need to heat the beans until they are heated through and bubbly.
Feel free to use either dark red kidney beans or the lighter colors.  They taste the same for all intent and purposes.
Refrigerate your leftover beans after cooking.  It’s ok to let them set out for 2 hours after cooking.
They will last for about 5 days in the refrigerator

Freezing: 

It is OK to freeze your leftovers for later.  They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Freeze them by placing into a freezer bag, squeezing out the extra air, label the bag with name of what it is and the date you froze it then toss it in the freezer!

Nutrition

Calories: 200kcal