Have you ever wondered how to can dry beans? You can very inexpensively can dry beans so they will be readily available for use in your favorite dish or recipe. You will be surprised how easy and simple it is to can your own dry beans. We guarantee once you learn how to do this for yourself, you won’t ever buy canned beans from a store again.
Beans are one of those staples in the pantry of many households. A large of supply of different dry beans is a good addition to your pantry but if you don’t plan ahead, having dry beans doesn’t do you much good. Typically you have to soak your beans overnight and then you have to cook them throughout the following day. There is a quick soak method where you basically soak them in boiling water and this helps the process move along a little bit faster.
But there’s nothing more convenient than being able to pull a can of beans right out of your pantry. And when it costs next to nothing due to how inexpensive dry beans are, this is really a no brainer. Also many pressure canners allow you to stack your jars during processing. This allows you to be able to can 20 pints of beans during one canning session making this a cost-effective way to process your beans.
While there are several ways to can beans. We prefer the dry can method. This method doesn’t require any presoaking or cooking of the beans prior to canning. You do have to pressure can beans and they are not something that can be water bath canned. Don’t be discouraged or intimidated by this as pressure canning doesn’t have to be complicated.
How to Can Dry Beans
Learn how to can your dry beans using the no soak method!
Ingredients
- Dried beans (pinto, great northern, black, kidney, etc.)
- Water
- Pint or Quart sized mason jars with lids and rings
- A pressure canner
Instructions
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Measure out ½ cup of beans for every pint jar.
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Rinse beans. Remove and discard any rocks, pebbles, or foreign objects.
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Prepare your clean canning jars. You do not need to sterilize these jars as you are pressure canning.
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Put ½ teaspoon of canning salt into each jar.
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Measure out ½ cup of your rinsed beans and place in each jar. We used pint jars.
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Fill jars with hot water and leave a 1 inch headspace.
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Wipe each jar rim with vinegar.
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Apply lid and ring to each jar.
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Process pint jars for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Process quart jars for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
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After canner has depressurized and completely cooled. Remove jars from canner.
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Wash, label and prepare jars for pantry storage.
Recipe Notes
You will need to adjust your pressure depending on your altitude. We have to process at 11 pounds since we are under 2,000 ft in elevation.
Having a well-stocked pantry will help with making homemade meals both easy and quick for your family. Some people freeze their cooked beans and this works too. We prefer to have our food stored in different ways and do not like to rely solely on our freezer.
This is mainly due to not having very much freezer space for beans. Our freezer space is dedicated to meat, vegetables, fruits and other meal prep ingredients. Also it can take a lot longer for beans to thaw out from the freezer. So again if you don’t plan ahead than you are faced with having to quickly thaw out beans from your freezer.
If you have canned beans in your pantry, you have one more weapon in your arsenal when it comes to getting homemade food on your family table. Also in the event of a power outage, you most likely will still have an alternate heat source such as a gas or wood stove, BBQ burner, or camp stove. Therefore even in a pinch, you can make up some re-fried beans, hummus, chili or other bean dish.
We’d love to hear what you think about this recipe. We’d also love to hear if you have your own pantry recipes that you enjoy. Let us know in the comments below. Thank you for stopping by and visiting Sunup to Sundown! We’ll be back soon with another recipe or update regarding our garden or our journey to becoming more self-reliant.
I have been canning for years but never dry beans. Will be trying out your recipe tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Thanks.
That is awesome Gisele! It has been a total game changer and takes so much time out of canning beans. They turn out perfectly and it’s so nice to have them on our pantry shelf. Let us know what you think!
So glad to find this! I canned dry beans with my cousin ( who has since passed away). We only did it once and I could never find how we did it again. I am brand new to canning so this should be easy if I can figure out the canner!
Hi Terri, we are so glad to hear this. We love canning our own dry beans. You can buy them for relatively inexpensive and then can up batches of one kind of bean or multiple kinds of beans in a jiffy. It’s really great to have these staples to put on your pantry shelf! Happy Canning!
I would like to put chopped ham pieces in my beans would that change anything
Hi Elaine, we haven’t added chopped ham pieces to any beans that we canned but why not!! Many people put bacon in their beans and you are pressure canning them so all should be well. Let us know if you try this and how it turns out. Thanks again for sharing.
I can ham and beans. It is a great quick meal. I also can just ham. Just beans.
Hi Brenda, isn’t it great to be able to can so many variations of beans, ham or ham and beans. They can be used on their own or easily added to other recipes or dishes. Thanks for sharing!
How many cups for a qt? I tried to cup but they look like a beams no juice. Is that right?
Hi Melissa,
Thank you for your inquiry. We typically do 1 cup of dry beans for each quart jar. Follow the same instructions, except increase your salt if you prefer to 1 teaspoon instead of ½ teaspoon, fill jars with hot water leaving a 1 inch headspace and process for 90 minutes instead of 75 minutes. We hope this recipe works out for you.
If youing quart jar put in one cut.
Hi Gale,
Thank you for sharing! It seems that 1 cup to 1 1/4 cup of dry beans works well for most canners when canning quart jars for dry beans.
Thanks again,
Ashley Bilyeu
I have a canner that just does 5, 10, and 15 lbs of pressure. Since you’re doing 11 lbs, I’m guessing that I would use 10 lbs. I’m not high altitude. Quarts 90 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure?
Hi Amy, yes 10 lbs of pressure should work fine. You process pints and quarts at the same pressure just quarts for longer. Pints for 75 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes. We just canned more beans today. Happy canning!
For how long the beans can be storage? One year or more than that?
Hi Simone,
Most people say unopened home canned goods have a shelf life of one year and should be used within 2 years. If you ask any canner, they will tell you they have had canned foods that last many more years than that are still good. You just need to be sure to check your lids regularly to ensure they still have a good seal. Also when you open any foods, you make sure that they appear and smell good.
Here is a link to an article from the Utah State University Extension Office about this:
https://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/howdoi/canned
Happy Canning!
Have you canned black soy beans? I recently bought a bag of dried since the canned are close to $3 each!
Hi Jo,
Honestly, I don’t know if anyone has home canned black soy beans yet. But if they’re a dried bean, I don’t see why not. I’ve canned lots of different sized and types of beans. Please let us know if you try it so we know in the future!
Why can you not process sweet potatoes in a water bath canner if you bake and peel before Canning? My mother use to can most anything even meats that way?
Hi Patsy, many people do can potatoes and other vegetables in a water bath canner. You would have to find a recipe of someone that cans potatoes in this manner. All that we have followed is that low acid foods such as these are recommended to be pressure canned. But we would recommend you to research this further and find the best option for you.
I have canned the black soy beans, I cooked them first, but I am definitely going to try this method!
You definitely should! Dry canning beans saves so much time. Please let us know how your soy beans turn out! We would love to share that with others!
How do I process of I don’t have pressure canner?
Hi Kelly,
Unfortunately there is no way to can beans without a pressure canner.
Thanks for your question.
You might be able to can the bean in an Instapot as this is a great way to can many things that require pressure canning
We definitely haven’t tried canning in the instant pot but the instant pot is a tried and true way of cooking beans. They always turn out excellent!
Can you can the beans without the salt? My father’s on a little to no salt diet and I’m trying to find an alternative to store bought canned beans
Hi Lee, YES you can absolutely can the beans without salt! It is optional and personal preference for some. Thank you for your question.
Can you use any other seasoning when you can them?
Hi Pegge,
Yes, we’ve added other spices and seasonings just depending on how the beans will be used or served. The possibilities are endless! Just add whatever spices or seasonings you prefer!
Can you add meat ie. ham to the dried beans?
Hi Julie,
You would just want to research the pressure cooking time for whatever type of meat you add so that it doesn’t get overcooked if you can it with beans. Typically, we can beans and meat separately and then just combine them later when making a dish. However, many people can soups or other dishes with vegetables, meat, and beans and have found this to be successful.
Good luck and happy canning!
Could you use a hot water bath, i do not have a pressure cooker.
Hi Teresa,
Unfortunately there is no way to can beans without a pressure canner. If you didn’t have this option, you can keep dry beans on hand and cook them as needed and store any extra in the freezer.
Thanks for your question.
Hi Sunup to Sundown, in your directions you have 1 hour 15 minutes for pints and in the reply to Amy, you have 75 minutes. Just wondering how long I should do pints. Many thanks.
Hi JoAnna,
Thank you for your inquiry. Yes the directions are correct for pint jars you process them for 1 hour and 15 minutes which is the same as 75 minutes. Good luck canning your beans!
Thank you,
Ashley Bilyeu
Would a good pressure for high altitude be 15 lbs? Thanks!
Hi Karen,
It really just depends on your altitude. At up to 2,000 feet above sea level, use 11 pounds of pressure. At 2,001 to 4,000 feet above sea level, use 12 pounds of pressure. At 4,001 to 6,000 feet above sea level, use 13 pounds of pressure. At 6,001 to 8,000 feet above sea level, use 14 pounds of pressure. I hope this helps to answer your question! Happy Canning!
Thank you,
Ashley Bilyeu
Can I use a water bath to process I don’t have a pressure canner.
Hi Gina,
Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, beans do require to be canned with a pressure canner because they are a low acid food. If you aren’t able to pressure can them, another idea is to make and store them in the freezer for later use.
Thanks again,
Ashley Bilyeu
You can waterbath beans if you are a rebel 😉 Beans are 3 hours.
Hi Deb,
Yes, many rebel canners say that. I feel like a rebel because I don’t soak them first like so many canners do. But to each is own, just do what you feel comfortable doing and keep on keeping on!! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks again,
Ashley Bilyeu
Hello, I followed this and took out jars from a “still warm” pressure canner. I have noticed that some of the jars have the appearance of still boiling while others don’t. Is this what active siphoning looks like?
Hi Ally,
Happy late night canning! That’s a great question. Just because your jars are still boiling isn’t necessarily an indication of siphoning. Since you just removed them, they are still very hot and should be boiling. You can sometimes see an indication of siphoning if you see anything in your canning pot but it’s not always easy to tell depending on the color of what your canning. Please just let your jars rest overnight and wait to check them and wash them tomorrow after they have had plenty of time to cool. If for some reason you have any jars that didn’t seal, just place them in the refrigerator and be sure to use them right away. Let me know if I can be of anymore help.
Thank you,
Ashley Bilyeu
This is interesting. What is the texture of the finished product? Are the beans soft or firm?
Thanks,
Martha Drummond
Hi Martha,
The texture of home canned beans is the same as store canned beans. You will find that them to be ready to eat or add to other dishes just like you would store beans. If the bean has a thinner skin it may be softer than a thicker skinned bean but there are no other real differences. Thanks for your question and hope you give this recipe a try.
Thank you,
Ashley Bilyeu
Beans are in the sterilzed jar then do you fill with boiling water to 1 inch head space?
Hi George,
Yes, that is correct. You sterilize the jars, fill with beans and then fill with boiling water to 1 inch head space. Good luck canning!
Thank you,
Ashley Bilyeu
Can’t wait to try this! Great impeccable directions. Thanks.
Hi Joan, thank you so much for your kind words! Please give it a try, you will be so happy you did. Thanks again and happy canning!
I have been canning my beans in quart jar’s putting one cup of beans with one teaspoon of salt. My problem is that there’s not a jar full of beans. Pressure can them for the 90 minutes and wait the for them to cool.they all seal and taste great. Love your sooo clear direction. Thanks.
Hi Charlotte,
We’ve always canned dry beans in pint jars but if you are canning in quart jars and not getting enough beans after they are processed try added a little more dry beans to your jars. Many people who can quarts add about 1 1/4 cup of dry beans. Just remember that the beans can expand up to 3 times their size once processed. I hope this helps and happy canning!
Thank you,
Ashley Bilyeu
I have used this recipe several times now. I’m canning black beans as I write this post. It works on all beans, they come out cooked. Now instead of it taking two days to make refried beans, or baked beans all I have to do is open up a can and start cooking. Awesome recipe and time saver
Hi Pretty Maker, thank you so very much for sharing your experience. This is why we love having canned beans on our shelf. It is truly a game changer and saves so much time and money. Thank you again!!!!
Ashley Bilyeu