Cooking and freezing beans, peas and legumes (in bulk) from dry is one of the most convenient and cost effective ways of maintaining a handy supply of these protein and fibre packed gems!
How to cook and freeze beans
Quantities: 1kg of dried beans for a large stock pot – 500g dried beans for a large saucepan.
- Sort through the beans to remove any damaged or strange ones as well as any stones or other foreign objects.
- Soak the beans overnight, in your fridge, covered in a generous amount of filtered water.
- Drain and rinse the soaked beans using a colander.
- Add the beans to a pot and cover with cold filtered water (at least 4cm above the level of the beans).
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 min to 1 hour or until the beans are soft (al dente).
- Drain and allow to cool.
- Measure out 2 cups of the cooked beans and seal into PBA free sandwich size ziplock bags.
- Write on each bag the type of bean, quantity and date.
- Spread the bags out flat as they freeze and defrost quicker than in a solid mass.
- The beans will stay fresh for up to three months in the freezer.
