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Swapping Dried Beans for Canned

Substituting cooked, dried beans for canned is easy. But what if the recipe also calls for the canned bean liquid?

Because dried beans offer fuller flavor than canned beans at a fraction of the cost, many of us cook and freeze dried beans to have them at the ready. Some recipes also call for the starchy canned bean liquid, so we also freeze our cooking liquid (separate from the beans, which freeze better when drained). Since our bean cooking liquid isn’t as viscous as the canned-bean liquid, we thicken it by adding 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch per 1/2 cup of cooking liquid (the amount in a 15-ounce can). We also season it with salt to taste before freezing it to account for the added salt in canned beans. One 15-ounce can of drained canned beans equals 1 1/2 cups of drained cooked dried beans.

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