Listen up, everyone—it’s bean season. Autumn might bring cool air, early sunsets, and fashionable boots, but none of its trappings are more enjoyable than the warm comfort of a bowl of beans. Here are some of The Takeout’s best bean recipes, which you can spend time perfecting before winter sets in.
Baked beans should be as delicious as they are uncomplicated, and this recipe makes use of the slow cooker to achieve both depth of flavor and set-it-and-forget-it simplicity. Molasses, bacon, and tomato (in the form of ketchup, of course) flavor these beans, which will fill your house with delectable smells before serving. Get the recipe for Husky Rural Baked Beans here.
The Cool Beans cookbook by Joe Yonan is a treasure trove of unique bean preparations, but this recipe takes the cake for its surprisingly wide range of flavors. The taste of mild and tender beans, golden sweet garlic, and bitter broccoli rabe over slabs of charred toast is the perfect complement to a chilly evening. Get the recipe for Garlicky Great Northern Beans here.
Though recipes vary from one family to the next, a classic “pasta fazool” features three core elements: pasta, white cannellini beans, and a tomato base. This version adds a slightly more aggressive set of flavors in the form of fresh garlic and a generous handful of crushed red pepper, plus guanciale, if you feel like splurging. Get the recipe for Pasta Fagioli here.
Lupini beans fly under the radar in the United States, but they have all kinds of uses. Roasting lupini beans with the shell on will cause the skin to scorch and bubble; the result is an appetizer packed with roasted flavor and crunchy texture, further complemented by a handful of salty, briny olives. Get the recipe for Oven-Roasted Lupini Beans here.
Every fan of The Office knows “the chili scene,” but for the uninitiated, bumbling character Kevin brings a truly unfathomable amount of chili into the office, immediately drops the whole vat on the floor, and furiously tries to salvage it while slip-sliding around in a heap of carpet-staining chili mess. IN 2022, an eagle-eyed viewer found out that NBC’s Peacock streaming service embedded the entirety of the recipe for “Kevin’s Famous Chili” within the text of its user agreement, so now the whole world can enjoy a taste of it—hopefully sans disaster. Get the recipe for Kevin’s Famous Chili here.
Four ingredients, endless comfort—that’s the promise this recipe delivers on. Left to simmer for 2-4 hours on the stovetop, a pot of stewed beans and ribs all but takes care of itself, the beans breaking down to a creamy consistency and the ribs growing fall-apart tender on the bone. If you haven’t done much cooking with beans, this is a great place to start. Get the recipe for Stewed Beans and Ribs here.
This recipe was created for pandemic-era thriftiness, and it has many elements that ensure no byproduct of the meal goes to waste. These days, you can simply consider it a way to showcase beans at the forefront of your dinner, with help from the Instant Pot to achieve your desired bean texture. Get the recipe for Instant Pot Beans and Ricotta here.
This bean entry is almost the opposite of cooking—that is, it’s a guide to building multiple so-called Depression Meals from a single can of black beans. If you are a home cook who struggles with motivation, having black beans in the pantry can be your saving grace most weeknights (or weekends). We present to you three “tiers” of black bean meals you can make, depending on your level of mental capacity on any given day. Get the non-recipe recipe for these black-bean-based struggle meals here.
At first blush, this recipe for a classic Thanksgiving staple will look a lot like the one printed on the French’s can, but adds some unique elements like water chestnuts for a crucial bit of crunch and sauteed button mushrooms to complement the cream of mushroom soup. It only takes a few extra toppings and condiments to make this old dish feel entirely new (but still retro). Get the recipe for Green Bean Casserole here.
We’ve saved the biggest recipe for last: a slow-cooked Cassoulet stew that takes no fewer than four days to prepare. But don’t worry—it only takes that long so as to keep it to a small and manageable amount of work each day, and to afford inactive time to the mixture so the flavors can meld. The result is a certifiable showstopper that will make you more confident in the kitchen. Get the recipe for Cassoulet here.