The best beans to jumpstart quick, easy, and healthy meals

We all know that beans—that’s shorthand for beans, dried peas, lentils, and other le­gumes—are healthy. But these beans are healthy, flavorful, fast food. 

Easy beans are trending. Pouches of ready-in-60-seconds Cuban black beans, smoky barbecue pinto beans, black lentil dal, Mexican Mayocoba sofrito-seasoned beans, and others now line supermarket shelves. That’s good news for your health and the planet’s. Here’s a sampling of yummy, easy beans that won’t break your sodium bank (unless noted, they don’t top 400 milligrams per serving). 

This article comes from Nutrition Action. We don’t accept any paid advertising or corporate or government donations. Any products we recommend—like these beans—have been vetted by our staff and are not advertisements by the manufacturers. They’re just healthy foods we think you’d like to know about!

Fillo’s or A Dozen Cousins beans are a starter for tacos, bowls, and more

“Our ready-to-eat Latin staples only taste like you spent all day in the cocina,” says Fillo’s website. Why? It’s “that punch of fresh vegetables cooked in extra virgin olive oil” known as “sofrito, the super-flavorful base behind most Latin American dishes.” 

A sofrito is made by sautéing and then slowly cooking finely chopped vegetables like peppers, onions, tomatoes, and garlic in olive oil to concentrate their flavor. And Fillo’s sofrito—it’s the starter for all their seasoned beans—made the brand a top pick among our taste-testers. 

Try Fillo’s great-tasting lower-sodium varieties (these all have less than 400 mg of sodium per half cup):

• Cuban Black Beans Sofrito: A do-it-all seasoned bean. They’d be at home in tacos, served alongside roasted chicken and vegetables, or at breakfast with eggs and avocado.
• Peruvian Lentils Sofrito: Toss them right into a chopped salad (no need to heat!) or microwave and serve atop a warm grain bowl with vegetables.
• Mexican Mayocoba Sofrito: The Mayocoba is a mild-tasting pale-yellow bean. In Fillo’s version, it picks up flavor from onion, garlic, olive oil, and ancho chile powder. 
• Refried Mild Cranberry Beans: Mild, creamy, and versatile. Keep a pouch on standby for when your next bean-and-cheese quesadilla craving hits. (You can add hot sauce if you want some heat.)

If your supermarket doesn’t stock Fillo’s, consider A Dozen Cousins. Its Cuban Black Beans and Mexican Pinto Beans get their flavor from ingredients like onions, garlic, and peppers, with no more sodium than Fillo’s.

Maya Kaimal whips up Indian food with less salt

Maya Kaimal’s organic pouches of Everyday Chana (chickpeas) and Everyday Dal (lentils, split peas, kidney beans, or green garbanzos) are standouts. Most varieties are light on sodium compared to other seasoned beans, but they still go heavy on flavor. 

Tip: Bypass the pouches with “Coconut” in their names to limit saturated fat. (They’ve got about 30 to 40 percent of a day’s worth per serving.) Instead, try one of these winners, which contain only 310 mg to 390 mg of sodium per (half-pouch) serving:

• Kidney Bean, Carrot & Tamarind: The addition of tangy tamarind (a sweet-sour fruit) was a hit with our taste-testers.
• Black Lentil, Tomato & Cumin: It’s the company’s version of dal makhani, which means there’s just a touch of richness from coconut cream (but with only 2.5 grams of sat fat). Yum.
• Chickpeas, Tomato & Onion: If your go-to Indian food order is chana masala (chickpeas in a tomato-based curry sauce), look no further.
• Yellow Lentils, Tomato & Garlic: Inspired by an aromatic dal that’s a mainstay on Indian restaurant menus.
• Green Garbanzo, Corn & Coriander: Green garbanzos are chickpeas that have been picked while they’re still young.
• Black Chickpeas, Tamarind & Sweet Potato: Black chickpeas—another variety of the legume—have an earthier flavor than the usual tan chickpeas, says the company.

If you can’t find Maya Kaimal at your supermarket, try Tasty Bite. The Organic Channa Masala and Organic 3 Bean Madras Lentils each has just 400 mg of sodium per half-pouch (2/3-cup) serving. 

BeanVivo knows how to jazz up staples like chili and BBQ beans

BeanVivo Organics’ seasoned pouches don’t disappoint. Some top picks that hover around 400 mg of sodium per half-cup serving:

• Smoky BBQ Pinto Beans: Most baked beans have 8 to 14 grams of added sugar per half cup, but these saucy, smoky-sweet ones have just 1 gram. (They also get a couple grams of naturally occurring sugar from tomato paste.) Another way to turn down the sugar: Go with tomatoey British-style baked beans. (Make your own with The Healthy Cook’s 30-minute British-ish No-Bake Beans recipe, which has just 2 grams of added sugar per cup.)
• Three Bean Vegan Chili: This not-spicy chili with 410 mg sodium per half cup features red beans, black beans, navy beans, and plant-based chorizo sausage.
• Baja Black Beans: Mild black beans are simply seasoned with onion, salt, garlic, and spices. That makes them flexible enough to use in “tacos, nachos, tostadas, enchiladas, burritos, you name it!” says the package.

Stretch saltier sauces like Heyday’s by adding extra beans 

“Hey, dinner’s almost ready!” says the website for Heyday, a new fave among bean-eating foodies. “Beans are a perfect food, made even more perfect when simmered in aromatic, vibrantly flavored sauces.”

We can’t argue with that. And Heyday has disrupted the canned-bean scene with punchy sauces like in its Harissa Lemon Chickpeas (530 mg sodium per half cup) and Tomato alla Vodka Cannellini Beans (540 mg). So it’s a pity that most varieties have more than 500 mg of sodium. 

But you can lower the sodium per serving of Heyday’s—or any brand’s—beans in sauce (or curries or stews) by adding extra canned or cooked unsalted beans or lentils to stretch the dish into more servings. There’s usually plenty of sauce to go around. (Unlike most canned beans, Heyday’s are meant to be served in their sauce, not drained.) We’d mix a can of Heyday’s Enchilada Black Beans (560 mg sodium per half cup) with a can of drained, unsalted black beans and add them to veggie enchiladas, burritos, tacos, rice bowls, you name it.

Barilla Chickpea and other legume pastas are a find if you’re gluten-free

Barilla’s gluten-free chickpea pastas have just one ingredient: chickpea flour. And they’re more neutral-tasting than many other legume pastas like black bean, soybean, and green lentil. Choose from penne, rotini, orzo, or spaghetti shapes. Compared to whole wheat pasta, a 2 oz. (dry) serving has about as much fiber (8 grams) and more protein (11 grams vs. 8 grams). You can’t say the same for most other gluten-free pastas, which are made from rice flour.

Just don’t let cooking beany rotini trip you up. Our tips for legume-pasta success:

1. Use a large pot. You want enough water to keep the noodles from sticking and to leave room for the foam that typically forms at the top.
2. Don’t overcook. Most legume pastas cook in less time than traditional pasta (check the label)...and they can go from cooked to overcooked and gummy in a flash. Solution? Taste early and often, drain and rinse well, and serve immediately.

Top a salad with crunchy chickpeas instead of croutons

Products like Saffron Road Organic Crunchy Sea Salt Chickpeas beat chips, pretzels, and other salty nibbles, but they’re not just for snack time. Crispy chickpeas also make the perfect crunchy topper for your salad. Instead of low-fiber white-flour croutons, you’ll be getting roughly 5 grams of both protein and unprocessed fiber per ounce (for just 130 calories).

Feeling more adventuresome? Roast your own with our Healthy Cook’s recipe for Spicy Chickpea Poppers. Mmm. (They’re addictive. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.)

For a high-fiber side, mix your grains with beans

Pouches like Target’s Good & Gather 90 Second Whole Grain Blend have the right idea: Mix whole grains like brown rice or quinoa with legumes like lentils to turn up the fiber and add a delightfully nutty texture. They deliver a side dish in just the 90 seconds it takes to microwave them. 

But most brands have more salt than you might want. (Good & Gather, for example, has 470 mg of sodium per cup.) To stretch the servings and cut the sodium per serving, add a can of drained, unsalted beans to Target’s or another brand’s blends. Better yet, cook your own whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, bulgur, or wheat berries, then add the beans. 

Need a quick-cooking legume? Know your lentils. 

Most lentils take just 15 ­to 25 minutes to cook—no soaking needed. Most dry beans, on the other hand, hover around 45 to 75 minutes after an overnight soak.

Lentils aren’t just fast, they’re versatile. Your menu of options:

• Brown or green lentils. These everyday lentils soften as they cook, so they’re just the right texture for lentil soups and stews.
• French green lentils. These firmer, dark-green gems may look like regular green lentils, but they hold their shape after cooking, so they’re ideal for salads and pilafs. Look for “French,” “French style,” or “Le Puy” on the bag.
• Black lentils. Like their French kin, black (aka “beluga”) lentils stay firm when cooked. And they show off that dazzling black, caviar-like look! If you’ve never tried a black lentil, you’re in for a treat. Try The Healthy Cook’s recipe for Black Lentil Tabouli, Broccoli & Lentil Salad, or Roasted Winter Veg over Lentils with Spicy Herb Sauce.
• Red or other split lentils. Got just 10 or 15 minutes? Like split peas, red lentils have their skins removed, so they’re soft and quick cooking. That makes them the perfect creamy texture for dal or Turkish red lentil soup.

For lentils at a moment’s notice, stockpile pre-cooked pouches like Target’s shelf-stable Good & Gather 90 Second Black Lentils (0 mg sodium) or refrigerated Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils (230 mg of sodium per half cup). Toss them into a salad, heat ’n eat them plain, or use them for any recipe that calls for cooked lentils.

Got a good bean recipe? Use unsalted canned beans or cook them from scratch.

If you use a can, carton, or pouch of unseasoned cooked beans, you’ll typically be adding 250 to 500 mg of sodium with every half cup. That’s more than you may need, especially if the recipe calls for adding salt. Draining and rinsing canned, salted beans only cuts their sodium by about a third. Instead, look for “low sodium” (140 mg or less) or “no salt added” on the label. Next best: “reduced sodium” (typically up to 240 mg).

Got time? Cook your own beans from scratch. (Here’s how.) Rules of thumb: 

• It takes 1½ to 1¾ cups of cooked beans to replace a 15 oz. can or pouch 
• 1 pound of dry beans (about 2½ cups) makes 6 to 8 cups of cooked beans

Why it’s worth eating more beans

Plant protein! Fiber! Vitamins! Minerals! Great taste! Once we start singing beans’ praises, it’s hard to stop. Need some beanspiration? Here are 5 good reasons to add more of them to your repertoire.

1. Beans are a solid source of plant protein. Just a half cup of beans has about 8 grams of protein (for 120 calories). A large egg has 6 grams (for 70 calories). 
2. Eating beans regularly is a good way to stay regular.  Beans have less water than fruits and vegetables, which makes them a more concentrated source of fiber per serving. Expect 5 to 8 grams of fiber in a half cup of most beans, compared to 1 to 3 grams in ½ cup of most fruits and vegetables.
3. Beans deliver a nice dose of vitamins and minerals. It’s not just about fiber and protein. Beans are also packed with potassium, magnesium, folate, zinc, and iron.
4. Beans are kind to your heart. Beans can help lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, most likely because they’re rich in the gummy, soluble type of fiber. Eating beans instead of red meat (beef, pork, or lamb) can help lower your risk of heart disease, in part because beans have little or no saturated fat, which raises LDL.
5. Beans help protect the planet. Producing a serving of beans releases far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than producing a serving of animal proteins like dairy, meat, or poultry. When it comes to the planet, beans are best, beef is worst.