How to Cook Beans That Are Tender, Creamy, and Nearly Perfect

Cooking beans that are velvety and thin-skinned can be an absolute delight. Their delicious, tender, and creamy consistency can level up any dish. If you’re wondering how to perfect these beans, here are some tried and tested easy meal ideas for you:

What Beans To Choose?

We prefer using Camellia Brand red beans or Bush’s best-baked beans. Whatever brand you choose, make sure they’re fresh. Beans stored for an extended periods can be tough to cook and may not do justice to the recipe.

Brown Sugar and Bourbon Baked Beans

You’ll need diced bacon, onions, red bell pepper, minced garlic cloves, bourbon, ketchup, dark brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and of course, the star of the show, the beans!

Creamy beans cooked in brown sugar and bourbon.

Preheat your oven at 325°F. In a pan, begin by cooking the bacon until it starts to turn crispy and golden brown around the edges. Then toss in the onion, red bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until the onion begins to turn translucent.

 

Next, pour in the beans, bourbon, ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, yellow mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine everything.

 

Place the bean mixture into the preheated oven and bake until the sauce is thick and creamy.

 

Millie Meaty’s Red Beans and Rice

If you’re on the lookout for hearty comfort food, look no further.

For this recipe, you’ll need small red beans, Andouille sausage, diced onions, finely chopped red bell pepper, celery, ham bone, garlic, chicken stock, bay leaves, ham cubes, Worcestershire sauce, Cajun seasoning, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dried basil, rubbed sage, dried parsley, and fresh scallions for garnishing.

Tender, creamy red beans with sausages and steamed rice.

Rinse the uncooked beans and soak them for about 4 hours or overnight.

In a large stockpot, brown the Andouille sausages. Add the onions, celery, and red pepper. Stir and sauté with garlic until the onions become translucent.

Next, drain the soaked beans and add them to the stockpot with the vegetables, ham bone, and bay leaves. Pour the chicken stock over the beans and let it simmer on low heat until the beans soften, you can then remove the bay leaves.

Once the beans are tender, take out half of them in a large bowl and mash the beans using a potato masher. Transfer the mashed beans back into the pot; this ensures the mixture thick and not soupy!

Remove and discard the ham bone. Stir in the diced ham, Worcestershire sauce, Cajun seasoning, black pepper, cayenne, basil, sage, and parsley.  Continue to let the mixture simmer until the beans are fully cooked, ensuring all the ingredients are perfectly incorporated.

You can enjoy this with steamed rice and a drizzle of hot sauce.

For more healthy food recipes like these, you can browse our online food blog for breakfast recipe online, side dishes, starters, main dishes, and desserts to see what you like!

Check out and read full Ratatouille casserole recipe.