Spent $1.10 on dried black beans instead of $4.50 on canned, and the 3 hours of soaking was worth every single day I ate them

Jake Kelly · 2026-10-12T16:00:05.31701+00:00

I stood in aisle 7 at the H-E-B on South Congress last Sunday doing math on my phone, and the canned black beans were $1.25 a can while the dried ones were $1.10 for a whole bag. I went with dried even though I knew it meant soaking them overnight and simmering them the next day while I tried to get some work done. The soak took about 8 hours, then I simmered them for a little over 2 hours with onion, garlic, and a bay leaf, and it made what felt like 6 cans worth of beans. I froze them in 2 cup portions with a little of the cooking liquid and I've been pulling them out all week for tacos, rice bowls, and a soup I threw together on Wednesday. The texture is honestly better, they're creamier and don't have that tinny thing canned beans sometimes get. Total cost worked out to maybe 20 cents per portion versus a dollar and change. My question is whether anyone has a trick for speeding up the soak, because I forgot to start it one night and almost had to order pizza instead. Does the quick soak method with boiling water actually work or does it mess up the texture?

🐿️Pinecone Attack

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Spent $1.10 on dried black beans instead of $4.50 on canned, and the 3 hours of soaking was worth every single day I ate them | Budget Friendly Meals - Pinecone Attack