Beans are widely heralded as the cheapest source of protein we can get. But we don’t eat them very often. Why? Maybe it’s because they’re just too boring.
Or so we think. The truth is, they’re not any more boring than a cup of flour. It’s what you do with that cup of flour – or beans as the case may be – that makes it exciting!
So here we go: A non-boring way to eat beans every day for a week. And this isn’t just a list of recipes! It’s a comprehensive plan detailing when and how to cook them, so that you can set your alarms to keep from forgetting! Because the second biggest obstacle to eating beans every day is that they take longer to cook than we’re used to. You may recognize some of these recipe from Ways To Get More Beans In Your Diet.
How To Eat Beans Every Day For A Week Without Getting Bored
Sunday Evening: Rinse enough beans for your family’s Monday-night dinner. You could use pinto, old navy, or great norther beans are an excellent choice. Place them in a large pot and cover with water to soak on the counter overnight.
Monday
- Morning: Drain beans and rinse well. Place them in a large crockpot, covering with fresh water, and cook on high.
- Rinse and soak a bag of chickpeas.
- Afternoon: Make baked beans for dinner using the beans you’ve had in the crockpot all day.
- Evening: Rinse chickpeas, and cook overnight in the crockpot.
Tuesday
- Morning: Drain and cool Chickpeas
- Make Hummus, and serve with crudités for lunch.
- Evening: Rinse and soak pinto, or black beans.
Wednesday
- Morning: Cook beans (using the stove-top method if you only have one crockpot).
- Evening: Make slow cooker burritos (preferably using homemade corn tortillas)
- Soak red beans
Thursday
- Morning: Rinse and cook red beans. As you may have noticed, I like to cook my beans in the crockpot so that I can just throw them in in the morning, and come back in the afternoon when they’re done, but obviously, you can cook them however you want.
- Afternoon/Evening: Make Cajun Red beans over rice for dinner
- Rinse and soak a batch of white beans.
Friday
- Morning: Drain and rinse beans, place in crockpot to cook for the day.
- Afternoon/Evening: Make white bean alfredo, and serve over pasta, potatoes, or rice for dinner. This is good stuff, trust me!
- Soak a batch of black beans – enough for dinner tomorrow night, plus extra!
Saturday
- Morning: Rinse and cook beans.
- Afternoon/Evening: Make black bean chili. Make sure to reserve two cups of beans for tomorrow!
Sunday
- Time for a treat! Make some black bean brownies! After all, what’s food without a little fun? Your family will love these brownies, and if you don’t tell them, will never even know that they’re full of beans!
- There you have it! A week of beans!
For easy reference, here the list of dishes you’ll be cooking throughout the week:
- Baked beans
- Hummus
- Slow cooker burritos
- Cajun Red beans over rice
- White Bean Alfredo
- Black Bean Chili
- Black Bean Brownies
That’s quite a bit of variety, and some very cheap nutrition throughout the week. Your grocery budget will that you!
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Yum. Sounds good! Thanks for this good post.
We have been trying some of the bean recipes. The bean alfredo was amazing. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it turned out great. Thanks for the great ideas!
I don’t even soak the beans overnight. Throw them in the crockpot for 4 hours on high and you are done!
So many great ideas Elise!!
Thanks
Do you by chance have a grocery list for this meal plan?
Hi can I make beans to the cooked stage and then freeze or dehydrate them to use in recipes that call for canned and/or cooked beans..
Yes, you can easily freezer them in ziplock bags or freezer-safe containers. 2 cups is roughly the same amount as 1 can. 🙂