A growing collection of Primary Beans' favorite recipes, stories, and recommendations meant to inspire mindful living and bring your pantry to life.
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Holiday bean confit
A showstopping holiday recipe to cook for loved ones. While not technically confit by definition, we love this idea of slowly roasting already cooked beans in lots of oil and with festive aromatics.
Fall harvest crostata
This savory crostata features a tasty filling of white beans, cheese, herbs, and fall vegetables. Remember the best crostatas have a certain charm from their imperfect appearance :)
Brothy beans with sautéed mushrooms and sage pesto
We developed this recipe to highlight fall’s bounty: creamy beans are topped with earthy sauteed cremini mushrooms and nutty sage pesto. Don’t forget the crusty bread!
Matos Family Black Beans
Dani Dillon adapted this recipe from her Puerto Rican grandma, Adeline Matos (or "Mom Mom"), who played a huge role in Dani’s upbringing and her earliest memories in the kitchen.
Malaysian bean curry
Created in partnership with Homiah, this minimal ingredient recipe showcases the magic of combining wholesome, thoughtfully sourced pantry ingredients with distinct origins.
Pizza beans!
Created by real-life parents seeking easy veggie-loaded dinners that everyone can enjoy. Gather the kiddos in the kitchen for a dish that's not only fun to make but fun to eat!
Bean pâté
Beans, walnuts, herbs, and spices come together into a savory, thick spread for your next grazing board that'll please vegetarians and omnivores alike.
Clams with Alubia beans and Spanish chorizo
I really love beans and seafood together and this recipe is a dinner party favorite. Here, clams and beans are cooked with a savory mixture of aromatics, Spanish chorizo, lemon, white wine, and broth.
Easy weeknight bean tostadas
I love the textural contrasts of the creamy refried beans and crispy tortilla, and it's fun to play around with different toppings based on what you have on hand.
Coconut rice and red beans
This classic Caribbean-inspired rice and beans dish has stood the test of time. We first tried it while visiting the Caribbean coast in Costa Rica and fell in love with its simplicity, subtle richness, and versatility.
Tamales de frijol, calabaza, y epazote
Eaten widely across Mexico but with many regional variations, tamales are both a celebratory and convenience food. While lard is traditionally used, this version can also be made entirely vegan.
Frijoles con salsa macha
This recipe was designed exclusively for our Primary Beans x Tamoa collaboration by Bolita founder, Emmanuel Galván. Salsa macha is a toasty, nutty, spicy condiment.
Herby marinated white beans
This recipe by Annie Lucey is low maintenance and big on flavor, which makes it perfect for summer dinner parties or even Sunday meal prep. Serve immediately or pop into the fridge.
Vegan frijoles Zacatecanos
Designed exclusively for our Toda la Familia kit by Todo Verde founder and NYT Cooking contributor, Jocelyn Ramirez. You can typically find avocado leaves at Mexican grocery stores or online.
Molletes with tofu al pastor
Designed exclusively for our Toda la Familia kit by Todo Verde founder, Jocelyn Ramirez. "The best thing about molletes is the combination of crunchy toasted bolillo or birote with luscious smooth beans."
Jocelyn’s frijoles de la olla
Designed exclusively for our Toda la Familia kit by Todo Verde founder and NYT Cooking contributor, Jocelyn Ramirez. You can typically find avocado leaves at Mexican grocery stores or online.
Brothy beans with gremolata and Greek yogurt
Herby gremolata (chopped, never blended) adds color, zippy flavor, and texture, and stirring in Greek yogurt brings a tangy brightness to the broth.
Best hummus
High-quality chickpeas and tahini, which blend together to make the creamiest version of this classic dip, make all the difference. You can play with the toppings depending on what’s in your pantry.
Rustic Bakery's Meyer lemon chickpea spread
Our friends at Rustic Bakery adapted the recipe for home cooks. Bright and citrusy from 2 whole Meyer lemons and lots of cilantro, this recipe makes the most of California’s winter citrus season.
Venezuelan-style arepas with secret sauce
While living on the East Coast we became obsessed with the stuffed cornmeal cakes, known as arepas, from NYC's Caracas Arepas Bar. We still dream about the signature tangy, bright-yellow sauce.
Kenyan kunde-inspired beans in a peanut-tomato sauce
Kunde is a Kenyan dish featuring black-eyed peas cooked in a peanut-tomato sauce. This recipe swaps out the black-eyed peas for cranberry beans and comes together in a snap.
Mediterranean-inspired tomato and bean salad
I love the bright, refreshing flavors of a Mediterranean, Greek-style salad. This is a loosely inspired dish, featuring tomatoes, salty feta, and lots of fresh herbs.
Mexican-inspired refried beans with pickled onions
I love refried beans, and though I typically see them made with pinto beans, cranberry beans act as an excellent substitute. Cranberry beans are slightly milder in flavor but still yield a delicious result.
Indian-inspired bean tadka
Creamy cranberry beans pair nicely with fat and spice, ideal for Indian cooking. Tadka is a South Asian technique used to bloom spices in oil to extract their essential flavor compounds.
Italian-inspired brothy beans
A good bowl of brothy beans is simple to put together, but oh-so-comforting! The ingredients here are inspired by Italian cooking, like anchovies, garlic, and lemon.
1 pot of beans, 5 tasty meals
Here are 5 distinct meals made from a pot of Cranberry beans, featuring various cuisines across the globe. These are “no-recipe” recipes, so they’re highly flexible and adaptable.
Abra Berens' cranberry bean salad w/ roasted carrots + mojo de ajo
I came to know cranberry beans in the kitchen at Petersham Nurseries under the tutelage of Skye Gyngell. She called them by their Italian name, borlotti beans.
Abra Berens' tomato + parsnip stew w/ wilted kale
I like to finish these stews in the oven to slowly evaporate the liquid while creating a bit of a crust on top. It takes a little longer but requires less attention than the stovetop...
Abra Berens' greens + bean pot licker
My friend Erin Stanley turned me on to cooking broccolini with some pasta cooking water until it is just about to fall apart. Swap pot liquor for pasta water and here we are.
Cheesy baked beans in tomato sauce
An easy and comforting dinner that comes together quickly during the week. The anchovies dissolve and add a savory complexity. For a complete meal, serve over a pile of orzo or with crusty bread.
Spicy bean cakes with cilantro-yogurt sauce
These spicy bean cakes are a fun cross between bean patties and my mom’s pakoras. Their crisp exterior and warm, flavorful interior pair beautifully with a dollop of cooling cilantro-yogurt sauce.
Cranberry beans with grilled radicchio vinaigrette
Our ideal fall salad comes together in a pinch with distinctly bitter radicchio, nutty cranberry beans, and a bright vinaigrette. Applying high heat to the chicories brings out their natural sweetness.
Fall chickpea salad with charred chicories
Lemony marinated chickpeas, salty crumbled feta, and a silky spicy dressing round out the charred chicories. Best of all, it’s satisfying enough as a standalone dish.
No-ketchup sticky baked beans
I grew up in New England, and few things remind me of fall more than a big pot of baked beans served on a crisp day. The baked beans of my childhood are, to my now grown-up palate, a little too sweet, so...
Summer taco salad
This recipe is fresh, tangy, flavorful, and hearty enough to be a meal. The dressing gets its creamy consistency from Greek yogurt, jazzed up with lime juice and chipotles in adobo.
Peak-summer panzanella
The best combination of two of our favorite “heirlooms”: tomatoes and beans! We’ve loved panzanella ever since we discovered this pure genius of a salad. Our version features hearty Ayocote Blanco beans...
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