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Canning beans turns a sack of dry beans into jars that are ready for chili, tacos, and soup on a busy weeknight. It takes about as long as cooking a pot of beans, and home-canned beans taste a lot better than store-bought cans, for pennies a jar.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Quick Look at the Recipe
- Choosing Dry Beans for Canning
- Preparing Dry Beans for Canning
- Ingredients for Canning Beans
- Safe Substitutions
- How to Can Dry Beans
- Pressure Canning Dry Beans
- Altitude Adjustments
- Ways to Use Canned Beans
- Storage and Shelf Life
- Yield Notes
- Canning Beans FAQs
- Vegetable Canning Recipes
- Canning Beans Recipe
- Pressure Canning Recipes
Dry beans keep for years on their own, so canning them can seem like extra work. What it really saves is the cooking. With a shelf of jars, beans are ready in the time it takes to open a lid, with no overnight soak and no afternoon at the stove before dinner.
Beans are a low-acid food, so they have to be pressure canned. A water bath canner doesn’t get hot enough for them. It’s only for high-acid foods like jams, jellies, and pickles.
If you’ve never used a pressure canner before, start with my pressure canning guide.
The process comes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s directions for shelled, dried beans and peas. Those directions come from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. It’s a tested recipe, and it works for any dry bean, whether you have pintos, black beans, kidney beans, or chickpeas.
Notes from My Kitchen
We eat a lot of beans. Like, bucket loads of beans. We buy pinto and black beans in bulk from our local food co-op, by the 25- and 50-pound sack.
I store them in 5-gallon buckets with gamma seal lids. Stored that way they’ll keep for years, but they never last more than a few months at my house.
Every other week I used to cook a big pot of beans for our meals, spending half the day steaming up the house. Then they’d take up half the fridge until we ate them all.
We were already pressure canning bone broth, so I tried a batch of beans. After that first batch, I was hooked. Now they sit on the pantry shelf in meal-sized jars.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Canning Beans
- Recipe Type: Bean Canning Recipe
- Canning Method: Pressure Canning
- Prep Time: A 12- to 18-hour soak
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Canning Time: 75 minutes for pints, 90 for quarts
- Yield: 7 quarts, or 9 pints
- Jar Sizes: Pints or quarts
- Headspace: 1 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Dry beans, water, and optional salt
- Safe Canning Recipe Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation, Beans or Peas, Shelled, Dried, from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning
- Difficulty: Easy
- Similar Recipes: Other plain vegetables for the pressure canner, like canning green beans, canning potatoes, and canning carrots.
Choosing Dry Beans for Canning
Any dry bean works with this process: pinto, black, kidney, navy, great northern, chickpeas, and the rest. Every variety of shelled, dried beans and peas gets the same NCHFP process.
Beans take very different times to cook on the stove. Even so, I’ve found they all come out just fine in the jar, whatever the bean.
Pick mature, dry beans, and sort out any that are discolored, along with any stones or debris. You’ll find how many pounds of dry beans a canner load takes in the Yield Notes below.
Preparing Dry Beans for Canning
Start with a 12- to 18-hour soak in a cool place, with the beans under water the whole time.
Forgot to start them the night before? NCHFP’s quick soak works too. Cover the beans with boiling water and boil them 2 minutes, then take the pot off the heat and let them soak for an hour.
Soaking isn’t optional when you’re canning beans. The beans need to take up as much water as they can before they go in the jars, so they don’t swell much more in the canner.
Soaking also leaches out some of the compounds that cause gas. People are divided on that, but with my bean-eating family, I can tell you it makes a world of difference.
Ingredients for Canning Beans
The jars hold nothing but beans, water, and a little salt if you like it.
- Dry beans: Any variety, sorted. You can mix varieties in a jar, since they all take the same processing time.
- Water: For soaking, cooking, and filling the jars. It takes a lot, so start the cooking pot with the water about 3 inches above the beans. Keep a kettle boiling to top off the jars, too.
- Salt: Optional, and only for flavor. I don’t add it. I like the results better without it, and we salt the beans when we cook with them. If you add it, use canning and pickling salt.
Nothing else goes in the jar. The tested process calls for only beans, water, and salt, so onions, peppers, garlic, spices, meat, and broth all stay out. Season the beans when you cook with them.
For beans canned in a sauce, use a recipe tested that way, like Boston baked beans or chili con carne.
Safe Substitutions
Safe changes: Any variety of dry bean, a mix of varieties in the same jar, salt in or out, and pints or quarts, each with its own processing time.
Not safe: A water bath canner, a shorter time or a lower pressure, skipping the soak or the 30-minute boil, broth or seasonings in the jar, or anything that thickens the liquid. For more on what can and can’t change in a canning recipe, see safe canning recipe changes.
This article is brilliant. It’s a total “how to” story for the true beginner.
How to Can Dry Beans
Here’s the whole process: soak the beans for 12 to 18 hours or use the quick soak, drain them, boil them 30 minutes in fresh water, then pack them hot into jars and pressure can them.
It sounds like a lot if you’ve never pressure canned before, but I promise it’s not all that hard.
Pre-Cook the Beans
Drain off the soaking water, which carries away what the soak drew out of the beans. Put the beans in a large pot with fresh water, bring it to a boil, and boil them for 30 minutes.
That boil isn’t really about cooking the beans. It’s a safety step.
Soaking plus the 30-minute boil makes sure the beans have taken up enough water and expanded before they go in the jar. Dry beans packed raw keep swelling as they process and can soak up the liquid in the jar. The tested processing times are for beans boiled 30 minutes first, so this is a step to keep.
While the beans boil, get the pressure canner ready. Follow your canner’s directions, which usually means setting the rack in the bottom and heating 2 to 3 inches of water.
On my All American canner, I also rub a thin coat of oil on the rim of the lid. That gives a good metal-to-metal seal.
Fill the Jars
Use a canning funnel to fill hot jars about 3/4 full of beans, then top them off with boiling cooking liquid, leaving 1 inch of headspace. If the bean pot runs short, use water from the kettle.
That’s a little different from the NCHFP directions, which fill the jars with beans and then cooking water. When I packed the jars full of beans, the ones on top ended up above the liquid and dry looking. The jars also siphoned more easily.
At 3/4 full, the beans swell a little more to fill the jar and stay under the liquid. The processing time, pressure, and headspace stay exactly the same.
Add salt now if you’re using it. Wipe the rims, and put on 2-piece lids, finger tight.
Pressure Canning Dry Beans
Beans are hot packed only, and they have to be pressure canned. They go in pints or quarts.
Load the jars into the canner and lock the lid. Let it vent a steady stream of steam for 10 minutes before you put the weight on. That fills the canner with steam, so it heats evenly with no cold air pockets.
Process pints for 75 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a weighted gauge canner or 11 pounds in a dial gauge canner, adjusting the pressure for altitude as shown below. Start the timer once the canner reaches pressure.
I use a weighted gauge canner, which is easier to work with, but it only has three settings: 5, 10, and 15 pounds. Above 1,000 feet, that means 15 pounds.
When the time is up, turn off the heat and let the canner return to zero pressure on its own. Remove the weight or open the petcock, wait 10 minutes, then take off the lid, tilting it away from you, and lift the jars out with a jar lifter.
Set the jars on a towel, not touching, and let them cool for 12 to 24 hours. Then check the seals, and refrigerate any jar that didn’t seal.
It’s normal for the liquid level to drop a little. Beans soak up some liquid while they process, and the liquid thickens from the bean starch.
In a sealed jar, a bit of liquid loss is cosmetic, not a safety problem. For more on why jars lose liquid, see liquid loss in canning.
Altitude Adjustments
The canning time is always 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts, at any altitude. Only the pressure changes as you go up.
For dial gauge pressure canners:
- 0 to 2,000 feet: 11 lbs pressure
- 2,001 to 4,000 feet: 12 lbs pressure
- 4,001 to 6,000 feet: 13 lbs pressure
- 6,001 to 8,000 feet: 14 lbs pressure
For weighted gauge pressure canners:
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 10 lbs pressure
- Above 1,000 feet: 15 lbs pressure
Ways to Use Canned Beans
Home-canned beans are fully cooked, so they work anywhere you’d use a can of beans from the store. Drain and rinse them, or use the liquid too. It’s thick from the bean starch, so you may need to spoon them out of the jar.
They go into chili, tacos, burritos, soups, bean salads, and refried beans. If you’d rather can a finished meal, try canning chili con carne or canning soup. There’s also a whole list of bean canning recipes, with soups and baked beans, and more pressure canning recipes for the rest of the pantry.
Have a pressure cooker but no canner? You can cook a pot from dry in a fraction of the time with Instant Pot great northern beans or Instant Pot pinto beans.
Storage and Shelf Life
Take the rings off, wipe the jars clean, and store them in a cool, dark place. The rings aren’t holding anything once the jars seal. If you leave them on, they can trap water or bean liquid underneath, which can either mold or rust the lid shut.
Home-canned beans keep their best quality for 12 to 18 months. After that they slowly lose quality, though a sealed jar may be safe for much longer. Once you open a jar, keep it in the fridge and use it within 3 to 4 days.
Yield Notes
NCHFP figures an average of 5 pounds of dry beans for a canner load of 7 quarts, and 3 1/4 pounds for 9 pints, which fills the jars right up with beans. I fill mine about 3/4 full, so I use less: 1 pound of dry beans, about 2 1/4 cups, makes 4 pints.
That works out to about 3 1/2 pounds for 7 quarts, 2 1/4 pounds for 9 pints, and 7 pounds to fill my canner, which holds 14 quart jars. Salt is optional, at 1/2 teaspoon per pint or 1 teaspoon per quart.
Canning Beans FAQs
The questions I get most on canning beans are about the water bath, skipping the boil, soft beans, liquid loss, and seasonings.
No. Beans are a low-acid food, and a water bath canner doesn’t get hot enough to make them safe. Old cookbooks had water bath times of several hours, but those went away once pressure canners came on the market. A sealed jar isn’t proof the beans are safe. Hot food can seal a jar without ever getting hot enough to kill botulism spores. There are no tested canning times for electric pressure cookers like the Instant Pot either, so beans always go in a stovetop pressure canner.
I’d stick with the tested method and do the boil. It’s a safety step, not a texture one. Soaking plus the boil makes sure the beans have taken up enough water and expanded before they go in the jar. The tested processing times are for beans boiled 30 minutes first. Skip it, and you’re off the map, with no way to know the timing is still safe.
Mine always come out firm with a long soak and the 30-minute boil. Beans cook a long time in the canner, though, so they’ll always be softer than beans cooked on the stove. One reader found canned navy beans too soft for a casserole.
Beans are starchy, and they soak up some liquid while they process. The starch also thickens the liquid, so you may need to spoon the beans out. As long as the jar sealed, that’s normal. Beans still covered with liquid are ideal, but a little loss is cosmetic, not a safety problem.
No. The tested process calls for only beans, water, and salt. Season the beans when you cook with them. For beans canned with other ingredients, use a recipe tested that way, like baked beans or chili.
Vegetable Canning Recipes
More vegetables to put up in the pressure canner.
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Canning Beans
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids, and Rings
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 lbs dry beans, any variety, see notes
- water, for soaking, cooking, and filling the jars
- salt, optional, 1/2 tsp per pint or 1 tsp per quart
Instructions
- Pick over the dry beans, removing any discolored beans and debris.
- Cover the beans with water in a large pot or bowl and soak them for 12 to 18 hours in a cool place, keeping them under water the whole time. For a quick soak, see the notes.
- Drain off the soaking water.
- Put the beans in a large stockpot with fresh water, bring it to a boil, and boil them for 30 minutes.
- While the beans cook, prepare a pressure canner following the manufacturer’s directions. That usually means setting the trivet in place and heating 2 to 3 inches of water.
- Put a kettle of water on to boil, to top off the jars if the bean pot runs short.
- Fill hot pint or quart jars about 3/4 full of the partly cooked beans, then top them off with boiling cooking liquid, leaving 1 inch headspace. Use water from the kettle if the bean pot runs short.
- Add salt using the per-jar amounts in the ingredient list, if you like.
- Wipe the rims, put on 2-piece lids finger tight, and load the jars into the canner.
- Lock the lid and vent steam for 10 minutes before adding the weight.
- Bring the canner up to pressure and start the timer once it gets there. Process pints for 75 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes at 10 lbs in a weighted gauge canner or 11 lbs in a dial gauge canner, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat and let the canner return to zero pressure on its own. Remove the weight or open the petcock, wait 10 minutes, then take off the lid, tilting it away from you, and lift the jars out.
- Cool the jars on a towel, not touching, for 12 to 24 hours, then check the seals. Refrigerate any jar that didn’t seal. Take off the rings, wipe the jars clean, and store them in the pantry for 12 to 18 months.
Notes
- 0 to 2,000 feet: 11 lbs
- 2,001 to 4,000 feet: 12 lbs
- 4,001 to 6,000 feet: 13 lbs
- 6,001 to 8,000 feet: 14 lbs
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 10 lbs
- Above 1,000 feet: 15 lbs
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Pressure Canning Recipes
Meat, soups, and more for the pressure canner.
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Thank you this is helping me a lot. Question, can I use this method for baked beans and instead of the water put my baked bean liquid into the jar
This process is only tested for plain beans in water or their own cooking liquid, so I wouldn’t swap in your baked bean sauce. A thicker, sweeter sauce changes how heat moves through the jar. Baked beans have their own canning process with a thin molasses sauce and different times (65 minutes for pints and 75 minutes for quarts, at the right pressure for your altitude). I do have a list of all the tested bean canning recipes out there, including quite a few baked beans options that do just have you pour a specific sauce over beans: https://creativecanning.com/bean-canning-recipes/
Thank you so much this is so helpful. I will look to find the baked bean recipe on your cite
Ashley, how many par-cooked beans am I putting into each jar? Do I fill it to the 1 inch headspace, or do I add less to allow for expansion? I think seeing methods where people are only filling jars half full (with only soaked beans) is what’s getting me concerned. I want to make sure I don’t mess up. Haha!
The NCHFP says you can fill them all the way up to 1 inch headspace, but in my experience they do keep expanding and then you end up with the top beans being pretty dry. These days, I fill the jars about 3/4 full with beans and then they expand a bit and come right up to the 1 inch headspace line but are still covered in liquid and they keep better and have a better texture. This post is due for an update and I’m going to add that bit when I do. Safety wise, either is fine, and the recipe was tested with full jars.
Can you add ham to your beans when canning them.or When you cook them before you Canned them. I really appreciate it if you would let me know.
I wouldn’t add ham to this plain bean process, since it’s only tested for beans in water. There are two good ways to get ham in the jar. For beans in sauce, the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s process for dry beans in tomato or molasses sauce has you add a 3/4-inch cube of pork, ham or bacon to each jar: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-vegetables-and-vegetable-products/beans-dry-with-tomato-or-molasses/ For ham and bean soup, follow the soup guidelines here: https://creativecanning.com/choice-soup-canning-recipe/ Happy canning!
Ashley, I’ve seen people online who don’t do the par-cooking, and just use about a half-jar of soaked beans and fill with water. Is that an okay idea? They say there’s less splitting and less cloudiness that way.
I’d stick with the tested method and do the par-cook. Here’s the thing: that 30-minute boil isn’t really about texture, it’s a safety step. Soaking plus the pre-cook makes sure the beans have absorbed enough water and expanded before they go in the jar. Raw-packed dry beans keep swelling as they process, and dense, dry beans in the jar can mess with heat penetration and how much liquid stays in the jar. The tested processing times were developed for beans that were boiled 30 minutes first, so once you skip that step, you’re off the map and there’s no way to know the timing is still safe. On the splitting and cloudiness, that’s mostly cosmetic and it settles out. Not worth trading a tested process for prettier jars. Happy canning!
Hi Ashley, as I think about the variety of beans I’d like to prepare, I’m mindful that navy in the traditional way of cooking them, some take little time and some take longer. What is your guidance of “time to cook” in both the stovetop phase and the canner phase? Thanks once again! Karen
You’re right, beans do really vary in cook time on the stove. I’ve found that they always come out just fine when canned in jars, more or less regardless of the type of bean. Counter intuitive, I know. I always do an overnight soak, and then pre-cook for 30 minutes, regardless of bean type. Hope this helps!
Hi Ashley, this article is brilliant. It’s a total “how to” story for the true beginner. I look forward to this adventure in beans, as we join your family in consuming so many during the winter….Thank you and keep up the great and accessible writing!
Karen in NH
So glad it was helpful to you!
Jen, what if your water is already alkaline?
Ramona, I’ve heard the same thing and will try it the next time I can beans.