5 Easy Bean Uses (No Recipes!)

It can be challenging to cook from scratch or follow complex recipes with busy schedules. However, a busy lifestyle shouldn't compromise your health and nutrition. Several healthy eating options exist without sacrificing gym time or social outings.

Start by stocking your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry with versatile ingredients like eggs, whole grains, frozen vegetables, and canned beans.

Beans are an affordable, convenient, and simple way to add protein to any meal or even base a meal around them. Legumes, including black beans, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans, are excellent meat substitutes and offer numerous health benefits. Beans have been shown to help lower cholesterol, improve satiety, reduce blood sugar, and increase the diversity of our microbiome. Additionally, beans contain little to no fat and are rich in iron, calcium, and potassium; a 1/2 cup serving provides approximately 110 calories, 7 grams of protein, and 7 grams of satiating fiber.

Getting started with beans can be effortless. Try one of these five healthy meal ideas that don't require a recipe or extensive kitchen time.

Beans and eggs complement each other perfectly, as demonstrated by the classic Mexican dish, huevos rancheros. For a simpler version, add some cooked canned beans to scrambled eggs with chopped vegetables for a satisfying and well-balanced meal that's ideal at any time of day.

If you want to quickly clean out your fridge, combine leftover ingredients into a bell pepper. Add beans, cheese, rice, and leftover meat for a hearty meal. Bake at 350ºF (176ºC) for 30–45 minutes.