Common Mistakes You're Probably Making With Canned Beans

It's a can of beans. How hard can it be? You pop it open, pour the beans into a saucepan, heat them up, and chow down. Well, maybe that's simplifying this extremely versatile ingredient a little too much.

The mighty canned bean can be a boon to your pantry, providing you with a nutritious side dish in a pinch, a protein boost to salads or soups, or a cheap eat when you're trying to stretch your grocery budget as far as it'll go. Don't even get us started on the extensive variety of beans you could buy. Black, kidney, navy, white, cannellini, baked, pinto — the list goes on.

However, for all their benefits, canned beans do come with some potential pitfalls. If you're making some of these common mistakes that home cooks commit all the time with canned beans, you could be setting yourself up for a disaster. Not only can these mistakes result in a less-than-tasty meal, but, in some cases, they could also lead to food-borne illness — and no one wants that.

Here's what to avoid and how to make the most out of every can of beans, no matter your preferred variety. Not rinsing them First things first, before you add that can of beans to a favorite dish, whether you're mixing them into a chili recipe or a three-bean salad, you need to give them a rinse. Yes, while you probably know to rinse your pasta and your rice, canned beans need rinsing, too, even if most other canned foods do not require rinsing (unless you're trying to wash off excess added sodium).

In fact, most canned bean.