Dried Legumes: How to Cook Them, Soaking and Cooking Times
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🌿 Dried legumes are back on the table
When the first cold days arrive, soups, broths and slow-cooked dishes return to the kitchen. Dried legumes are the stars of this cooking: they are inexpensive, keep for months and bring plant protein and fibre to the table. Many people avoid them, though, because they worry about soaking, cooking times or digestibility.
In this guide we explain how to choose dried legumes, how to soak them, how long to cook them and how to store them. A few simple rules are enough for soft, tasty chickpeas, beans and lentils.
🥦 Why choose dried legumes
Dried legumes contain on average 20 to 25% protein by dry weight and are rich in fibre, minerals such as iron, potassium and magnesium, and B vitamins. Unlike canned legumes, they contain no brine, added salt or preservatives, and they let you control the final texture.
Combined with cereals, legumes complete the amino acid profile: pasta and chickpeas, rice and lentils or spelt and beans are traditional dishes that also work nutritionally. To learn more, read our guide to organic whole grains.
🔍 How to recognise quality dried legumes
A good dried legume has whole seeds of uniform colour, without spots, holes or breaks. The label should state the origin and the expiry date: fresher legumes cook faster and stay softer. Organic farming also guarantees cultivation without synthetic pesticides and fertilisers.
- ✨ Whole, uniform seeds – no spots, holes or fragments
- ✨ Declared origin – ideally Italian and traceable
- ✨ Recent harvest – old legumes stay hard even after hours of cooking
- ✨ Organic certification – for a supply chain free of synthetic chemicals
💧 Soaking: times and tips
Soaking rehydrates the seeds, shortens cooking and makes legumes easier to digest. Place them in a bowl with plenty of cold water, about three times their volume, and leave them in a cool place. Then drain the soaking water and rinse the legumes.
- 🏆 Chickpeas – 12 to 24 hours
- ✨ Borlotti beans – 8 to 12 hours
- ✨ Lentils – soaking is not necessary, but 2-4 hours make them easier to digest
In warm months it is best to change the water halfway through or keep the bowl in the fridge, so that the legumes do not ferment.
🍲 Cooking: times and tricks
Legumes are cooked starting in cold water, brought slowly to the boil, then simmered over low heat with the lid ajar. A bay leaf or a small piece of kombu seaweed in the water helps digestibility. Many cooks add salt towards the end, when the legumes are already tender.
- 🏆 Chickpeas – 2 to 3 hours in a traditional pot
- ✨ Borlotti beans – 1 and a half to 2 hours
- ✨ Lentils – 20 to 40 minutes
A pressure cooker cuts the times by about two thirds. In any case, 100 g of dried legumes become about 250 g of cooked legumes: useful to remember when planning portions.
🫙 Storage
Dried legumes keep well in tightly closed glass jars, away from light, heat and humidity. It is best to use them within a year of purchase. Cooked legumes last 3-4 days in the fridge and can be frozen in portions, even in their cooking liquid, so the base for a soup is always ready.
💚 A simple, wholesome pantry
On Natura Bio Italia you will find the organic Italian dried legumes by Biolanga: chickpeas, borlotti beans and lentils in 500 g packs, sold in sets of three (1.5 kg). They are the right base for an essential organic pantry and for warming autumn dishes.