Great Ways to Use Canned or Dry Beans

This sleeper hit of a weeknight dinner comes from Food Network star Molly Yeh's cookbook Home is Where the Eggs Are—and is basically a vehicle for Parmesan and garlic toast. No complaints!

Related: Molly Yeh Chats About Her New Cookbook, Restaurant and Why You Should Visit East Grand Forks

Chef Sarah Russo of Chicago-based Salad Club uses roasted plantain to add a delicious and unexpected starchy sweetness to this salad. Be sure to choose a ripe one—more black than yellow, but not totally black.

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Like chili on a baked potato—except so much more alluring, with caramelized roasted sweet potato and spiced chickpeas. Tie it all together with lemon-tahini dressing, fresh mint and dreams of far-off places.

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This hands-off, slow-cooker recipe has just a pound of ground beef and a can of stock. All the rest of the heft and taste comes from black beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, smoked paprika, chipotle peppers and corn tortillas.

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You can have this deliciously nutritious Mexican-inspired meal on the table in under an hour—or even less if you cheat and use precooked brown rice!

If you have partial bags of dried beans loitering in the pantry, throw them all in the pot to make this anything-goes fall soup. Perfumed with thyme and sage, it's creamy, homey and gratifyingly resourceful.

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This classic country French dish is a meat-lovers' fantasy that's heavy on the beans—because why not use all the proteins? Add a blanket of crispy breadcrumbs and serve with both red wine and an elastic waistband.

A staple on the Indian subcontinent, dal spans a whole category of bean dishes. It sometimes has a loose texture, but this version—thick like a stew and bolstered with zucchini—satisfies as a meat-free meal.

Inspired by British pub fare, this breakfast-for-dinner (or brunch!) dish tops buttered toast with bacony stovetop baked beans, tomatoes and a fried egg.

For deep garlic flavor without turning on the oven to roast, this recipe uses a technique called confit, which translates as simmering slowly in fat or oil. Result: evenly soft, mellow cloves and a bonus gift of flavorful olive oil you can elsewhere.

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Mung beans are petite beans with a toothsome texture and earthy flavor. They're sold dry and simmer right in the broth of this deliciously sinus-clearing soup.

We used ground beef, jarred salsa, beans, and potatoes to make this soup extra satisfying. Omit the meat to create a hearty vegetarian dish.

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Canned beans supply fill-you-up protein at a fraction of the cost, fat and calories of ground beef or turkey. In our sloppy joes, we dress navy beans in mustardy tomato sauce that has all the familiar flavor of the meaty original.

Turn a humble can of beans into this impressive salad. It's already a main dish, but you can make it heartier by adding seared salmon or sizzled shrimp.

Pantry ingredients like black beans, corn, and salsa go together quickly with potatoes, sweet peppers and chicken for a simple, satisfying meal.

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This 5-ingredient recipe combines makes Great Northern beans the base for a very simple main dish or side. Substitute another protein for the ham or a different green for the spinach if you've got other ingredients around the house.

Vitamin-rich sweet potatoes and creamy peanut butter complement spicy Cajun seasoning in this easy chicken slow-cooker stew.

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Flecked with a grab bag of hearty vegetables, this healthy soup hums with garlic and crushed red pepper. The recipe comes from La Soupe, a nonprofit cafe in Cincinnati.

This recipe comes from chef Abra Berens' book Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables. Don't be alarmed by cooking beans this long. Make it vegetarian by using vegetable broth and skipping the Parmesan.

Try this topped with a salmon fillet or, for a vegetarian entree, served over spinach or other salad greens. (A word of warning: Don't substitute a different rice. Arborio, the type used in risotto, definitely works best.) The recipe comes from the blog A Couple Cooks.

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Our hearty salad tastes equally good warm from the pan, cold from the fridge or even at room temperature, so it's perfect for make-ahead meals and leftover lunches. Other grains, such as barley, faro or wild rice, also work well in this salad.

Because canned beans can be mushy, pair them with crunchy ingredients. Our sweet potato, quinoa and pinto bean patties had plenty of smoky, garlicky flavor. But when we added walnuts and served them over crisp romaine, they soared.

Add some kick to this chicken dish by stirring in a few dashes of Louisiana hot sauce.

Eating gluten-free? Gluten can sneak into a lot of baked bean recipes, but not this one. Maple syrup adds a sweet finish. (While beans are naturally gluten-free, other ingredients can be introduced in canning, so be sure to purchase only canned beans clearly labeled gluten-free.)

This healthy, veggie-based dinner draws on the flavors of carrots, celery, lentils, kale and tomatoes, with crunch in the form of chopped walnuts and pita chips.

No need to boil hot water in a separate pot! The macaroni cooks along with the rest of the dish, including canned beans, so you'll have this meal on the table in 25 minutes.

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This nifty mayo-dressed salad uses healthy and budget-friendly chickpeas instead of the traditional tuna, hard-cooked eggs or chicken. Try it in a sandwich or wrap or over a bed of greens.

Beans, tomato, onion: it's a hearty vegetarian chili stuffed inside a bell pepper. If you're looking for extra kick, try topping with pepper jack instead of mozzarella.

Think of this as a welcome update on three-bean salad, with radishes and celery adding color and crunch to wholesome garbanzo beans.