Dried, tinned or jarred – which bean is best?

Writer Tomé Morrissy-Swan is full of beans (and recipes) - Clara Molden

If there’s one thing almost everyone in the food world agrees on, it’s that we ought to be eating more beans. Whether for health, environmental or cost reasons, chefs, retailers and nutritionists are all aligned.

At the end of 2025, celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall launched a campaign for Britain to double its bean consumption by 2028. Most major supermarkets backed the Bang in Some Beans project, pledging to increase sales and advertising of beans. “Not only are they delicious and affordable, they’re plant-based powerhouses that are packed with fibre, are a brilliant source of protein and live happily in your store cupboard for ages,” said Oliver. “If there’s anything we should be eating more of, it’s beans.”

Fearnley-Whittingstall has long backed the consumption of legumes, which have a low carbon footprint, require less water than animal protein and boost soil health by fixing nitrogen. Speaking at the Groundswell Agriculture Festival in July 2025, he said: “If you could do one thing to change the food system, you would invent a pill that made people love beans.”

Jars of premium beans have certainly “injected excitement back into the category”, according to Ocado’s canned-food senior buyer, Himesh Siyodia. Bold Beans, inspired by Spain’s legume culture (where high-quality versions sold in tall jars are a common supermarket feature), is one of a new wave of producers – and there are now more options than ever.

Why are beans so good for us?

Beans, in general, are also full of important vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, iron, zinc, potassium and magnesium, and are low in fat. And while they are processed differently, “there is little difference nutritionally” between tinned and jarred beans and cooked dried beans, says Gill. “Tinned beans may contain more salt, which is added during processing, but this can be reduced by simply draining and rinsing in water,” she advises. The likes of calcium chloride or ascorbic acid, sometimes added to cheaper tins of beans, are “completely safe,” she assures me.

In short, beans, whether they come from a 40p tin or a £7 jar, are a brilliant, healthy, tasty, versatile option. But which is best for your dinner?

Dried vs tinned vs jarred

Tinned beans are most common and regularly cost less than a quid, but dried are the cheapest. The catch is they need to be soaked, often overnight, and cooked for at least an hour. Jars, meanwhile, provide the same convenience as tinned, albeit at greater cost.

I put the three to the test. For each chosen legume (chickpea, butter bean and red kidney bean), I bought a pack of dried, a standard supermarket tin and a fancy jar. I cooked the same recipe three times to discover whether the jars were worth the extra money.

Chickpeas

Making hummus from scratch is incredibly easy and cheap. Just chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, olive oil and salt (sometimes cumin and paprika). Whip them up in a food processor and it’s ready to serve in seconds.

Dried chickpeas were easy to find – I bought a kilo of Natco chickpeas from Tesco for £3. I opted for an M&S tin at a reasonable 80p for 400g. I also got hold of Bold Bean Co’s queen chickpeas: £3.25 for 570g at Tesco.

All versions of chickpeas are easy to find in most grocery stores - Clara Molden

The dried chickpeas weren’t tender after cooking to packet instructions (40 minutes of simmering), so I cooked them for another 20. But after using them, the tinned and the jarred versions to make hummus, the jarred chickpeas were the clear winner. The resulting hummus was luscious and creamy, with a moussey, whipped cream-like texture. The flavour was superb: rich and moreish.

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Classic hummus recipe

The others paled in comparison: the tinned version had a nice viscosity and flavour, but wasn’t as smooth; the dried chickpea hummus was bland and a little bitty, although on the upside, I only used 80g of chickpeas, which is 24p’s worth.

Hummus from tinned chickpeas doesn’t turn out as smooth and creamy as its jarred counterpart - Clara Molden

Verdict: Jarred chickpeas were the winner, with tinned in second place and dried in third.

Butter beans

Butter beans have a creamy, buttery texture that is wonderful in simple stews. I regularly cook them with some onions and garlic, a touch of paprika, tomato purée and bay leaves. This is the recipe I used to test tinned versus dried and jarred. For each, I included the cooking water. With dried butter beans a little harder to locate, I turned to Planet Organic, where they cost £4.50 for 500g. Waitrose Essential’s 400g tin set me back 65p, and in a fancy butcher’s shop I was seduced by El Navarrico’s Judión large butter beans at £7 for a 700g jar.

Butter beans are a versatile bean that can enhance stews, sauces and soups - Clara Molden

The stews were uniformly excellent, but the jar was again the winner. The beans were thick and creamy, and the sauce more viscous, too, probably because the jar is filled to the brim with a salty, gelatinous stock. The tinned option came second, the beans soft and tender with a nice earthiness. Dried beans led to a more watery stew – it needed more salt.

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Giant beans with tomatoes, honey and herbs

Morrissy-Swan’s butter bean stew – another triumph for jarred over tinned and dried - Clara Molden

Verdict: Jarred butter beans take the gold, with silver for tinned and bronze for dried.

Kidney beans

For kidney beans, I made a good old chilli. The recipe around them was basic: minced beef, onions, garlic, red pepper, tomato purée, tinned tomato, paprika, oregano and sugar.

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Beef chilli con carne

Dried kidney beans were again harder to find, so Planet Organic saved me once more (£3.60 for 500g). I opted for a Napolina tin (£1 for 400g), and Bold Bean’s queen red beans at £4.29 for 570g (jarred kidney beans are relatively rare).

Red kidney beans are traditionally in chilli, but also go well with some spices on a jacket potato - Clara Molden

The various kidney beans didn’t impact the overall flavour of the chilli. But their textures varied greatly: Bold Bean Co’s were best – thick, creamy, smooth, nutty. No sideshow, they had equal billing with the meat. The dried version came second, with a wonderful texture, just softening but not falling apart, but less flavour. The tinned option was fine, but the beans were almost disintegrating.

Jarred red beans held their own against the mince in Tomé Morrissy-Swan’s chilli - Clara Molden

Verdict: Jarred in the top spot once more, dried came in second and tinned third.

Overall verdict

Jarred beans won clearly for taste each time – no comparison. But they are significantly more costly. Delicious enough to be a centrepiece, they are still an affordable option in place of meat, and my choice when making hummus and vegetarian stews. Where meat is present and the beans play a supporting role, however, it makes sense to go for the cheapest option.

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