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Canned Black Beans
While salt can be both friend and foe, mush is always a foe.
Top Pick
WinnerBush's Best Black Beans
Buy at AmazonTasters appreciated the “clean,” “mild,” and “slightly earthy” flavor of these beans, and several specifically called out the “good salt level.” We liked the beans’ “firm,” “almost al dente” texture when we tasted them plain. In the soup, the beans were especially “creamy.”
Sodium: 480 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Prepared black beans, water, salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.49 for 15 ounces
Tasters appreciated the “clean,” “mild,” and “slightly earthy” flavor of these beans, and several specifically called out the “good salt level.” We liked the beans’ “firm,” “almost al dente” texture when we tasted them plain. In the soup, the beans were especially “creamy.”
Sodium: 480 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Prepared black beans, water, salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.49 for 15 ounces
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What You Need to Know
Most canned black beans have three main ingredients: beans, water, and salt. So how different could they taste? Plenty different, we found out when 22 test cooks and editors from America’s Test Kitchen sampled six national brands—three of them organic—in a blind test. We tasted them plain (drained and rinsed), and also in a test kitchen recipe for black bean soup.
The results neatly separated into three brands we like and three we don’t. Predictably, our tasters had a strong preference for well-seasoned beans. All brands add water to the beans, and all but one add salt (an organic brand adds a small amount of kombu, a salty seaweed). The three brands that scored the highest all have more than 400 milligrams of sodium per half-cup serving; the three low-scoring brands, all of them organic, contain much less sodium (between 15 and 140 mg). Simply adding salt to the organic brands didn’t help: The texture was still mushy and the seasoning superficial.
Texture was important, too, as tasters disliked mushy beans (again, the three organic brands). The difference between firm and mushy beans hinges on a balance between chemistry (in the form of salt and other additives) and process (how hot and how long the beans are cooked during canning). Aside from adding flavor, salt accelerates the softening of beans by breaking down the pectin in the cell walls. So you need salt for good flavor, but too much can make the beans mushy. This is why two of our salty, highly ranked brands, add calcium chloride, which counteracts the softening power of sodium by strengthening the pectin in the cell walls of the beans. So how does our winning brand achieve firm beans with lots of salt and no calcium chloride? That’s proprietary manufacturing information, we’re told, but odds are that to preserve more of their firm texture, they quickly processes their beans with less heat than the other brands (the three organic brands are dramatically overcooked).
Everything We Tested
Recommended
WinnerBush's Best Black Beans
Tasters appreciated the “clean,” “mild,” and “slightly earthy” flavor of these beans, and several specifically called out the “good salt level.” We liked the beans’ “firm,” “almost al dente” texture when we tasted them plain. In the soup, the beans were especially “creamy.”
Sodium: 480 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Prepared black beans, water, salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.49 for 15 ounces
Tasters appreciated the “clean,” “mild,” and “slightly earthy” flavor of these beans, and several specifically called out the “good salt level.” We liked the beans’ “firm,” “almost al dente” texture when we tasted them plain. In the soup, the beans were especially “creamy.”
Sodium: 480 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Prepared black beans, water, salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.49 for 15 ounces
Goya Black Beans/Frijoles Negros
This brand finished a close second to Bush’s. These beans, which have almost as much sodium as the winner, won praise for “nutty,” “balanced,” “briny” flavor and “good firm texture,” both plain and in the soup.
Sodium: 460 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Black beans, water, salt, calcium chloride
Price at Time of Testing: $0.89 for 15.5 ounces
This brand finished a close second to Bush’s. These beans, which have almost as much sodium as the winner, won praise for “nutty,” “balanced,” “briny” flavor and “good firm texture,” both plain and in the soup.
Sodium: 460 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Black beans, water, salt, calcium chloride
Price at Time of Testing: $0.89 for 15.5 ounces
Progresso Black Beans
Tasters rated these beans slightly softer than Bush’s and Goya but still acceptable, somewhat “firm” and “creamy.” Their flavor was good but unremarkable tasted plain, approaching “mellow” or even “bland,” tasters said. Likewise, in the soup, we found them “creamy but not overly flavorful.” A solid if uninspiring choice.
Sodium: 400 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Soaked black beans, water, salt, calcium chloride
Price at Time of Testing: $1.59 for 19 ounces
Tasters rated these beans slightly softer than Bush’s and Goya but still acceptable, somewhat “firm” and “creamy.” Their flavor was good but unremarkable tasted plain, approaching “mellow” or even “bland,” tasters said. Likewise, in the soup, we found them “creamy but not overly flavorful.” A solid if uninspiring choice.
Sodium: 400 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Soaked black beans, water, salt, calcium chloride
Price at Time of Testing: $1.59 for 19 ounces
Not Recommended
Eden Organic Black Beans
With the least sodium per serving in our lineup by far, it’s no wonder our tasters found them “flat,” “bland,” and “tasteless.” They did score slightly better in the soup, where other flavors masked some of their deficiencies. Kombu seaweed is very rich in flavor-enhancing MSG (in fact, a Japanese scientist first discovered MSG in kombu), but the overall sodium was too low to make a difference. Tasters couldn’t place the flavor as seaweed, but the kombu, we guess, added something: We detected hints of “tar,” “bleach,” and “soap.”
Sodium: 15 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Organic black turtle beans, water, kombu seaweed
Price at Time of Testing: $1.39 for 15 ounces
With the least sodium per serving in our lineup by far, it’s no wonder our tasters found them “flat,” “bland,” and “tasteless.” They did score slightly better in the soup, where other flavors masked some of their deficiencies. Kombu seaweed is very rich in flavor-enhancing MSG (in fact, a Japanese scientist first discovered MSG in kombu), but the overall sodium was too low to make a difference. Tasters couldn’t place the flavor as seaweed, but the kombu, we guess, added something: We detected hints of “tar,” “bleach,” and “soap.”
Sodium: 15 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Organic black turtle beans, water, kombu seaweed
Price at Time of Testing: $1.39 for 15 ounces
Walnut Acres Organic Whole Black Beans
Tasters were impressed by the appearance of these “plump” beans, but not their “pasty,” “blown-out” texture or “weak, muddy” flavor. When cooked in the soup, these mushy beans almost disintegrated.
Sodium: 85 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Organic prepared black beans, water, sea salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.77 for 15 ounces
Tasters were impressed by the appearance of these “plump” beans, but not their “pasty,” “blown-out” texture or “weak, muddy” flavor. When cooked in the soup, these mushy beans almost disintegrated.
Sodium: 85 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Organic prepared black beans, water, sea salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.77 for 15 ounces
Westbrae Natural Organic Vegetarian Black Beans
“Total mush.” “No salt discerned.” “Watery.” Tasters also detected off flavors from “dirt” to “cardboard” to “coffee”—nothing we want in our black beans. “On the plus side, you could puree them with a dirty look.”
Sodium: 140 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Water, organic black beans, sea salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.71 for 15 ounces
“Total mush.” “No salt discerned.” “Watery.” Tasters also detected off flavors from “dirt” to “cardboard” to “coffee”—nothing we want in our black beans. “On the plus side, you could puree them with a dirty look.”
Sodium: 140 mg per 1/2 cup serving
Ingredients: Water, organic black beans, sea salt
Price at Time of Testing: $1.71 for 15 ounces
Reviews You Can Trust
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*All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.
Reviews You Can Trust.
See Why.