bowl of soup on table with fresh parm on top

This easy white bean and kale soup with chicken sausage is the ultimate one-pot comfort meal for chilly nights.

White Bean & Kale Soup With Chicken Sausage

Think of these ranch-y chickpea lettuce cups as a lighter, crunchier spin on your favorite creamy chickpea salad. Fresh dill and parsley bring herby brightness, while smoked paprika and lemon juice add just enough tang and spice. Scoop the mixture into crisp butter lettuce leaves for a gluten-free, vegetarian meal that’s just as great for a quick weeknight dinner as it is for make-ahead lunches.

These ranch-y chickpea lettuce cups are a fresh, protein-packed lunch or dinner. Ready in 15 minutes, gluten-free, vegetarian, and perfect for meal prep.

Ranch-y Chickpea Lettuce Cups

This fresh summer white bean salad with basil vinaigrette is packed with cabbage, corn, zucchini, and feta. A quick, healthy, and budget-friendly meal ready in 20 minutes.


Summer White Bean Salad With Basil Vinaigrette

"I love the Whole Foods Market hot bar. They have this incredible adzuki miso bean salad that is delicious, but I noticed the ingredients weren’t up to my standards. I thought I could make this at home with better-for-you ingredients and for less money, so I developed this recipe and wow—it doesn’t disappoint. It’s savory, crunchy, hearty, and packed with protein and fiber. Can’t find adzuki beans? Use black beans instead."—

Adzuki Bean Salad With a Creamy Peanut Dressing by Danielle Brown

Lobio is a Georgian dish that fits squarely into one of my favorite categories of foods: stewed mushy beans. Up there with greats like ful medames, Yemeni fasoulia, and refried beans, Lobio offers its own twist on the tried and true format. This recipe calls for a flavorful mix of pounded walnuts and whole spices. For added flavor, be sure to toast these nuts and seeds briefly in a dry pan before cooking. As always with dried beans, soaking for at least a few hours will help cut down on cooking time and allow for more even cooking. That said, these beans will end up being partially mashed anyway, so feel free to skip the soak if you’re okay with a longer cook time. This is classically served with a simple pan-fried corn cake called Mchadi, and I've provided that recipe below as well.

Lobio (Georgian Bean Stew) with Mchadi Cornbread

This vibrant pilaf is a celebration of autumn flavors, with a nod to the "Three Sisters" tradition cherished by many Native American communities. Corn, squash, and beans are known as the "Three Sisters" because they thrive when planted together, each supporting the others' growth. This dish honors that interconnectedness, bringing together the earthy sweetness of squash, the bright pop of corn, and the creamy texture of beans in a hearty and flavorful pilaf. The addition of wild rice, a native grain with a rich history of its own, adds another layer of depth and cultural significance to this autumnal feast.

Three Sisters Wild Rice Pilaf

For me, a burrito is the perfect vessel for rice. I call it a hand snack (though these are filling enough for lunch or dinner) after the traditional Mexican street food that I became enamored with on my first trip to Mexico, shortly after I graduated from culinary school. It was the first time I’d traveled with my chef lens on. I’ll never forget the experience of stumbling out of a club at 2 A.M. to get a burrito from the Isla Mujeres food-stall vendors—ladies selling tortillas stuffed with beans and flavored rice, cooked in cast-iron pans and sprinkled with lime juice. I reveled in the pull of the melted cheese, the grains of rice falling onto my shirt front, my friends laughing, and music pulsing from inside the club. This dish incorporates two other recipes in the book—Cuban black beans and cilantro lime rice—but really, this recipe is a blueprint, and you should feel free to follow it loosely, subbing in other grilled or sautéed veggies, cheeses, or rice. It makes a perfect meal if you have leftover Peruvian-Style Arroz con Pollo to add to the tortillas. And it’s a fun recipe to do with kids, mixing and matching ingredients to taste. Just make sure to use large tortillas, and don’t overstuff them, or they will be hard to fold up (and will no longer be a hand snack!).

Rice & Bean Hand-Snack Burritos From JJ Johnson

This vibrant green minestrone soup is the perfect weeknight meal—it comes together in well under an hour with satisfying results. Much like a classic minestrone, this soup is packed with beans, pasta, and vegetables, making it a complete meal in itself. A base of well-browned leeks and garlic give this green version character and depth, while spring’s greenest vegetables take center stage: Asparagus, spinach, and peas shine here, but feel free to add whatever’s in season. 

The secret to making this soup so delicious is a generous dollop of pesto. It not only lends aromatic flavor to the broth, but the oil in the pesto adds body and richness as well. You don’t have to use homemade pesto either—this a great time to utilize the store bought version. While ready-made varieties from the refrigerated section generally taste the best, jarred pesto works just fine in this application, and no one will be the wiser. My favorite store bought option comes from my local deli, but the Kirkland Signature Pesto from Costco is always good and a great value for money.

This soup is best served immediately after cooking as the pasta will get softer the longer it sits. Make sure to serve it topped with a pile of finely grated parmesan and a thick slice of bread for soaking up the delicious broth. 

Green Minestrone With Basil Pesto

A whopping 13-hour operation will reward you with sticky and fall-off-the-bone tender beef ribs.

Coffee-Crusted Barbecue Beef Ribs (With a Versatile Rub)

Black-Eyed Pea Dip With Tahini & Lemon

This hearty grain bowl delivers both deep and bright flavors, thanks to browned carrots, sautéed alliums, and preserved lemon. Cooking the onions and carrots before adding the liquid deepens the overall flavor—thanks to charred bits on the bottom of the pot—making for an extra-savory dish once all the elements meld together. When serving, the final (and fantastic) addition of crispy chickpeas takes this dish to repeat status. This dish is vegan, and works great as a side or a main. Roasted chickpeas are best day-of, as humidity in the air undoes their crispness the longer they sit. For best texture, store crispy chickpeas uncovered in a shallow bowl at room temperature and use them up within a couple of days. 

Farro With Carrots, Preserved Lemon & Crispy Chickpeas

When cold weather hits, one of my go-tos is to pull out the slow cooker and make chili and stew. There is something about the hours ticking by, the house filling with an irresistible aroma, and disparate elements melding into hearty, seductive sustenance. Save for a couple minor prep steps, this 3-bean chili cooks almost entirely passively, freeing you to other cold weather activities and fantasies of steaming bowls-to-come. This chili is vegan and it is worthy of serving to the greatest chili fans. With foundation-building flavors like dried porcini, gochujang, and a variety of beans to establish meaty, creamy, and deep notes - never mind the garnishes, which ought to be piled generously on top as you gather around the table - time helps make this chili a thing of beauty, melding all the flavors. I am a huge proponent of heirloom beans, partly due to their reliably plump and extra creamy - or meaty - texture, and always for their complex, rich flavors. If you cannot find these specific beans in your grocery store, order them online. 

Seriously Savory 3-Bean Chili

There are just about a million ways to make a yule log, but they all have three main components: cake, filling, and frosting. (Well, four if you count all of the fun bits and bobs you can use for decoration.) This recipe is a mashup of Dominique Ansel's flourless chocolate cake and Cook’s Illustrated's coffee-mascarpone cream and chocolate ganache, combined with a bit of my own flourish.

Bûche de Noël (Yule Log)

Pasta & Bean Soup With Kale, Revisited

This soup breaks all the rules. And you still get a rich, summery vegetable soup all the same. This recipe is a great fridge clearer (and freezer stocker) for those last two carrots in the bag, that too-big zucchini, any random vegetables you've got. In 

, Jody writes: “I allow the vegetables to change with the season and use leeks and favas in the spring insead of the green beans and zucchini of summer. Whatever vegetables you use, this soup is always made with water, and topped with an ample drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a generous spoonful of bright green basil pistou.” A few tips: You will need a large stockpot, ideally holding 8 quarts or larger, for the full batch of soup. If all your pots are smaller, scale down the recipe to fit (it doesn’t need to be exact) or divide between two pots. This soup is a wonderful destination for any random vegetables you’ve got, so don’t feel wedded to the exact list here. Depending on the age of your dried beans, your soup may take longer than one hour (older beans take longer to rehydrate). Beyond that, you can cook this as long as you like to get the texture you’re looking for: Jody loves hers slow-cooked until it’s porridge-like; at the minimum 1 hour, mine has always been brothier. Both are good, as long as you taste and adjust the salt carefully at the end, and especially once the pistou, olive oil, and Parmesan are swirled in. If you’d like plenty of pistou, consider doubling that part of the recipe (leftovers can be used on pasta or anywhere you’d use a mellow pesto). Recipe from 

This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. As an Amazon Associate, Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.

Soupe au Pistou From Jody Williams

If you're looking for tuna salad, turn back now. But if you're looking for more proof of the versatility of chickpeas—if you're looking for a lunch (or dinner, or breakfast?) somewhere between hummus and chickpea salad, somewhere between a spread and a dip, that's adept enough to hold your brine or spice or sesame oil—here it is. And you can call it whatever you like. This recipe is adapted from 

Chickpea "Tuna" Salad

I love any sandwich on a croissant, be it chicken salad, roast beef, or egg salad, but I especially love shrimp salad. I like to put it on mini croissants and serve it as an appetizer or just on a large one for a great summer lunch. I always fear the mayo-combined-with-protein thing, and I'm not sure this solves it, but this white bean "mayonnaise" is sure a great substitute for regular. I'm envisioning mixing it with horseradish for roast beef or with garlic for an aioli.

Shrimp Salad on a Croissant with White Bean "Mayo"

The secret behind this brilliant veggie burger recipe was right in front of us. As author Joe Yonan writes, "In the ongoing quest for the perfect veggie burger recipe, at a certain point a realization occurs: wasn’t the perfect veggie burger created long ago—in falafel? Soaking but not precooking the beans, it turns out, is a good hedge against the curse of mushiness that befalls so many of this ilk. I grind the soaked beans with appropriate seasonings—chipotle and cilantro—along with the requisite onion and garlic, fold in some cooked sweet potato for extra binding power, and finish cooking in the skillet. The result boasts the crispy edges you love in falafel, plus a moist, but never mushy, interior." The secret of the matching (also vegan) mayonnaise for these veggie burgers come from a newer era of discovery—aquafaba! (a.k.a. the powerful liquid from a can of chickpeas) Yonan continues, "News flash: You don’t need eggs to make mayonnaise, now that we’ve got aquafaba, the cooking liquid from chickpeas, which behaves much like egg whites. When I first tried it, I liked the results—but the mayo needed a little body, I thought. What better than a small amount of chickpeas to help thicken it up? Turns out I wasn’t the only one onto such an idea. My friends at Little Sesame in Washington, DC, told me they were doing the same thing. Great minds and all that. Note that it’s easiest to make it in a mini food processor or small bullet-style blender because larger machines often require more volume than this to work effectively, but you can also use an immersion (handheld) blender, especially if you have a jar with an opening big enough for the blender to fit into." IMPORTANT FOOD SAFETY NOTE: Do not substitute for other bean varieties and be sure to cook your burgers thoroughly—raw beans have varying levels of a toxin that can cause food poisoning when not thoroughly soaked and cooked. See here for more 

"Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein"

Black Bean–Chipotle Falafel Burgers From Joe Yonan

Meet my new favorite salad for late summer days. The ripest tomatoes meet the crispiest chickpeas meet the jazziest mayo sauce. Juicy and crunchy, sweet and spicy, the combination of textures and flavors is special, especially when considering the effort-to-reward ratio. Even better, it’ll teach you a very fun, very delicious way to cook chickpeas—a method you can and should apply to other salads all year long. 

The key to crispy chickpea bliss? Mayonnaise. I’ve long sung the praises of mayo marinades for grilled vegetables, chicken, and fish, but as it turns out, shellacking your chickpeas in mayo promotes a gorgeous crackly crust and imparts rich flavor. Which makes sense: Mayo is an emulsification of oil and eggs, so it binds better than oil alone and carries along more flavor in the process. To up the crispness factor even more, I found that first tossing the little orbs in cornstarch, then mayo, led to the most delicious, craggy crust—almost like miniature hush puppies that have been deep-fat fried. Fortunately, no big pots of hot oil are needed here—just a skillet over a medium flame.

A few notes: Here I’ve jazzed up the mayo with chile sauce, paprika, and lemon, but feel free to change up the spices and seasonings based on what you have on hand.

Want to double the chickpeas? Go for it! Toss them in double the cornstarch and mayo, and follow the instructions as written. Two cans-worth will fit in a 12-inch skillet. 

Serve the salad on its own for a lighter lunch or dinner, or with crusty bread, grilled cheese, or lightly dressed greens for a more substantial meal. Or, pair it with any number of meat, fish, or vegetable dishes for a simple late summer spread. 

Tomato Salad With Crispy Spiced Chickpeas 

The ideal black bean burger strikes a balance between big-time flavor and not-mushy structure. There are many possibilities for seasoning your black bean base, from ground spices to zingy condiments, but ultimately you want a savory patty that can easily hold together inside a bun. Add too much of a wet ingredient, or over-process your bean mixture, and you’re likely to end up with a very tasty black bean dip (not a bad thing, but not what we’re going for).

While some bean burgers go straight from can to patty, this recipe includes the extra step of toasting the beans in the oven. (That said, it doesn’t include any extra prep time because, while those are baking, you can start on the other ingredients, like soaking the oats.) I do this to dry out the beans a bit, allowing me to introduce more flavor by way of Worcestershire, mayo, and hot sauce, without turning the mixture into a soggy mess. Also in the interest of flavor, I don’t rinse the beans of their brining liquid. After they’re out of the oven, I recommend simply mashing your beans by hand. No need to lug out special equipment—you just need two bowls and a fork. 

The generous amount of Worcestershire sauce adds lots of umami to these veggie burgers. If you’re serving them to vegetarian or vegan eaters, make sure to seek out a Worcestershire sauce that doesn’t include anchovies. If you only have rolled oats—not quick ones—you can break them down by hand, then measure out ⅔ cup from there. This makes them all the better at binding the burgers. 

This recipe can easily be doubled to make 8 smaller or 6 larger sized burgers.  Both cooked and uncooked patties store well in the freezer. 

Black Bean Burgers

With tacos, anything goes. There's nothing better than seasonal butternut squash, freshly picked apples, and a little heat to spice things up. I dare you not to be blissfully content after eating these.

Roasted Butternut Squash Tacos with Crisp Apple & Chipotle-Lime Drizzle

This salad is best served as a side dish to a main course. It is especially good with grilled fish, steaks, or roasted chicken. - Jennifer Ann

French Bean Salad with Tarragon and Green Peppercorn

My family's restaurant has been in business for over 100 years and for many of those years when you would sit down at a table and you'd be welcomed with a crock of horseradish cheddar cheese spread and some crackers and homemade bread. This is one of the versions and it is the one that I make at home for my friends to welcome them to my table. It is tasty and super welcoming. - MyCommunalTable

Schuler's Heritage Cheese Spread

Mayonnaise is so rich it cuts the heat of the Sriracha sauce and mellows the saltiness of the miso paste without overwhelming either; smoking lentils with wood chips adds an unexpected dimension to this unusual salad.

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