If anasazi beans have turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use them with confidence and how to choose them, cook them, store them, what to substitute, and 9 recipes to try them in.

What are anasazi beans?

Anasazi beans are a small, kidney-shaped heirloom bean splashed white and burgundy-red, like a pinto wearing brighter paint. The mottling fades to a soft pinkish-brown as they cook, but the flavor stays distinct: sweeter and meatier than a pinto, with a smooth, almost buttery texture.

The name nods to the ancestral Puebloan peoples of the Four Corners region, where beans of this type have been grown for centuries. Today they're a Southwestern specialty bean, a favorite in posole, chili, and slow-simmered pots.

How to Cook Anasazi Beans

Anasazi beans cook faster than most dried beans and forgive a skipped soak. A soak still helps, but even unsoaked they tend to soften in about 1½ to 2 hours of gentle simmering, where a pinto can run longer.

They are also reputed to be low in the sugars that cause gas. That same tenderness means they break down readily, so simmer gently.

This is a bean that holds its own as the centerpiece. On Recipeland it carries a hearty Anasazi Bean Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings and pairs with hominy and green chiles in Anasazi & Pinto Beans with Hominy & Green Chiles.

It even turns up in unexpected places like Bean Muffins. For a simple pot, Anasazi Beans with Juniper leans into their Southwestern roots.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Their natural sweetness sings with smoky and earthy partners: green chile, cumin, oregano, roasted garlic, and pork. They also take well to corn in any form, from fresh kernels to hominy, which is why posole-style dishes suit them so well.

The mistake to avoid is overcooking. Because anasazi beans soften quickly, the same timing that leaves a kidney bean firm can turn these to mush.

Check them early and pull the pot off the heat the moment the skins are tender.

What to Use Instead

Pinto beans are the natural stand-in, nearly the same size and shape with a similar creamy interior, though milder and a touch less sweet. Expect to cook pintos a bit longer.

Cranberry (borlotti) beans share the speckled look and mild sweetness, and pink beans match the creamy texture. Any of the three works in a chili or stew where the anasazi's specific flavor isn't the whole point.

Buying and Storing

Anasazi beans are mostly sold dried, often by Southwestern or heirloom brands; canned versions exist but are harder to find. Choose beans with bright, clearly two-toned markings and smooth, unbroken skins. Dull, faded color is a sign of age.

Keep dried beans in a sealed jar away from heat and light, and use them within a year while they still cook quickly and evenly. Beans more than a couple of years old can stay stubbornly firm no matter how long they simmer.

Cooked anasazi beans keep about 4 to 5 days refrigerated in their liquid, and they freeze well for up to 6 months. Freeze them in their cooking liquid so they don't dry out.

Quick facts

In Chinese

阿纳萨齐豆

British (UK) term

Anasazi beans

en français

haricots anasazi

en español

frijoles anasazi

Recipes using anasazi beans

There are 9 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 9 recipes