Making Homemade Bean Flour: Plus Recipes Using It

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Bean Flour is a wonderful gluten-free alternative to flour or starch when used in a recipe. It’s healthy, full of fiber, and can easily be made when needed.

Bean Flour is a wonderful gluten-free alternative to flour or starch when used in a recipe. It's healthy, full of fiber, and can easily be made when needed.

Making and Using Bean Flour

Bean flour can be obtained in many different ways. You can find it at a natural food store, order it from Amazon, order it from Azure Standard, or you can even mill your own.

Of course, milling your own is by far the most cost-effective way if you already own a grain mill.

My mill attachment is on a Champion, and it is capable of milling beans, so this is what I use. You can find a large selection of grain mills at Pleasant Hill Grain. Whether you are buying dried beans and grinding them or buying the flour already ground, it is a staple that I keep on hand.

Dried beans are a great source of healthy minerals, vitamins, dietary fiber, and magnesium, and are high in protein, which makes them a staple in every frugal pantry.

beans

Ways to Use Bean Flour

Bean flour is best used as a thickener in your favorite soups or stews.

It can also be used as a thickener in homemade sauces, giving them a higher nutrient amount versus adding ingredients such as corn starch.

Bean flour can replace some of the flour in a recipe for cookies, muffins, or other quick baked goods. Be sure to use no more than a 1:3 ratio when subbing in bean flour for regular flour. (When replacing 1 cup whole wheat flour, use 2/3 cup whole wheat and 1/3 bean flour.)

You can reconstitute the beans in the flour to make creamy refried bean dishes and dips.

Bean flour makes great flatbreads, pizza crusts, and other hearty foods.

Grain Mill

Tips on Making Bean Flour

To make bean flour, all you need to do is run your dried beans through a grain mill attachment. Not all grain mills are equipped to handle something as large as beans so double-check your manual before trying.

If you are concerned with the cleanliness of the beans, you can rinse them first, just be sure to dry them completely before running them through the grain mill.

Do not use kidney beans to make bean flour.

I store my bean flour in the refrigerator, just to prolong its life and keep it fresh. You could also store extras in the freezer for longer term.

When you run your flour through your grain mill, make sure that it is coming out as a fine powder. You don’t want a gritty paste when you reconstitute or add liquids to it.

If you grind up a white type of bean (small navy, garbanzos, or lima), you will get a white-looking flour. This flour is excellent for thickening soups or making your own “cream” soups.

I have a recipe for you here on making a Chicken/Rice Crockpot Soup that uses the bean flour as the thickener. It is excellent for this purpose. You can also make up any “cream” soup using the white bean flour. Here is the recipe.

Cream Soup

Cream Soup Using Bean Flour

  • 2 cups stock (this can be chicken, vegetable, or beef stock)
  • 1/3 cup white bean flour

Place stock in a saucepan and add in bean flour, mixing with a whisk. Simmer on low until thickened. Makes the equivalent of 2 cans of cream soup. This flour can be used right away or can be cooled and refrigerated and used in any recipe calling for “cream of” soup.

  • If you use chicken stock, this will be comparable to Cream of Chicken Soup.
  • If you are needing Cream of Mushroom, you can use beef stock and add in small pieces of mushrooms.
  • For any other cream soup, like Cream of Celery, you can use vegetable or chicken stock and add in small pieces of diced celery.

It is very versatile and can be switched up according to your tastes and need.

pinto beans

Dried Pinto Beans

Just recently I have also discovered using the dried pinto bean, also. These can be also ground into flour and used as instant refried beans. I found this recipe in the Country Beans cookbook. You can use the beans in a one-to-one ratio, but this will produce a thicker consistency. I use this recipe:

  • 1 cup water
  • 3/4 cup pinto bean flour

Bring water to a boil and whisk in bean flour. Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring.

This recipe can be used in place of your “canned refried beans” that you buy in the store. You can use it for burritos, or taco dips (with taco seasoning) or wherever it calls for refried beans.

I have also used the pinto bean flour in making a taco dip. I used the recipe above and then I added in taco seasoning to taste. Spread the cooled bean/spice mixture onto a large platter. Add a layer of sour cream and a layer of salsa. Shred up lettuce and cheese to add on top. Serve with tortilla chips.

You can do the same thing with black beans to make “refried black beans” or a delicious black bean dip.

Bean Flour

Dried Black Bean Flour

Dried Black Bean flour can be made in the same way as the other flours above, but its uses are a little different. Black Bean Flour is a great one to use in gluten-free baking.

To use it in a recipe such as this one for Black Bean Chocolate Cake, you can replace both the flour and the beans with your black bean flour. Just remember that you are losing some volume with the recipe and you may need to make up for that with something else.

If you have questions about using bean flour, please let me know! I hope that you will be inspired to try these, as they are an excellent way to stretch your grocery dollars!


Recipes Using Bean Flour

For the second half of this blog post, we are exploring a few dishes you can make and use homemade bean flour as the thickener. These recipes had originally called for flour as the thickener, but bean flour is easily substituted and provides a healthier alternative. (and gluten-free!)

The bean flour that I used as a thickener is from white-type beans (great northern or lima beans). Another bean that is good in these recipes would be garbanzo beans which you have made garbanzo bean flour or chickpea flour from.

There is no bean taste or strong flavor when adding in these as thickeners and it is never lumpy, but rather very smooth. These recipes are both made in the crockpot, but probably could be made on the stovetop. I just generally like putting everything together first thing in the morning and then forgetting about it until supper time.

Chicken and Rice Soup
4.34 from 3 votes
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Crockpot Chicken Rice  Soup

Easy Chicken and Rice Soup made in the crock pot.

Course Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword Chicken and Rice Soup
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Servings 6 people
Calories 385 kcal
Creator Julie

Ingredients

  • 6 Tablespoons butter
  • 3 Tablespoons diced onion
  • 7 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups chicken or turkey cooked, diced
  • 1 cup brown rice or wild rice blend
  • 2 cups diced carrots
  • 1/3 cup white bean flour

Instructions

  1. Place in crock pot on low for 4 -6 hours or until the vegetables are tender. Turn to "keep warm" setting and add in: 1 c. milk (can add in more, depending on consistency that you like) and 2 c. shredded cheese.

  2. Serve when cheese is melted.
Nutrition Facts
Crockpot Chicken Rice  Soup
Amount Per Serving (6 g)
Calories 385 Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Trans Fat 0.5g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g
Monounsaturated Fat 6g
Cholesterol 58mg19%
Sodium 234mg10%
Potassium 596mg17%
Carbohydrates 36g12%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 17g34%
Vitamin A 7533IU151%
Vitamin C 3mg4%
Calcium 47mg5%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Cheeseburger Soup in the crockpot
cheeseburger soup
4.34 from 3 votes
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Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup

How to make an easy Cheeseburger Soup in the crockpot.

Course Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword Cheeseburger Soup
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Servings 6 people
Calories 431 kcal
Creator Julie

Ingredients

  • 1 pound browned hamburger
  • 3/4 cup diced onion
  • 3/4 cup shredded carrots
  • 3/4 cup diced celery
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon parsley
  • 4 Tablespoon butter
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 4 cups diced potatoes
  • 1/4 cup white bean flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. Place in crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until all vegetables are tender.
  2. Turn to "keep warm" setting and add in: 8 ounces shredded cheese and 1 1/2 c. milk (can add in more, depending on the consistency you like).

  3. Serve after cheese has melted. Can add in 1/4 c. sour cream right before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup
Amount Per Serving
Calories 431 Calories from Fat 216
% Daily Value*
Fat 24g37%
Saturated Fat 11g69%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 9g
Cholesterol 74mg25%
Sodium 199mg9%
Potassium 1089mg31%
Carbohydrates 33g11%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 21g42%
Vitamin A 2986IU60%
Vitamin C 30mg36%
Calcium 58mg6%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

beanflour

Questions about Bean Flour

What is bean flour?

Bean flour is any flour that you make out of dried beans.

What is bean flour good for?

Soups, stews, gluten-free baking, starch and flour substitutions, easy-to-make dips, and refried beans…the possibilities are endless!

Can you substitute bean flour for regular flour?

You can use bean flour in a 1:3 ratio, meaning if you need a cup of regular flour, you can use 1/3 cup of bean flour + 2/3 cup of regular flour in the recipe. (For baking only)

Can you make bread out of bean flour?

You can follow the 1:3 ratio for using some bean flour in a bread recipe. Too much bean flour will change the taste of the bread and make it too dense.

I hope this provides you with some inspiration for using bean flours. They are an excellent substitute for flour used as a thickener in soups or gravies. If you have questions about using beans or the bean flour, please let us know.

Until next time, Julie

Julie is Merissa’s mom and she’s committed to living a frugal and simple lifestyle. Julie grows her own herbs in her garden and enjoys making things at home. You can now find her home remedies and ideas here at Little House Living.

This recipe about making bean flour was originally posted on Little House Living in January 2012 and has been updated as of October 2023.

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118 Comments

  1. Thank you for this post. This information will be helpful in my gluten free cooking since I can’t just use a normal canned cream soup. I’ll have to admit the instant refried beans recipe also has me intrigued. Thanks again.

    1. I was wondering if the beans are raw or cooked or soaked then dried? Is there a problem with gas if they are not cooked first?

  2. I happened to be soaking beans to cook when I read this so I held some back when I started cooking them. I’ll dehydrate them and try the instant beans – as they said way back when I was young… Cool beans! 🙂 Thanks for posting this idea.

  3. Great post! I will try this ASAP! We eat cooked beans quite often. I hadn’t even considered grinding them into flour. I think my Vitamix (dry blade) could handle this. Thanks so much for the idea!

  4. So, when you soak dried beans you have to make sure you rinse them well before cooking to reduce the incidence of …well… what beans are famous for. Then you cook them for an hour, and again rinse to get rid of that chemical that causes …ahem. Kidney beans are toxic before they are cooked. This is the extent of what I was taught on this subject. So where does bean flour fall in this line of thought? Can it be toxic if not handled properly? Does it cause flatulence? Does it taste really … beany? Help.

    1. You are correct. Only Americans who have never made bean flour grind dry beans without any preparation. Beans should be soaked first for an hour, then broken (not ground) to help remove skins. Fill the bowl several times to let the skins float and pour off. Rinse and drain the pulsed bean bits. Dry or dehydrate. THEN grind. Sift what you have ground. The bits that are larger can also then be ground and you should have a digestible bean flour.

  5. I am going to try and answer a few questions. First off, I am excited to see several of you trying this out or using a version of this. It is a great alternative to what is in canned soups from the store and being able to use “good” ingredients. I would be anxious to hear what you think, if you give this a try. Also, I forgot to mention that when I have made the refried beans, after they are finished simmering, I have added in several spices to taste. This, of course, is your own preference, but I have actually even used taco seasoning in it and used it as a basis for a taco dip. It was really good that way. So, be creative with the spices and what your family enjoys. I have never used kidney beans to grind into flour, so I am not sure on those. I have only used white beans (like great northerns) for the white sauce and the pinto beans for the refried substitute. I have stored those flours in the refrigerator for several months at a time without problems. I am sure that nutriotion wise, it is probably better to grind and use right away, but that always isn’t reality for me. If you are using dried beans in recipes (whole), it is always better to do some type of soaking of them. The water that you are soaking them in should be disguarded and the beans should be rinsed. This will help with the “gas” problem of the beans. One more thing on the bean flours, I have used the white bean flour in soups for a couple years now and no one would know, unless I have told them. There is no “beany” taste to them and they produce a nice, smooth texture. I have never had a soup or gravy turn out lumpy when using the bean flour. Hope that this answers some of the questions. There will be more articles on beans this month and recipes, so be looking out for those. Enjoy!

    1. So as RG was asking: is there any prep needed before you use the white beans to make flour? A few weeks ago I used my Azure Standard white beans to make a pizza (after I gound them in the kitchen whiz), on a cast iron pancake griidle. We so enjoyed them, however, the next day three of the seven of us had problems. And I haven’t used the flour since. I’m wondering do I first soak then reDRY the beans, or leave the bean flour in the fridge a while before using it?

    1. I use V8 original to make tomatoe soup with homegrown tomatoes. Freeze in serving sizes then add 1/4 – 1/3 cup coconut cream, freeze. Heat, eat, YUMMIE!

  6. I learned something new from this post! Never even heard of bean flour before. Thank you! That cheeseburger soup sounds delish! Thanks for linking up at CPL!

  7. When I cook beans, I let them soak for a day or more to remove impurities. When you make bean flour, do you soak or rinse them before grinding the beans? How “clean” are they?

    1. Ashley,
      I have never soaked, then dried, then grind the beans. The beans that I use to make into flour, I buy organic, so I don’t worry about going through the cleaning process with them. I would think if you are using regular beans, it would be ok to soak them and rinse them thoroughly. You would have to dry them completely either by air drying or a dehydrator, I think, to get them back into a state where you could grind them and obtain a flour from them. I wouldn’t want to put them through a grinder with any moisture left in them. It would gum up your grinder.

      1. I don’t understand why would would not clean beans just because they are organic. Organic has nothing to do with being clean or dirty.

        1. Organic beans will have no or less pesticides on them then conventional beans do. If you feel like you need to clean them (any kind) you can do so before grinding, just make sure to dry them out for a few days to make sure they will become a powder.

  8. Hi. Thank you for sharing. I was wondering if I could use bean flour by itself or alongside any other grain or seed, ground and mixed together to make some sort of cereal like meal for my 1 year old. Do you have any ideas on this? Please let me know if you do. I would be truly grateful as I’m trying to get my baby to eat vegetable protein.

    1. Navy beans are very easily digested as well as black beans but they must be soaked for 24 hours before cooking to be easily digested

  9. Hi there! I just stumbled upon your blog when I was looking up bean flours. I don’t have anything like a Mill attachment I could use to make my own flour, but I do have a food processor that lets me make yummy almond flour. If I dried the beans and put them in the food processor, do you think I would still end up with a flour-like consistency?

    1. It should, I just use a good decent blender and that gives me a good consistency with both beans and rice flowers. If I need it to be finer, I can use a mortar and pestle for the final grind. I remember my mother used to buy bean and exotic grain flours and I was glad to find that I could use my blender for use of making flour from my favorite grains and beans.

  10. I just ground some pinto bean flour and want to know if anyone has ever tried using it to make tortillas for burritos. I buy to high fiber ones at the store and wondered how they get the fiber content so high.

    1. I just tried to make tortillas with great northern bean flour. I made the flour with the nutrimill grain mill. The flour was so beautifully fine, and I had to grind it on the biggest grind due to their size. Anyway, it rolled out nice (I use a pasta maker) and cooked. I used a recipe that I just substituted wheat flour for bean flour. The tortillas didn’t roll at all, just broke. So I ended up making breakfast quesadillas instead. I am wondering if I could have used a mix of flour to make it more elastic. However, I was trying to keep it gluten free for a friend. The taste was not very beany.. In fact I think next time I should add a few spices to the dough to give it some flavor.

      1. what if you used a tortilla press like when you would make corn tortillas. the corn doesn’t have the ability to stretch so you can’t really roll it. Just a thought.

      2. I am looking for a recipe for bean tortillas and found your page. Most of the bean tortillas on the web use black beans which, to me, would result in an unappealing tortilla, plus I am not fond of black beans.

        I’m used to cooking gluten and corn free and might suggest a combination of a gluten free flour blend (there are many varieties to choose from) and the white bean flour. Also, we add zanthum gum or guar gum to dough recipes to add some elasticity to the product since it is gluten free and won’t have that elasticity wheat flours provide. I will be experimenting with making my own tortillas and have found your experiment with the bean flour informative. Thank you.

  11. Amber, I think that would work. I didn’t have bean flour on hand last night so I used potato flour.

  12. I made the instant refried beans and I liked it, especially with taco seasonings. I didn’t like the grey pastey color before the spices. And it was nice to have the beans ready so fast! Thank you for the recipe!

  13. Have you ever tried making bean flour out of pinto beans that have been in storage for a long time? Old beans do not get soft enough for soups, etc so I was wondering if you could still grind them for flour?

  14. Thank you! I need refried beans soon but don’t have any, so I was wondering if I could blend up some beans and use bean flour. I’ll never need to buy refried beans again now! I’m not good at planning ahead enough to make normal beans.

  15. I have used bean flours in desserts, main dishes, thickeners and dips. The white bean flour is the mellowest. Split pea flour makes a very fast soup in 3 min pretty much. If people are asking to use rice flour in place, than you are missing the point. The point is the protein. People who can’t have carbs or want to add more protein for kids/family. I have made a lemon custard with white bean flour and rice milk. It comes out fantastic. I have also made a flourless chocolate torte with white bean flour. No one can tell. I have a grain mill that mills all beans. They are handy for camping! Good luck experimenting.

  16. Intriguing! Is its use limited to savory items or have you tried it with sweeter recipes as well? I’ve read about using crushed navy beans in cupcakes and am wondering if this would work in a variety of applications..

    Cheryl
    http://www.thestylistquo.com

    1. No I think you could use it in sweeter items as well depending on the item and how much of the bean flour you used in it (so it didn’t effect the flavor too much). 🙂

  17. Hi there! I am so happy I found your blog. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah and do not have the pleasure of country life yet, though my husband and I would love that some day…anyway, we do all we can to use what we have and I cook and bake most everything we eat from scratch.
    Thanks for the info on the beans. We actually ground some up in our Ninja Kitchen System blender and it did amazing in grinding it very fine. We have been wanting to know how to use it, so thanks for the tips!

  18. hi there i am grain and dairy free so most flours don’t work for me because of the rice i use the bobs red mill all purpose flour all the time but for baking it has a strange taste I’m hoping to try the white bean flour but I’m wondering if i need to mix it with something else to make it hold together for cookies or cakes? i baught a pizza crust recently that was white bean and sorgum flour it was great do you have any idea what kind of ratios i should start with to try this? using the bean four for cream soup sounds great i have wondered if there was a substitute thank you for putting this out there for us to find 🙂

    1. I think it would just depend on the recipe. I’m not sure I’d use straight bean flour to bake with, it might end up being sticky.

  19. Two weeks ago I got my mill set up to grind beans, and have been wondering what to do with the flour. Yesterday I looked for a cream of chicken soup recipe, because my daughter loves the canned kind. I tried the basic two cups of chicken stock plus 1/3 cup white bean flour recipe. It was pretty good. Then I added a tiny pinch of sage, thyme, and celery seed, and a tablespoon of cream. Very nice! My daughter likes it too, although she didn’t recognize it as cream of chicken. Thanks for helping me get started on bean flour! One thing, if you sift after milling, it removes a lot of the bean skins, and makes a smoother soup. I have a Navy Bread recipe on my site, which uses canned navy beans. I may adapt it to use bean flour, by cooking/hydrating the flour in place of the canned beans.

  20. My grinder says it can grind beans, which excites me, but since the beans I have are not cooked, I didn’t know what to do with the flour once I ground it. In the recipes that you shared, were the beans that you bought already cooked then dried? When I first searched to find recipes with bean flour, I found that we need to ensure the beans are cooked before we use them.

    1. No, we don’t cook the beans first. We just grind the dried beans. You could soak them but then you would need to dry them completely again before grinding.

  21. Hello, Julie and Merissa,
    I found your blog while looking for flour mills and it is proving to be a big help. Recently, I purchased a Champion mill attachment and I could use some advice. I added a dried bean mix to basmati rice, spelt, millet, quinoa, and flax seed but found that many of the beans got caught up in the grinding mechanism and had to be dumped out. Not sure what I did wrong. The brochure that came with the attachment said that they do not recommend using it for dried beans, but mostly it seemed to work out well. If you have any tips in how to use the Champion mill please let me know. I hope to find great ideas in your blog like using white bean flour as a thickening agent.

    sjb

  22. I use homemade chickpea flour to bread chicken, okra, and squash. I also make
    my own Shake and Bake with it. I also use it as a thickener in veggie burgers.
    I am now going to make a flour of these beans you have suggested. I would love
    to know of a boiled noodle that is made of bean flour. It would be great if someone could post that.
    Thank you for this great sight!!! ♥

      1. about posts above: raw kidney beans have botulism, that’s why we have to cook them. I don’t think there’s any others but do check before you grind random unknown beans.

        There are Asian vermicelli noodles made with bean flour.

        Those who are cooking beans for an hour… Get a pressure cooker! 6-12 minutes for most, chickpeas are 15. you can add spices or a whole onion ( remove later) put them in a bouquet garnie ( tie them in a piece of muslin or cheesecloth) makes the best beans every time! If I don’t use them quick enough I freeze them, handy for soups!

        I love beans! Thank goodness my family does too! I’m really excited to try the new black bean flour I got, there are some excellent tips on this page! Thank you all?

  23. I found your post while searching for a way to use our bulk black bean flour. We have recipes for black bean cakes and brownies that are terrific and thought the flour would be a great way avoid all those cans. But now that we have it, there seems to be no explanation anywhere about how to reconstitute them to be equivalent to pureed black beans. Do you have any suggestions?

    Thank you!

    1. Hmm, I haven’t done black beans yet so I’m not 100% sure. I guess I would just add water to them (warm water) to get them to the consistency I needed them to be for what I was going to use them for. Sorry I’m not much more help!

  24. If my black beans are not organic, do I need to rinse, soak and dry them first?

    I was getting ready to grind my beans, but then wonder if they have to be washed, and soaked and then dried?
    Thanks,
    Sara

  25. I’m SO happy to find this article/website. I was specifically looking to see if ANYONE actually milled beans? I purchased a nutri-bullet, and started off mainly following the recipes for emulsified whole foods. I’ve ventured off into making sauces, dips and soups. I was making a Thai dish today, and I had a bag of mixed beans (dry) sitting there, wondering what to make of that, and realized my nutribullet came WITH a milling blade. It finely milled the beans! I knew it did well on nuts, seeds and even stubborn flax seeds. Well, now that I know beans CAN be milled…now I’m wondering what kind of cool things I can do with the flour like substance. Surely it has great nutritional value. Thank you for sharing your ”little house living”,,,the website is not in vain 🙂 MORE and more people are budgeting and trying to eat whole, organic and healthy over all. Keep up the great site. I’m sure to share! 🙂

  26. I have a question about canning. I pressure can a lot of soups and stews and I was wondering if I could use bean flour as a thickening agent? I would use all purpose flour but it’s against the rules when pressure canning. I can’t use any dairy products such as butter, milk, eggs and all purpose flour. does anyone know if bean flour is a safe substitute for all purpose flour?

    1. Hmm, since we pressure can beans I would think that this would be ok? I’m not sure though, might be a good question to ask your local extension office.

    2. Bean flour is an excellent substitution : Here is what I found—
      For every 1 cup of regular all-purpose flour in recipes, you can substitute:
      Amaranth = 1 cup.
      Bean Flour = 1 cup.
      Corn Flour = 1 cup.
      Cornmeal = 3/4 cup.
      Millet Flour = 1 cup.
      I hope this helps– I myself am still new to gluten free and baking with bean flours !!
      Finely Ground Nuts = 1/2 cup.
      Oat Flour = 1-1/3 cups.
      Potato Flour = 5/8 cup.

  27. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration all raw beans contain a toxin which may in sufficient concentration cause food poisoning — in this case a nasty bout of vomiting and diarrhea that may last about 4 hours. The toxin is destroyed if cooked at boiling temperature for 10 minutes. The FDA advises boiling for 30 minutes to assure 10 minutes exposure to boiling temp. Red kidney beans have the highest concentration and it has been found that the toxicity actually INCREASES with cooking at lower temps such as in a slow cooker. Seems likely that when you bake with bean flour it’s going to get plenty hot but using it to thicken sauces you would need to be sure to cook it long enough and hot enough. I make instant refried beans by presoaking and then pressure cooking pinto beans until soft. I add at least 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp chili powder per cup of dry beans when I smash the cooked beans or run them through the food processor. I dry them in our dehydrator but this could also be done on a cook sheet in a low oven. I’ve found that pulverizing the dried refried beans in the food processor makes them rehydrate more evenly. Great for camping trips, last minute additions to a meal or an instant dip.

    1. Arleigh;
      My thoughts on what you said are the same.
      Lectins are the problem.
      They can leak through a leaky gut (that is us) and interfer with breaking down carbohydrates in the producion of glucose. That is what they think is going on with those that are gluten sensitive. Gluten is a type of lectin from my understanding.
      Lectins can be reduced by sprouting chick peas and probably beans too. Or they are soaked overnight and the liquid poured off and then cooked for a very long time — not just 30 minutes.

      If I want to use that Wonder Mill I purchased becuase I was wore out with the food processor – I am going to have to dehydrate them after I with sprout them or cook them. I worry about cooking them/dehyrate them and then putting them in my Wonder Mill–I think it might grind these dehydrated cooked bean if I do not add any oil while cooking.

      I guess we will see. Or I could sprout them. I don’t know raally if sprouting them will really take care of the lectins like it should.

      Always something. Darg.

      1. It has been a year since I wrote last on this blog.
        I reread what I wrote last year.
        I need to learn to force myself to edit.

        Second of all.
        I trust no beans to be free of sand or dirt and needs to be washed.
        They have to be redried to go through the wonder mill.

        Anyway. I just finished making a lot of bean flour.
        I sprouted it.
        I cooked it
        I dehydrated it
        and I had to feed the wonder mill a tiny handfull at a time and it still became clogged often and I had to stop and shake it all out. Plus dust is now covering my kitchen.

        I think the best way is to sprout it (this could be skipped though – just trying to live extra healthy) Cook it – get out the food processor and drind it up while soft, and then dehydrate the beans. put them in a jar and as you use a cup of a time – regrind them up a little finer in a 20 dollar coffee grinder.

        I wished I had not bought the Wonder Mill.
        Although it does a great – wonderful job with rice.
        We are trying to figure out right now if my daughter can eat rice or not. We are reintroducing rice back into her diet.

        Being sick is very tiresome; and I find I am tired
        But I did enjoy my bean flours I made last January and they have kept very well. All I did was put them in canning jars and sealed them by just sucking the air out of the jars. I did this by either a Food Saver or some iron filling Pkts I bought on Amazon. The iron filling pkts uses up the oxygen and makes rust — pretty neat trick.

        I do hope my daughter can eat rice – and then — I can justify the money I spent on my wonder mill. If not – hmmm I guess I might raise some Indian corn this summer and make rally pretty colored corn flour.

        I still am not going to edit. Just can’t do it.

        1. Have you heard of Medical Medium aka Anthony William? You might find what he teaches very helpful while you figure out things with your daughter. Good luck and thank you for the update!

  28. Oh, I like the sound of Cheeseburger Soup! Question: Why would you shred the carrots instead of dicing them?

    I created a killer chorizo kale soup thickened with garbanzo flour that I make on the stove.The bean flours are very versatile! I’m diabetic and the bean flour doesn’t raise my blood sugar as much as potatoes do.

    1. You could use either 🙂 I’m guessing my mom just wrote shredded because that’s what she used and had some in the fridge when she was making this recipe 🙂

  29. I recently bought pinto bean chips at our local health food store and since they were pricey I want to make my own. Have you tried pinto bean flour to make crackers or chips?

  30. Just bought a huge bag of black beans and want to grind some to flour. Do I need to soak or cook them first or can I just dive in and start grinding?

    1. You can do it either way, just remember that if you soak them first you will need to let them dry (or put them in the dehydrator) for a while before grinding.

  31. I was making chicken and rice
    soup tonight and saw your recipes.
    What a great idea to use bean flour.
    I had garbanzo bean flour on hand and
    decided to use it. It came out wonderful with
    good flavor and texture. Thank you for the recipes
    I can’t wait to try the cheeseburger soup.

    1. I haven’t tried these recipes in particular but I have frozen soups before and they’ve worked well! Yes, I would leave out the dairy until you warm it up later.

  32. I’ve been making bean flour for some time now. The only mill I have found that is effective is one: http://www.blendtec.com/mills-and-mixers/kitchen-mill?gclid=CNDB26DI_8ECFZI0aQodK5QAuQ
    I initially wanted to reduce the amount of heat energy required to quickly consume the 1,500 calories per pound this wonderful food contains. I seal my flour in 2 pound amounts in mylar bags with 300 cc O2 absorbers providing a long shelf life (many years). I have many mills (Two motorized Country Living ones) but the oils in the beans prevent flour making. This K-tec works perfectly, is extremely loud but very quick. The resulting flour contains no small pieces and is very fine. Small pieces of beans will not cook soft in 5 minutes. My fine flour does. During grinding I introduce all the dried herbs and spices I want so the resultant flour is seasoned and ready to cook. I specify 5 minutes cooking time at boiling temperatures to kill any potential pathogens. I normally use black beans and have never had any symptoms of toxic poisoning from Phytohaemagglutinin. I keep away from Red Kidney beans due to their toxicity levels and amount of heat energy required to make them safe. I don’t rinse my beans but if I did, I’d have to dry them first. I normally use my black bean flour for refried beans, thickening soups and making sauces and gravies. By the way, oils in food stuff can go rancid quickly like in 6 months. Another word for rancidity is “oxidation” which requires oxygen. Remove the oxygen, no rancidity, and long shelf life. It’s just too easy. 2 quart mason jars work well too if a 300cc O2 absorber is placed inside.

  33. This may sound weird but have you ever tried making a yeast bread with your bean flour? It could be something good if not different.

  34. Any clue as to whether tapioca can be milled from the standard tapioca purchased in local markets into usable flour?
    I am low on tapioca flour and my mill needs something to do.

    THANKS~~~~~~~TOM

  35. Made some turkey chili and it was too watery so I added some (1tsp) of Pinto bean pwdr to the bowl of hot chili and it was great!

  36. ✨?✨
    Hello, just wondering, do you cook your black beans and then dehydrate them before milling them into flour?
    I researched the importance of soaking and cooking beans. What is your preferred methods? Thank you!

  37. U can make yellow squash flour also..When u have some yellow squash that has gotten too big to fry etc. then u can use to make the flour. Have fun,enjoy and let us know if u try it..

  38. Stupid question #1: Converting a bread recipe that calls for 1 cup of raw beans (pintos)to be ground into flour. I already have pinto bean flour – I need to know # cups of flour equates to the cup of raw beans (my usual recipe logic say 1.5x the original amount.

    Stupid question #2: Same recipe calls for grinding red kidney beans into flour and incorporating into the batter and baking @375 degrees for 30 minutes. Would that remove the toxicity problems associated with the kidneys?

    Thanks

  39. I can’t seem to find the white bean flour in my area to purchase so I though I would make my own. If I just ground the white beans without soaking or cooking do you think it would cause a gassy problem. I was planning on rinsing, drying, and grinding in a coffee grinder. What do you think?

  40. I soaked some pintos for 12 hours and then ran them through the blender into a cream colored watery paste. Simmered it at low heat for about 30 minutes. It was grey color rather than the characteristic brown of refried pintos and didn’t have the distinct pinto flavor. I added some garlic, salt and chili to improve the flavor. I didn’t like how it turned out,

    Usually I cook pintos in a pressure cooker after soaking 12 hours. Bring it up to pressure and immediately turn if off and let is sit all night. By the next morning I bring it up to pressure again and by that time they are very tender.

  41. I think the idea of using bean flours is wonderfully ingenious and I plan to get into doing this myself. But first, please give me an ear if you care for eat food that makes you feel good as well as what tastes good.

    Oh dear. A little bit of toxins won’t hurt a LOT of people–but will hurt others. It is VERY important to COOK (and then dehydrate) beans before making them into a powder especially in order to reduce the phytic acid and lectins. If you do not do this, eating such beans regularly could promote tooth decay and many other problems. Just use your search engine to learn more about phytates and lectins in legumes (beans). Most especially toxic would be the kidney beans, which must be BOILED at least 10-15 minutes before lowering the temperature to continue and finish cooking. Please do look it up and do your research before beginning or continuing to eat uncooked beans. To be on the safe side, soak ALL types of beans at least 8 hours and change the water before cooking.

    1. I wouldn’t recommend making bean flour from kidney beans. White beans or pinto beans are what we are sharing about in this article.

  42. Am I correct in what I have read: You do not cook and hydrate the white (navy, great northern…any others?) or pinto beans before grinding? From there, you can use them in recipes like flour?

  43. Hello,
    I waas wondering if you have any experience with making flour out of Black beans? I would like to try making Black bean pasta and Im unsure how to do it. And Ive heard the Legumes like chickpeas are poisonous when not cooked, so I was wondering if all legumes are poisonous uncooked and if the cooking time of pasta is along enough to neutralize them. I’ve read sprouting, then drying them does the same thing, but that’s an entire new subject… Thank You.

  44. Thankyou so much for the enlightenment. I want to start up a small bean flour processing business, I want to ask, can anything be added to the beans flour to make it rise? like when one us ready to make moi moi or bean cake with the flour to make it rise and increase in quantity.

  45. Dear Julie, my name is Wilma Pingret, recent a opem a nonprofit organization name Be Bizzy, we have been making nutricinal cookies and delivery to shelter in Salt Lack City.
    My question to you is : Can you help us develop a recipe with dry beens?

  46. Here’s something that worked well for me (35 years ago) that you might want to experiment with. I ground brown rice and pinto beans (separately) in Vita-Mix to fine flour. I then substituted equal parts of those for the white wheat flour in a generic deep-fried cake donut recipe (might have been from the Braue “Uncle John’s Original Bread Book,” can’t clearly recall.) Donuts came out extremely light, sweet and tasty without added sugar. My kids and grands don’t much care for whole grains, so I haven’t made this since (although it is on my not-so-short list to try again.) I don’t recall any resulting intestinal gas issues, although it was 35 years ago, so the memory may have “passed”…

  47. I just made a loaf of bread in my bread machine where I substituted 1/4 cup of pinto bean flour for the non-fat dry milk in the recipe. The bread came out amazing! Great texture and high risen.

  48. 3 stars
    I would like to know if you have to soak them first, then dry them again, before grinding?

    I couldn’t find any information about this and really would like to know more.

    Thanks for the help to show and let us know how we can have flour without it being wheat flour.

      1. 5 stars
        Thank you for replying to my question. Now that it seems that we are all stocking up on all our groceries because of the virus, I may need this recipe even more than ever.
        Thanks again.

  49. A pinch of baking soda in the bean flour refried beans will eliminate the gas prob. Small pinch…then watch how much salt you add afterwards. Will need to reduce the salt in your recipie slightly.

  50. I’ve been making bean fritters with northern bean flour a little sea salt and thinning it down with water, letting it soak for a couple hours, then I put some into a seperate bowl add a little onion powder and some nutritional yeast and a splash of egg white. came out great, the ones I let sit in the warm pan actually got crispy and were cracker like after a while, that tells me I can put the mixture on a baking sheet and make crackers. Next I will try adding more flavors, like chipotle powder.

  51. I like the idea of including some bean flour in recipes, but I usually soak beans before using. This would be tough for some recipes, but possible in others.

  52. Hi

    I Trust you are well. If I use my bean flour in a cup of boiling water as soup for lunch, how long must it stand in the boiling water to be safe to eat? Or does the boiling water kill off any toxins the beans have? If not what is the minimum time for it to boil to be safe to eat
    Thanks in advance

  53. My husband is from Nigeria, we use bean flour, usually black eyed peas, for moi moi a steamed dish baked in individual servings–traditionally leaves but I use salmon cans or custard cups. Water, onion and meat or egg is typically added. So good. Traditionally remove the skins but if I make paste/flour in blender I just blend a little more so there is no skin to worry about

  54. Only Americans who have never made bean flour grind dry beans without any preparation. Every other country that uses bean flour regularly prepares them first to make them digestible. Beans should be soaked first for an hour, then broken (not ground) to help remove skins. Fill the bowl several times to let the skins float and pour off. Rinse and drain the pulsed bean bits. Dry or dehydrate. THEN grind. Sift what you have ground. The bits that are larger can also then be ground and you should have a digestible bean flour.