Roasted Beans: Homemade Healthy Snacks

Roasted Black Beans

Dry roasted beans seem to be overlooked in the American snack world. While roasted nuts and trail mixes are high on the list of favorite crunchy munches, closely related roasted beans don’t receive nearly as much attention on entertaining platters or bar counter snack bowls.

In Mexico, roasted chickpeas coated in chile powder (called garbanzos enchilados) are a standard snack isle offering as are roasted fava beans, roasted mung beans, roasted lentils, and several others. You can also roast edamame, cannellini beans, pintos, kidney beans and black beans (although kidney and black beans tend to burst as they roast, rather than staying whole and in-tact like the others.)

Roasted beans make a great snack that is high in protein and fiber. Making them yourself is also extremely economical, costing just a fraction of what you’d pay for a tin of mixed nuts. The process is simple:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400 F. Cook your beans as you normally would. I always do a presoak, which “wakes up” the beans’ beneficial enzymes and eases digestion, and then boil them (in fresh water) until tender.

Step 2: Drain cooked beans, and empty out between two layers of paper towels to pat dry. Arrange in a single layer on a foil-covered baking sheet (a jellyroll pan is helpful to keep them from rolling.)

Step 3: Drizzle with olive oil, or other high smoke point oil of choice, and toss lightly so that they’re all evenly coated. Roast for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy. They’ll change in color before they’ve fully crisped up, so check the texture before you pull them out. Be careful; they will go from perfect to burnt very quickly. Cook times will vary slightly with each bean variety.

Step 4: Toss roasted beans in spice(s) of choice, and enjoy! Keep them in an airtight container.