What to use instead of dried white beans
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Starch that thickens the pot's own liquid
The beans leak starch into the water as they cook and that liquid becomes the sauce, while the skins hold each bean together around a creamy inside.
Cannellini, great northern or navy, whichever you haveRan out
Match by weight
Navy beans are smaller, cook 20 to 30 minutes faster and break down into a thicker, mushier liquor. Cannellini stay in one piece.
Canned white beansRan out
Two 15 oz cans drained per 1 cup dried
No starchy cooking liquid, so the pot stays thin. Add them in the last 15 minutes and mash a quarter of them against the side.
Dried butter beans or large limasRan out
Match by weight
Bigger and floury rather than creamy, and they break apart the moment the pot goes above a bare simmer.
Dried chickpeasRan out
Match by weight, plus 30 to 45 minutes of cooking
They hold their shape and never go creamy, so the broth stays thin and the pot tastes nuttier.
What doesn't work: Red kidney or black beans. They dye the whole pot grey-purple and their skins are tough enough to stay separate, so you end up with beans sitting in water instead of the thick liquor the dish is built on.
Bulk protein that soaks up a smoky, fatty broth
Dried beans go in raw and spend two hours taking on pork fat, smoke and aromatics, so the flavour ends up inside the bean rather than around it.
Dried pinto beansRan out
Match by weight
Same cooking time, softer break-down, and they turn the pot pink-brown. The mash off the back of a spoon is creamier.
Dried red kidney beansRan out
Match by weight, boiled hard for the first 10 minutes
Firmer skins that hold shape all the way through, and a heavier, more mineral flavour in the broth.
Canned beans added lateRan out
Two 15 oz cans per 1 cup dried, added in the last 20 minutes
They take on almost nothing from the pot, so season the broth harder up front and expect the beans to taste of themselves.
What doesn't work: Lentils. They are done in 25 minutes rather than two hours, so they dissolve into sludge long before the smoked meat and the aromatics have given anything up to the pot.
Salt the soaking water. It firms the skins and the beans hold together better through a long cook.