Small White Bean

Small white beans — sometimes called navy beans or haricot beans — are one of the most common dried bean varieties. They are small, oval, and ivory-coloured, with a mild, slightly nutty flavour that absorbs surrounding seasonings and cooking liquids readily.

These are the classic baked bean, and they’re the variety most often used in tinned baked beans in Australia. Beyond that, they’re excellent in soups like minestrone and pasta e fagioli, cassoulet-style braises, and puréed into smooth dips. Their small size means they cook relatively quickly compared to larger beans.

Small white beans are a versatile pantry staple with a long shelf life. They pair well with pork, tomato, herbs, and garlic, and their creamy texture makes them satisfying in both rustic and refined preparations.

Farmed
photograph to come — from twenty years of markets, farms and kitchens

How it's made

Small white beans are an annual crop sown in spring and left to mature through summer. The plants are harvested once the pods have dried on the vine, then threshed to separate the seeds from the pods and plant material. The dried beans are cleaned, graded by size and quality, and packaged for sale.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 337kcal
Protein 21.1g
Carbs 37.3g
Fat 1.2g
Fibre 24.9g Sugar 0g
Mass Distribution

1 cup is about 215 g — roughly 720 kcal of this.

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈1.8kg
Freshwater ≈400L
Land ≈3.4m²

≈ Estimated — worked out from a category-typical value further up its supply chain. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

In the kitchen

Used as

simmered dried legume

Goes well with
garlic rosemary ham tomato onion
Classic dishes
  • White Bean Soup
  • Pasta e Fagioli
  • Tuscan White Bean Stew

Keeping one at home? Track yours in your cubud →

Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

USDA

How it was calculated

SR Legacy

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

Where to next

made fromSmall White Bean, seeds goes well withgarlic goes well withrosemary goes well withham goes well withtomato goes well withonion
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