2024 Winning Bean Recipes: Contest Prize Winners

Each year we pick one humble ingredient and ask our readers to cook something worth writing home about. For 2024 that ingredient was beans, and the winning bean recipes below are the three our judges could not stop eating. You will find a savory cannellini bean pie, a batch of chickpea peanut butter cookies, and a pan of black bean enchiladas, along with the cooks who created them and a few kitchen notes to help you make each one at home.

Award-Winning Bean Recipes

Every year we select an ingredient and invite readers and web visitors to submit their own original recipes built around it. The winning cooks take home cash prizes and earn a spot in both the print edition of the Farmers’ Almanac and here online.

Beans were the pick last year. We figured we would get some good eating out of it, but we were still delighted by how much variety came through the door, from hearty main dishes to a sweet surprise or two.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to The Green Ladle Culinary Arts School of Lewiston, Maine, for lending us their student-chefs to prepare each of the final recipes for judging. And to the photography students at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center for the photos of the winning dishes.

The following three bean recipes were the Farmers’ Almanac judges’ top picks. Let us know how they taste when you make them.

How the Farmers’ Almanac Recipe Contest Works

The setup is simple, and it has stayed that way on purpose. We name a single star ingredient, open submissions to readers and web visitors, and ask for original recipes that put that ingredient front and center. There is no entry fee. Home cooks send in the dishes they already make for family and neighbors, which is exactly the kind of cooking we like to share.

Once submissions close, the finalists head to the kitchen. The student-chefs at The Green Ladle prepare each dish so our judges taste the food, not the handwriting, and score on flavor, originality, and how well the recipe leans on that year’s ingredient. The top three cooks win cash prizes and see their recipes printed in the Farmers’ Almanac and posted here. If you would like to enter the next round, our annual recipe contest page lists the current ingredient and the deadline.

The Farmers’ Almanac 2024 Prize-Winning Bean Recipes

Here are the three top-scoring dishes, in order of finish. Each one leans on a different kind of bean, so read all three before you decide which to cook first.

1st Place – Savory Cannellini Bean Butter Crumb Pie Recipe

Delores Johansen – Greenville, MI

A savory pie built on a sausage crust, filled with creamy cannellini beans, spinach, and mushrooms, then finished with a buttery Parmesan crumb topping. It reads like comfort food and tastes like it too.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Italian ground turkey sausage
• 1 can cannellini beans
• 5 oz finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 tsp olive oil

Crumb topping:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven 375 degrees
2. Press sausage into round baking dish or pie plate and bake for 10 minutes, then set aside.
3. Saute chopped mushrooms in olive oil until tender and lightly browned (4-5 minutes).
4. Drain and rinse beans. Place beans in medium- sized bowl and add tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, spinach and mozzarella cheese. Toss lightly and then pour mixture on top of sausage crust.
5. Melt butter, then add breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese to the butter. Mix together and sprinkle mixture evenly over pie. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake 5 more minutes. For best flavor, remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes.

2nd Place – Chewy Chickpea Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Elizabeth Pittman – Millstadt, IL

Proof that beans belong in the cookie jar. Blended chickpeas give these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies a soft, chewy center with no flour at all, and the reserved chickpea liquid, called aquafaba, helps everything come together.

Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter of your choice)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Drain chickpeas, reserving liquid. Dry with a paper towel. Remove any loose skins.
3. In a food processor, blend the chickpeas until smooth. (Add reserved juice (aquafaba) one spoonful at a time if necessary to help blend.)
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the blended chickpeas, peanut butter, maple syrup (or honey), and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
5. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the wet mixture. Mix until a dough forms.
6. Gently fold the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.
7. Using a spoon, drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. These cookies won’t spread much, so shape them or flatten them with your hands if needed.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden.
9. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

3rd Place – Amie’s Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas Recipe

Amie Wilder, Beckley, WV

A weeknight-friendly pan of enchiladas that stretches a can of black beans into a full supper. The rice-and-bean filling is hearty on its own, so this one pleases meat-eaters and vegetarians at the same table.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes and green chilis
• 2 tsps ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsps onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese or cheddar cheese
• 8 large flour tortillas
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• Sour cream and fresh chopped cilantro (for optional topping)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add green pepper, onion and jalapeno. Cook until tender about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
3. Stir in black beans, tomatoes and green chilis, cumin, red pepper flakes, onion powder and chili powder. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Fold in the rice and cheese, and cook another 5 minutes.
4. Spoon 1/2 of the rice and bean mixture down the center of the tortilla. Fold the sides over the filling and roll up. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Top with enchilada sauce. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Top with sour cream and cilantro and enjoy!

Cooking With Beans: A Few Kitchen Notes

Beans earned their spot as our contest ingredient for a good reason. They are cheap, they keep for ages in the pantry, and they turn up in everything from a savory pie to a chewy cookie. Michigan State University Extension calls dry beans a nutritional powerhouse, since they bring plant protein, fiber, and folate to the plate for pennies a serving. Here are a few notes to help all three winning bean recipes turn out.

• Canned or dried both work. All three winners call for canned beans, which is the fast route. If you cook dried beans instead, one 15-ounce can equals roughly 1 1/2 cups cooked beans.
• Rinse before you cook. Draining and rinsing canned beans washes away extra salt and the starchy liquid, except in the cookie recipe, where you save that liquid on purpose.
• Save the aquafaba. The chickpea liquid you reserve for the second-place cookies is called aquafaba. A spoonful at a time helps the dough blend smooth without drying it out.
• Store dried beans cool and dark. Kept in a sealed jar in a cool, dark cupboard, dried beans hold their quality for a year or more, the same way our grandmothers put them by.

Don’t miss our current Recipe Contest, “5 Ingredients or Less Casseroles Recipes.” Enter now and good luck!

Previous Recipe Contest Winners

2023 Winning Blueberry Recipes

2022 Honey Recipes

2021 Sweet Potato Recipes

2020 Banana Recipes

2019 Quinoa Recipes

2018 Garlic Recipes

2017 Spinach Recipes

2016 Lemon Recipes

2015 Unusual Muffin Recipes

2024 Winning Bean Recipes: Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 2024 winning bean recipes?

The three winning bean recipes are a Savory Cannellini Bean Butter Crumb Pie by Delores Johansen of Greenville, MI, in first place, Chewy Chickpea Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies by Elizabeth Pittman of Millstadt, IL, in second, and Amie’s Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas by Amie Wilder of Beckley, WV, in third.

Can you really make cookies out of chickpeas?

Yes. The second-place recipe blends a 15-ounce can of chickpeas until smooth, then mixes in peanut butter, maple syrup or honey, and chocolate chips. There is no flour. The chickpeas give the cookies a soft, chewy center, and a little of the reserved chickpea liquid helps the dough come together.

What is aquafaba, and why does the cookie recipe use it?

Aquafaba is the starchy liquid left in a can of chickpeas after draining. The cookie recipe has you reserve it and add a spoonful at a time while blending, which loosens the dough without drying it out. Rinse and drain beans fully for the pie and enchiladas, where you do not need that liquid.

Can I use dried beans instead of canned?

Yes. All three winners call for canned beans for speed, but cooked dried beans work just as well. As a rule of thumb, one 15-ounce can equals about 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans, so soak and simmer your dried beans and measure from there.

How do I enter the Farmers’ Almanac recipe contest?

Each year we name a star ingredient and invite readers to submit an original recipe built around it, with no entry fee. The current contest is “5 Ingredients or Less Casseroles Recipes.” Visit our annual recipe contest page for the ingredient, the rules, and the deadline, then send in your best dish.

Where can I find past Farmers’ Almanac recipe contest winners?

We keep the archive going back years, including blueberry, honey, sweet potato, banana, quinoa, garlic, spinach, lemon, and muffin recipes. The Previous Recipe Contest Winners list above links to each year’s champions so you can cook your way through the whole collection.