Canned vs. Dried Beans

Hey all,

I’m planning on trying out a recipe I was given for cassoulet this weekend and it calls for a 19oz. can of white beans. However, I have a bag of dried beans that I’d like to use, instead. I don’t want to soak 19oz of dried beans overnight because I’d probably end up with way too much.

Is there any rule of thumb for determining the equivalent of dried beans to canned? How much will dried beans expand after soaking?

Thankfully, this weekend is only a dry run to see if I can pull off this type of dish, so I don’t mind experimenting a little. However, if it works out, I plan I making it again over the holidays and serving it to a few foodie friends.

My rule of thumb is that dried beans expand about 3x their volume when cooked. I’m guessing a 19oz can has about 2 cups of beans in it, so I’d go with somewhere around 2/3 - 3/4 cup of dried beans.

You do realize that you’ll need to cook the beans, not just soak them, right? You don’t mention the cooking, so I thought I’d put that out there.