Butter Bean (canned)

Why butter bean (canned) is rated low

Canned butter beans are low at about 3 tablespoons (55g), and GOS and fructans are what build as the serving grows: a larger portion is moderate and a much larger portion is high. That is not a big jump in the bowl, which is exactly why butter beans catch people out. A generous ladle into a stew, or a second helping of a bean salad, moves up the ladder without the plate looking very different. About 3 tablespoons (55g) is the amount the low rating describes.

What changes your risk

• Where you are on the ladder About 3 tablespoons (55g) is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. The steps are close together, so the portioned serve is the one to work with.
• Drain and rinse the tin Water soluble FODMAPs leach out of the beans into the canning liquid, so tip the tin into a sieve, let the liquid run off completely, then run cold water over the beans for about half a minute and shake them dry. Cooking them in their own tinned liquid puts back what draining takes away.
• Beans boiled from dried Canned and rinsed beans and beans cooked from dried are not the same food for this purpose. The serve on this page describes the canned form.
• Hidden onion and garlic Butter beans usually arrive in a stew, a braise or a bean salad, and the stock cube, the sofrito base or the dressing is often where onion and garlic get in. Garlic infused oil carries the flavour without them, as long as no solid pieces are left in the oil.
• The rest of the meal GOS and fructans add up across a sitting. A serve of butter beans plus a second legume plus ordinary wheat bread stacks up even though each serving looks modest.

What else works

Because larger portions climb quickly, the answer to wanting a bigger bowl is not more beans. Keep the beans at about 3 tablespoons (55g) and bulk out the dish with things that carry the same comfort: potato, rice, quinoa, polenta or buckwheat under a stew, carrot, zucchini, green beans and bok choy through it, and firm tofu, eggs, plain meat, poultry or fish for the protein. A scatter of walnuts or pumpkin seeds gives a bean salad texture without adding legume. Do not solve it with another legume, so chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans and baked beans at ordinary servings are not the way to stretch the dish, and mushroom is not the vegetable to fill the gap with.

How to keep it low

Measure the beans out before they go anywhere near the pot, because once they are in a stew nobody is portioning by the spoonful. Drain and rinse the whole tin at once, then divide it, keeping about 3 tablespoons (55g) per person and storing the remainder in fresh water in the fridge for a couple of days rather than in the tinned liquid. If you are cooking for a table, count servings first and choose a tin size that matches instead of scaling up the beans to fill the pan. When eating out, bean stews and cassoulets are usually built on an onion and garlic base, so ask what the base is rather than assuming the beans are the only variable.

Common questions

how much canned butter beans can you eat on low fodmap

About 3 tablespoons (55g) is the low serving. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so the portioned serve is the amount to keep to.

when do butter beans become high fodmap

Larger portions move them to moderate, and much larger portions, such as a full bowl, are high. The steps up from about 3 tablespoons (55g) come quickly.

do you need to rinse canned butter beans

Yes. Water soluble FODMAPs leach into the canning liquid, so draining the tin and rinsing the beans under cold water before cooking is worth doing every time.

are dried butter beans the same as canned

No. The serve here describes the canned form, and beans boiled from dried are a different preparation, so do not carry the canned figure across to them.