Black beans. Pinto beans. Cannellini. How do they stack up nutritionally?

In many ways, beans are the ultimate power plants. These little superfoods are packed with essential vitamins and minerals, protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber, resistant starch, and antioxidants—and they generally have approximately 120 calories per half cup of cooked beans. They’re also low in fat, versatile for cooking, and inexpensive. 

Considered members of the legume family because they grow in pods, beans are incredibly beneficial for your health. “Because of their high concentration of health-promoting nutrients, consuming more beans could improve overall health and also decrease the risk of developing certain diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and many types of cancer,” says Julie Garden-Robinson, a professor and food and nutrition specialist at the North Dakota State University in Fargo.

(Should you soak beans before cooking them?)

Eating beans may help with weight control, according to a study published in a March 2024 issue of Nutrition Journal. Previous studies have also found that regularly eating beans decreases total cholesterol and (harmful) LDL cholesterol and reduces the blood sugar spike that normally occurs after eating.

And yet, most people aren’t consuming the recommended amount of beans on a regular basis. “I think it’s because people don’t know more than one or two ways to use them or they think they don’t like beans because they’ve only had them one way,” says Chelsea Didinger, a nutritionist in Fort Collins, Colorado, and founder of A Legume a Day. “It’s easy to include them in so many different ways.”

Here’s a closer look at how various beans compare in terms of flavor and nutrients—and how to easily incorporate them into your meals: 

Black beans

Black beans have been dietary staples in Central and South American cuisines for more than 7,000 years, and in recent years, their popularity has grown significantly in the United States. When cooked, black beans have a creamy white interior, even as they retain their dark coats, and a meaty flavor. 

Nutrients: Cooked black beans are a rich source of protein and fiber, plus they contain good amounts of calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and folate, according to the USDA. They’re also a good source of choline, a lesser-known nutrient that your brain and nervous system use to regulate memory, mood, muscle control, and other essential functions.

(Which this type of carb is so good for your gut health.)

Noteworthy health benefits: What’s more, research has found that eating cooked black beans has beneficial effects on blood vessels and vascular function and lowers harmful LDL-cholesterol concentrations, which could decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.

How to get more in your diet: If your black bean consumption ends with black-bean dip or black bean soup, you’re missing out on so many possibilities. These earthy-flavored beans can be incorporated in chilis, tacos, quesadillas, stews, salads, and even some desserts.

“Including puréed black beans in brownie batter provides extra fudginess and a dose of nutrition,” says Jackie Newgent, a plant-forward culinary nutritionist based in Los Angeles and author of The Plant-Based Diabetes Cookbook.

Cranberry beans

These brown-pink-red-and-beige speckled beans (a.k.a., borlotti beans) are featured in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese cuisines. When cooked, the specks disappear, giving way to a creamy texture and a nutty, slightly sweet flavor.

Nutrients: Besides being excellent sources of protein and fiber, these beans contain calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and folate.

Noteworthy health benefits: Additionally, research has found that cranberry beans are rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals that have anti-inflammatory properties. Antioxidants may prevent or slow damage (a.k.a., oxidative stress) to your cells from unstable molecules called free radicals.

How to get more in your diet: They are used in pasta e fagioli (an Italian stew), as well as other stews, soups, casseroles, salads, and rice or quinoa dishes.

Kidney beans

These kidney-shaped beans, which come in dark red or light red varieties, have a firm texture. They are widely used in Central American and Caribbean cuisines, as well as Spanish and Portuguese dishes and North Indian curries. The lighter colored kidney beans have a more mild flavor, while the dark ones are more intense, Newgent says.

By contrast, white kidney beans (a.k.a., cannellini), which have a soft texture and mild flavor, are commonly used in Italian cuisine.

Nutrients: Not only are these beans loaded with protein and fiber but they also contain lots of micronutrients, including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, folate, and selenium.

Noteworthy health benefits: Similar to black beans, consuming cooked red kidney beans has been shown to have positive effects on blood vessel function—and also decreases blood pressure.

How to get more in your diet: Red kidney beans can be used in soups, stews, chilis, casseroles, and salads. White kidney beans can be used in pasta dishes, soups (such as Tuscan ribollita soup), and salads. 

Navy beans and great northern beans

Both navy beans and great northern beans are oval-shaped white beans that have a delicate, mild flavor. Great northern beans play a starring role in cassoulet (a French bean and sausage stew), while navy beans are famously used for Boston baked beans and navy bean soup. (Fun fact: Navy beans derive their name from being included in the U.S. Navy diet during the second half of the 19^th century, Garden-Robinson notes.)

Nutrients: When it comes to their nutritional value, great northern beans provide lots of protein and fiber and significant amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and folate. The same is true of navy beans, which are also good sources of choline. Interestingly, iron bioavailability—the proportion of the nutrient that is digested and absorbed—is higher for white beans than others, Didinger says.  

Noteworthy health benefits: As with black beans, consuming navy beans has been found to be good for your intestinal health—improving both the beneficial microbes that reside there and the integrity of the intestinal barrier. And research suggests that consuming compounds in great northern beans reduces vascular inflammation and oxidative stress.

How to get more in your diet: Both types of white beans can be used in many other dishes—such as soups, chilis, salads, and dips—and they can be puréed and used in smoothies or dressings. Newgent recommends her DIY white bean salad: Place a cup of cooked great northern beans in a jar with two teaspoons of white wine vinegar or lemon juice and one to two tablespoons chopped fresh basil, shake it up, then add olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. A go-to dish for Abbie Gellman, a registered dietitian and chef based in New York City: White beans on toast with pesto and a fried egg.

Pinto beans

Commonly used in Mexican and Spanish cuisine, these brownish beans have an earthy flavor when cooked.

Nutrients: In addition to being loaded with fiber and protein, pinto beans are good sources of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, folate, and choline, and even have traces of vitamins E and K.

Noteworthy health benefits: Research from Arizona State University found that when adults consumed a half cup of cooked pinto beans daily for eight weeks, they experienced significant reductions in their total and LDL cholesterol, whereas those who consumed black-eyed peas every day didn’t reap the same effects. 

How to get more in your diet: Pinto beans are famously used to make refried beans, says Gellman, but also can be incorporated into rice dishes, chilis, burritos and burrito bowls, soups, tacos, quesadillas, and more.  

Given all these benefits, uses, and flavor profiles, it’s worth experimenting with different beans in your home-cooked meals to see which ones you like. “People sometimes ask me what’s the healthiest bean?” says Didinger. “My answer is whatever bean you’re going to eat more of is the healthiest bean for you because they’re all incredibly healthy.”