Great Northern Beans: A Mild White Bean for Soups and Stews
Learn how Great Northern beans taste and cook, and compare them with other white beans.
Great Northern beans are medium-sized, oval white beans with a mild flavor and tender texture. They are useful in soups, casseroles, salads and baked bean dishes, where they pick up the flavors of the sauce and seasonings around them.
Think of them as a flexible pantry bean rather than a very small cannellini with an identity problem. They can fill a similar role, but they are a distinct type.
What do they taste like?
Their flavor is delicate and their cooked interiors are creamy. According to the Bean Institute, they hold their shape better than small navy beans in a simmered dish, while becoming tender inside. That balance makes them useful in a vegetable soup or a salad where you want pieces rather than a purée.
Try them with tomatoes and herbs, fold them through a warm grain bowl, or combine them with greens and broth. Add canned beans toward the end of a long-cooking recipe if you want them to stay intact.
Great Northern versus cannellini and navy beans
Cannellini, also called white kidney beans, are generally larger and kidney-shaped. Navy beans are smaller and oval and can make a particularly creamy soup as they soften. Great Northern beans sit between them in size. They are often interchangeable in a forgiving recipe, but the texture and cooking time will change.
How to cook dried Great Northern beans
Sort and rinse the beans, then soak and cook them according to the package or a reliable recipe. A common approach is to soak, discard the soaking water, cover with fresh water and simmer until the centers are fully tender. Add water as needed to keep them covered.
The Bean Institute gives 45–60 minutes after soaking as a starting range for Great Northern beans. Older beans and different cooking conditions can take longer, so taste several before deciding they are done. If using canned beans, they are already cooked; drain and rinse as the recipe directs.
What can replace them?
Cannellini are a good choice for a hearty soup or salad, though they are larger. Navy beans work well when a softer, creamier result is welcome. If cooking dried cannellini, remember they are kidney beans and require the relevant soaking and thorough boiling precautions; canned versions are already cooked.