Here you will find a whole range of recipes incorporating beans from the ancient world to modern times. Just about every civilization and culture has recipes using beans as they can be dried and stored over winter. Beans are also a survival food and an excellent source of protein in conjunction with staples such as maize, wheat, barley, millet etc. For this reason many of the bean recipes given originate in Africa and South America, though I have bean and bean-associated recipes listed here from all corners of the globe.

I am using a fairly broad definition of 'bean' here. Effectively I am including all pulses, raw bean pods, lentils and peas. Basically members of the Fabaceae family of flowering plants that produce pods or seeds that are edible by humans. This included beans such as broad (fava) beans, haricot (navy) beans, cannellini beans, barlotti beans, adzuki beans, haricot beans etc; string beans, mangetout, fine beans (where the unripe pods are edible); peas; and lentils. There are also beans grown primarily for oil extraction (soy beans) and beans that are fermented to to make condiments (such as African locust beans).

In almost all instances, human farming started with grains, but all grains are deficient in the essential amino acid, Lysine (maize is in addition, deficient in tryptophan). This is one of the reasons that despite higher availability of food, the health of the first farmers declined in comparison with their hunter-gatherer antecedents. Legumes are generally deficient in Methionine, but have plenty of lysine. So, if you combine grains and legumes in the diet you have a complete source of amino acids. Interestingly, common nuts are deficient in both Methionine and Lysine, so you would need a diet of nuts, legumes and grains to get complete amino acid intake. This is why, once legumes were introduced to the first farmers' diets, health improved significantly. This is why, all over the world, there is a bean and grain staple that has often led to the rise of major civilizatons (rice and dhal on India; maize and beans in Mesoamerica; wheat or oats/barley and Celtic beans in Europe; sorghum, millet or teff and beans in Africa; rice and beans in Asia).

The recipes given here are sourced from around the world, and give a broad view of bean-based dishes globally. There are also more modern recipes using bean-based flours as a base for gluten-free dishes. Beans also have a very log glycaemic index compared with may other foods so beans and bean flours are excellent for anyone on a low GI diet.

The alphabetical list of all the bean-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 650 recipes in total:

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Abgousht (Persian Beef Stew)      Origin: Iran	Azinkokoui aux Bloms (Azinkokoui with Blom Sausages)      Origin: Togo	Bhuna Kedgeree      Origin: Anglo-Indian
Adas Polo (Rice with Lentils)      Origin: Iran	Baajiya (Somali Black-eyed Pea Fritters)      Origin: Somalia	Bhuna Khichuri      Origin: Bangladesh
Adowè (Mashed Beans)      Origin: Togo	Baghali Shevid Polow (Lima Bean with Dill Rice)      Origin: Iran	Big Bowl Chili      Origin: American
Akkra Funfun      Origin: Benin	Bahamian Crab and Rice      Origin: Saint Barthelemy	Bigilla (Broad Bean Dip)      Origin: Malta
Al-Aïch (Chicken, Beans and Couscous)      Origin: Mauritania	Baianas (Baian Beans)      Origin: Roman	Black Bean Burritos      Origin: America
Alitcha Birsen      Origin: Eritrea	Bajiy (Red Lentil Fritters)      Origin: Somalia	Black Bean Curry      Origin: Fusion
Aliter Fabaciae (Green Beans, Another Way)      Origin: Roman	Bajiyoo (Djibouti Pulse Dumplings)      Origin: Djibouti	Black Bean Sauce      Origin: China
Aliter Faseolus Sive Cicer (Broad Beans or Chickpeas, Another Way)      Origin: Roman	Bak Kut Teh (Spicy Sparerib Soup)      Origin: Malaysia	Black Beans      Origin: Mexico
Aliter Lenticulam (Lentils, Another Way)      Origin: Roman	Baked Beans with Nigerian Seasonings      Origin: African Fusion	Black Eyed Pea Flour Bread      Origin: Liberia
Aliter Pisam Sive Faba (Peas or Broad Beans, Another Way)      Origin: Roman	Baked Chicken Chimichangas      Origin: America	Black-eyed Beans and Plantain Pottage      Origin: Nigeria
Aliter pisam sive fabam (Broad Beans and/or Split Peas)      Origin: Roman	Baked Tilapia with Pineapple and Black Beans      Origin: Costa Rica	Blueberry Smoothie      Origin: American
Aliter porros III (Salad of Leeks with Broad Beans)      Origin: Roman	Banana and Chickpea Vegan Sheek Kebab      Origin: Britain	Boondi Laddu      Origin: India
Aloo Muttar      Origin: Britain	Bananas with Split Green Peas      Origin: Rwanda	Bori (Bengali Baked Dumplings)      Origin: India
Alu ko Achhar (Potatoes with Split Peas)      Origin: Nepal	Barbecued Tofu      Origin: Fusion	Bosh (Beans and Bread)      Origin: Sudan
Alubias Blancas Con Almejas (White Beans with Clams)      Origin: Spain	Bean and Almond Salad      Origin: South Africa	Bouneschlupp (Green Beans Soup)      Origin: Luxembourg
Alubias blancas con calamar y aceite de romero (White Beans with Squid and Rosemary Oil)      Origin: Spain	Bean and Wild Mushroom Stew      Origin: Britain	Bragoli (Maltese Beef Rolls)      Origin: Malta
Amashaza mu gitoke (Peas with Plantains)      Origin: Uganda	Bean Foogath      Origin: India	Braised Lamb Shanks with Cannellini Beans      Origin: Britain
Ambrevades au Curry (Pigeon Pea and Coconut Curry)      Origin: Comoros	Bean Goulash with Beef      Origin: Czech	Brine-pickled Himalayan Balsam Pods      Origin: American
Amritsar Fish and Chips      Origin: India	Beans and Bananas      Origin: Burundi	Brine-pickled Radish Pods      Origin: American
Andhra Pappu Charu (Andhra-style Lentil Puree Curry)      Origin: India	Beans Gravy      Origin: Liberia	Bruine Bonen (Suriname-style Kidney Bean Stew)      Origin: Suriname
Anguillan Rice and Peas      Origin: Anguilla	Beans with Artichokes and Olives      Origin: British	Bruine Bonen met Rijst (Brown Beans with Rice)      Origin: Suriname
Arroz al Horno con Perdiz (Baked Rice with Garlic)      Origin: Spain	Beans With Rum      Origin: Montserrat	Bufuke with Onion Sauce      Origin: Uganda
Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice and Beans with Sofrito)      Origin: Puerto Rico	Bébélé (Tripe and Plantain Stew)      Origin: Guadeloupe	Burundian Bean Soup      Origin: Burundi
Arroz con Menestra y Carne (Rice with Meat in Stew)      Origin: Ecuador	Bedmi Puri      Origin: India	Bygan Dhal      Origin: India
Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Saffron Rice)      Origin: Spain	Beef and Bean Chimichangas      Origin: America	Byrger Ffa (Bean Burger)      Origin: Welsh
Arroz con Pollo Guatemalteco (Chicken with Rice, Guatemalan Style)      Origin: Guatemala	Beef and Dhal Curry      Origin: India	Cëebu Jen II      Origin: Senegal
Asado de Tenera (Roast Veal)      Origin: Spain	Beef Burritos      Origin: America	Caccabinam Minorem (Small Casserole)      Origin: Roman
Ash Guznh Mazndrana (Mazandarani Style Nettle Soup)      Origin: Iran	Beignets de Niebé (Cowpea Fritters)      Origin: Mali	Cachupa Rica      Origin: Cape Verde
Atar Alecha (Spiced Split Green Peas)      Origin: Ethiopia	Belizean Chicken Breakfast      Origin: Belize	Cachupa Rica      Origin: Cape Verde
Atar Allecha (Spiced Green Pea Purée)      Origin: Egypt	Belizean Rice and Beans      Origin: Belize	Cactus Chili      Origin: America
Aw Lahm (Lao Stew)      Origin: Laos	Benes y Fryed (Medieval Fried Beans)      Origin: England	Cajun Brew Pork'n'Beans      Origin: American
Ayimonlou (Togolese Rice and Beans)      Origin: Togo	Beninese Jollof Rice      Origin: Benin	Cajun Chili Pork      Origin: Cajun
Ayimonlou et N'gbagba (Togolese Rice and Beans with N'gbagba)      Origin: Togo	Bermuda Peas n' Rice      Origin: Bermuda
Azevias de Grão (Sweet Chickpea Pockets)      Origin: Portugal	Besan Ladoo      Origin: India

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