Introduction
 Have you ever wondered whether dried beans are worth it compared to canned beans? Not only are beans nutritious and cheap, but canned beans are dead simple. But how much (if any) money do you save by opting for dried beans instead? After all, beans are already super cheap; how much lower can it go?
What Beans?
 The first question we should ask is what kind of beans are we talking about? Today, I’ll be going with pinto beans, but costs and weights should be relatively similar no matter what type of bean you choose. I’ll be comparing canned beans to cooked dried beans to find out which is more cost effective.
Canned Beans
 Below is a 15.5 oz (439 g) can of pinto beans that have been drained and rinsed. Once the water has been washed away though, we are left with 245 g of pinto beans. For a $0.86 can, that means that the beans cost $1.59 per pound. This is our basis; let’s see if dried beans can be lower.
Dried Beans (raw)
 Now, let’s take a look at dried pinto beans. A 1 lb (454 g) of pinto beans costs $1.00. So that’s … $1.00 per pound
Conclusion??
 So canned beans are $1.59/lb and dried are $1.00/lb, respectively. That must mean that dried beans are $0.59 cheaper than canned, right? No, not exactly. The dried beans are raw; we must find out the weight of 1 lb of raw beans when cooked.
Dried Beans (cooked)
 I like cooking my bagged beans in a slow cooker. I’ll be using my Slow Cooker Black Beans as a frame of reference, but here’s the quick rundown:
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Wash your bag of beans in a strainer, and add to a large bowl with 5 cups (1,200 g) water and 1 tbsp (18 g) salt. Cover and soak overnight.
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Discard the water and add the beans to a slow cooker with 1 tsp (6 g) salt. Pour in enough water to just fully submerge the beans, about 3 cups (720 g).
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Cover, and cook for 8 hours on low. Rinse the beans in a strainer.
 Now that the beans are cooked, we can see what $1.00 of dried pinto beans yields. The batch of drained cooked beans weighs 890 g, or the equivalent of 3.63 cans of beans. This means that the dried beans actually cost $0.51/lb.
Conclusion
 The cost each for canned and dried beans are $1.59/lb, and $0.51/lb, respectively, meaning that dried beans are 3.12 times cheaper than canned beans. If you have the time to prep the beans, then dried are definitely worth it for both cost and taste. If you would like a guide on cooking dried beans, be sure to check out my Slow Cooker Dried Beans. But if you need beans and you need them now, there’s nothing wrong with canned.