Beans, lentils & pulses · Beans
Cranberry beans (shelled)
Plump beans streaked with crimson (borlotti), shelled fresh or dried; cook to a creamy, chestnut-like bean.
Also called: borlotti beans, borlotti beans (fresh), porotos granados, roman beans, fresh shelling beans, coco beans
Around the world: porotos granados, porotos frescos (es)
A kind of beans
Photo: Jeremy Keith from Brighton & Hove, United Kingdom, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-2.0)
What it is
Cranberry beans, also called borlotti or Roman beans, have cream skins streaked with red-pink, and grow in similarly mottled pods. This record is the shelled bean, often fresh in late summer; fresh beans cook in 20–30 minutes without soaking. The pretty markings turn uniformly brown when cooked.
Phaseolus vulgaris
How it’s used
- Simmered in Italian pasta e fagioli and minestrone
- Cooked in Chilean porotos granados with corn and squash
- Braised with olive oil, sage and garlic
- Dressed warm in salads
Characteristics
- Taste
- Rich, nutty and chestnut-like.
- Texture
- Very creamy and velvety.
- Sold as
- fresh, dried, frozen, canned
- Cooking uses
- Commonly cooked, Suitable for boiling
- Common in
- Italian, Chilean, Portuguese, Turkish
Storage
Refrigerated. Keep fresh pods or shelled beans in the fridge and cook within a few days; shelled beans can be frozen raw. Dried beans keep in a cool, dry place.
Diet, allergens and safety
No major allergens in typical versions.
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- Soy-free
- Caffeine-free
- Fresh shelling beans must be fully cooked, never eaten raw; boil before simmering like other Phaseolus beans.
Nutrition per 100 g
- Energy
- 136 kcal
- Protein
- 9.34 g
- Carbohydrate
- 24.46 g
- Fat
- 0.46 g
- Fibre
- 8.6 g
- Sugars
- — g
USDA FoodData Central: Beans, cranberry (roman), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (a close stand-in).
Substitutes
Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.
- Pinto beans (canned) — Closest in texture; slightly milder.
- White beans (canned) — In soups; lighter flavour and colour.
Related ingredients
Recipes with cranberry beans (shelled)
Porotos granados
Chilean · 1 h 5 min · 260 kcal · Vegan
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