Kidney bean

Haricot rouge

What it is

Raw or undercooked, it is genuinely poisonous — it carries phytohaemagglutinin, and as few as four raw beans can make you seriously ill. Ten minutes at a hard boil destroys it, but a slow cooker never gets hot enough on its own.

In the kitchen

Boil hard for ten full minutes before any slow cooking. This is the one bean where the instruction is a safety rule, not a preference.

Goes with

Chili pepper Cumin Onion Tomato Garlic Paprika Rice Cilantro / Coriander

Same species

Ayocote bean Black bean Borlotti bean Cannellini bean Coco de Paimpol Faba asturiana

Also used with

Blue fenugreek

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