When aiming for low sodium, your best bet is to soak beans overnight and cook them for use in your favorite recipes. This requires planning ahead and well, sometimes with our busy lives, that just does not happen. So whether it is canned cannellini (love the alliteration!), kidney or garbanzo beans, there are some smart choices that can be made when stocking your pantry. Read the nutrition facts and look for labels that say “Low Sodium” or “No Salt Added” as you are making your choice.

For example, in my pantry I found two different cans of cannellini beans. The sodium content in my Stop and Shop brand can was 350mg while the no salt added can from Bioitalia (available at Whole Foods) had just 18mg of sodium in a 1/2 cup portion. Huge difference!

Regardless of the brand or sodium content, do get into the habit of draining and rinsing out the beans under fresh cold running water to remove around 40% of the sodium (The Bean Institute). Small steps, big gains!