Rinsing canned beans is useful when you want less sodium or a cleaner texture for a salad. Keeping the liquid can work well in some soups and other recipes. Draining and rinsing removes some water-soluble nutrients along with sodium, while the beans still provide useful nutrition. Start with the label and the meal you are making.
A can of beans can turn a collection of vegetables into a satisfying lunch with very little preparation. The practical question is what to do with the liquid: pour it into the pot, drain it away, or rinse the beans as well? There is room for more than one sensible answer.
What is the liquid around canned beans?
During processing, beans are cooked in their packing liquid. Some starch and other water-soluble food components enter that liquid. Salt and other ingredients depend on the particular product. Read the ingredient list before assuming every can contains the same mixture.
Plain beans in water and salt are a different cooking ingredient from beans sold in a seasoned sauce. If you rinse away the sauce from a prepared dish, you are also removing part of what the manufacturer intended you to eat.
When comparing products, look for the bean variety, added ingredients, sodium per serving, serving size and any instructions about draining. A can’s front label is a starting point; the details tell you what is actually inside.
Does rinsing really reduce sodium?
Yes. A study by Duyff, Mount and Jones compared multiple brands of five canned bean varieties in their liquid, after draining, and after draining plus rinsing. Both draining and draining followed by rinsing significantly reduced sodium.
In an expert explanation from Tufts, the average reduction from draining and rinsing in one study is reported as about 41 percent. That is a useful illustration of the practice, not a guarantee for the can in your hand. Products and preparation differ.
For example, if a hypothetical serving contained 500 mg of sodium, a 41 percent reduction would leave about 295 mg. This is arithmetic showing what that percentage means, not a measured result for a named brand. It would be misleading to relabel every rinsed serving by applying that figure automatically.
The FDA’s sodium guidance includes rinsing sodium-containing canned foods as one practical way to remove some sodium. Choosing a low-sodium or no-salt-added product can give you a different starting point before you even open the can.
Do useful nutrients go down the drain too?
Some do. Water-soluble nutrients that have moved into the packing liquid can be discarded along with it. Tufts identifies minerals beyond sodium and some B vitamins, including folate, among the components that may be lost this way. The remaining beans still contribute useful nutrients and fiber.
This is a tradeoff to understand, rather than a reason to stop eating canned beans. If draining makes a salad more appealing or helps you manage sodium, that can be a practical choice. If the liquid belongs in the soup you are making, keeping it can also make sense.
The amount in a food, the amount left after preparation and the amount absorbed by the body are separate questions. Our bioavailability guide explains why one number should not be substituted for another.
A simple rinse-or-keep decision guide
| Your situation | A practical choice | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Salted plain beans for a salad | Drain and rinse | Less added liquid, cleaner texture and some sodium removed |
| Low-sodium plain beans for a soup | Check the recipe; keeping liquid may work | The liquid can become part of the dish |
| Beans in a prepared sauce | Follow the intended recipe and label | Rinsing removes sauce and changes the dish |
| A clinician-prescribed sodium limit | Choose within that plan; compare labels | An average rinse reduction cannot certify a final sodium dose |
The decision is easier when you separate two goals: changing the texture of the dish and changing its nutrient content. You might want either one, both, or neither.
How to rinse plain canned beans
Use a clean colander or sieve. Drain the packing liquid, rinse the beans gently under cool running drinking water, and let the extra water drain away. Then use the beans as your recipe directs.
There is no need to scrub them or add soap. The aim is to remove packing liquid and some of what is dissolved in it, not to wash away the beans themselves. Handle the opened can and prepared food with ordinary kitchen hygiene.
Rinsing also changes the weight and amount of liquid in the portion. If you track food intake closely, use a nutrition entry that specifies a matching preparation, or follow the manufacturer’s serving description. Do not assume a weighed portion of drained beans is identical to the same weight of beans with liquid.
What about chili or soup?
Look at the recipe before deciding. A recipe that calls for undrained beans is accounting for their liquid. If you drain them, you may need to adjust the amount of another liquid to get the intended consistency.
Imagine making a thick bean-and-vegetable soup. Keeping the packing liquid from a suitable low-sodium product may suit the recipe. For a cold bean salad, the same liquid could thin the dressing and collect at the bottom of the bowl. These are different kitchen problems, even when the beans come from the same brand.
Taste the finished dish before adding extra salt. Other ingredients, including stock, canned tomatoes, cheese and sauces, also contribute flavor and sodium. Rinsing one ingredient is only one part of the meal.
How should I compare the labels?
Compare sodium for the same serving amount and check how many servings are in the container. A lower number per serving does not always mean a lower number for the entire amount you use.
Low sodium, reduced sodium and no salt added are different statements. Read the actual sodium number rather than treating those phrases as interchangeable. No salt added describes the addition of salt; it does not necessarily mean the food contains no sodium.
When a recipe uses two cans, the relevant question is how much of the finished dish you eat. Dividing the whole recipe into portions can be more useful than comparing one ingredient’s can with another person’s plate. Our sodium-versus-salt guide explains why grams of salt and milligrams of sodium should not be treated as the same number.
An easy meal without a complicated rule
For a simple lunch, add drained beans to leafy greens, chopped tomatoes and a protein food you enjoy. Dress to taste with lemon, herbs or a familiar dressing. Keep the portion and ingredients flexible so the meal fits your appetite and routine.
For dinner, combine beans with vegetables in a soup or warm bowl. Decide whether to keep the liquid based on the product and recipe, then adjust seasoning at the end. A useful habit is one you can repeat on an ordinary busy day.
Beans can be part of a varied nutritional pattern alongside other foods and, when appropriate, selected supplements. A supplement’s labeled formulation is a separate question; a product does not replace the fiber or cooking role of a serving of beans. The Comprehensive Core and pH Balancer comparison explains those actual formulations for readers who want to explore them.
So, should you rinse them?
For a salad or a lower-sodium starting point, draining and rinsing plain canned beans is often a useful choice. For a recipe designed to use the liquid, keeping it can work. Check the label, consider the dish and understand the tradeoff instead of applying an always-or-never rule.
For more practical food comparisons, see What Is a Superfood? and Are Canned Sardines Healthy?. Each guide starts with the food you actually have and the meal you want to make.
Sources
- Duyff, Mount and Jones: Sodium Reduction in Canned Beans After Draining, Rinsing, 2011. Study abstract describes the tested preparations; the reported average percentage is explained separately in the linked Tufts expert answer.
- Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter: Are nutrients lost by rinsing canned beans?.
- FDA: Sodium in Your Diet.
Sources checked November 2, 2026. The example calculation is hypothetical and should not be used to assign a measured sodium value to a rinsed product.