Recipes from pioneering Rancho Gordo’s new cookbook prove that heirloom beans are one of the West’s healthiest and most delicious culinary treasures.

Rancho Gordo Bean Montage
Reprinted with permission from The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen by Steve Sando with Julia Newberry, copyright © 2024. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Ed Anderson. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Two decades ago, Steve Sando started a little Napa-based bean company called Rancho Gordo that sold a few varieties of rare heirloom beans that had fallen out of favor. These were tender, from small farmers, and fresh—the opposite of the desiccated commodity beans or canned beans that make up most of the legume market even today. Chefs and home cooks took notice, and in a few years, Rancho Gordo became the go-to provider of beans to everyone from Thomas Keller to Alice Waters and, yes, the Sunset test kitchen. (We’ve also included Rancho Gordo beans in our subscription box.)

Steve Sando Portrait
Chef Steve Sando

© Kim Sevreau 2023

Today, Rancho Gordo sells over two dozen varieties of beans grown in New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, Mexico, and beyond in a gorgeous array of dusty tans, speckled purples, reds, blues, blacks, and deep browns. You can literally feel how fresh these beans are. When you squeeze them with your fingers, they are soft to the touch. When  you soak them in water, they begin to plump in mere minutes, not hours. And they cook much more quickly than the beans you get at the market, as they’re often just weeks or months past harvest rather than years. From bean to bean, there’s a tender creaminess and complexity of flavor that elevates any dish you use them in.

Not only are these humble gems delectable, they’re exceptionally good for you, too. Beans contain high amounts of soluble fiber, which is instrumental in lowering cholesterol, regulating blood sugar, and helping establish a balanced microbiome. Steve Sando has added to the legacy of Rancho Gordo with his latest cookbook, The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen, which is a masterclass on the topic and a foundational text for building a healthy diet. From a rich Italianate Borlotti bean entrée to a cod dish fit for a party, these recipes will have you feasting healthily and deliciously all season long.

Get the Book

The Bean Book Cover

Reprinted with permission from ‘The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen’ by Steve Sando with Julia Newberry, copyright © 2024. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Ed Anderson. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen by Steve Sando with Julia Newberry (Ten Speed Press), $23

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