Goodbye canned beans.
After trying this homemade baked beans recipe, it’s hard to imagine going back to canned. Bush’s is good and all, but it just doesn’t compare to the heightened flavor and superior texture of baked beans made from scratch. Since July is National Baked Bean Month, there’s never been a better time to learn how to make your own healthy baked beans. It’s much easier than you might think…
When I first started learning to cook, one of my favorite meals to make was a large sweet potato topped with Bush’s baked beans and melted cheddar cheese. I wasn’t even a vegetarian yet, but I’d eat this meal at least once a week. It was quick and simple, and I loved the revelation that I no longer needed to rely on someone else to always cook for me.
In middle school, feeling independent is of the upmost importance… I remember around the same time, my friends’ moms and mine would take us to the mall and sit on a bench while we shopped. We had to check back in every thirty minutes, but we felt super cool, shopping by ourselves. Other people in the mall were probably rolling their eyes at the 7th graders who strutted around the mall like they owned the place. But we didn’t notice or care. And then I’d come home and prepare my very own homemade dinner, feeling very grown up.
Never mind that said “homemade dinner” was as simple as popping a potato in the oven, opening a can of beans, and microwaving everything together. That’s beside the point 
.
I felt the same sense of accomplishment the first time I made this vegetarian baked beans recipe from scratch a few days ago. Never mind the fact that it’s as simple as throwing all the ingredients into a crockpot, putting on the lid, and waiting for it to cook.
That’s beside the point.
Baked Beans Recipe
Baked Beans Recipe – Healthy & Homemade
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb pinto or white beans, soaked overnight in water
- 1 can “no salt added” tomato sauce (15oz)
- 2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce or gluten-free soy sauce (45g)
- 1 3/4 cup water or vegetable broth (420g)
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (30g)
- 2 tsp minced garlic (10g)
- 1 tbsp molasses (blackstrap or regular) (15g)
- 1/8 tsp pure stevia extract, or 4 tbsp brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
Crockpot baked beans recipe: Drain and rinse the beans. Lightly grease a crockpot (mine is 4 quarts), then add all ingredients. Cover with the lid, and cook on high 7 hours or until beans are soft. Turning off the crockpot, but keeping the lid closed, let sit 1 hour. Serve immediately, or transfer to a container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. If reheating, add a little water (up to 1/2 cup for the entire recipe) and stir, then heat. Yields about 3 1/2 cups.
Question of the Day:
Do you remember the first thing you learned to cook?
Link of the Day: Homemade Larabars Recipes
This looks like a great baked bean recipe! I’ve been looking for one without ketchup (it’s my least favorite food on this earth), so this will be great to try.
I don’t remember the first thing I learned to cook, but I do remember cooking for my family most nights. I would spend hours pouring through my mother’s cookbooks looking for the perfect thing to make.
I used to love baked beans and hot dogs and toast as a little kid. Gone are the days where I eat hot dogs, but I still love baked beans. I’ve been wondering about how to make them myself, and I love this recipe. However, I don’t have a crockpot. I pre-bake my beans and freeze them- any tips on how to do this sans-crockpot?
I’ve only tried it in a crockpot, but I think it’d be fine in a saucepan… just cook uncovered so it doesn’t get too liquidy.
I used to always melt a slice of American cheese on a croissant in the microwave. It was probably my favorite snack/meal/whatever you want to call it when I was younger. I hope by now I’ve cleaned the arteries that I surely clogged as a result of the numerous times I made that little concoction alone. Oh man.
When I was a young child, I tried to make nutella cake by mixing nutella and milk. I forgot about it and was surprised when my mother asked me what I was making.
The thing I always used to make was called Cat’s Tongues- dainty little cookies which tastes scrumptious! I learned to make them at a rather young age (I would bake with my mother when I was a tiny child). I also used to get English Muffins, and put ketchup, pineapple pieces and cheese on one piece, then microwave it until the cheese melted- pizza! lol
To this day, though, I can make brownies in my sleep. I love my mother’s recipe, though I’ve been playing around with variations recently.
I love this recipe. May be trying this as a side dish for the 4th. I especially like that you can just throw all this together in the crockpot. It doesn’t get any easier…thank you!
Thank you for the recipe! I am so looking forward to trying these this week. Your timing is spot on too. I hate the high sugar content & “stuff” in the canned variety. Last recipe I tried for homemade baked beans ended in mush!!!! I have no clue what I did wrong, either. Yours look wonderful, so I cannot wait to try.
Question: Do you add any additional water to the crockpot after you drain & rinse the beans for the beans to cook?
Nope, they cook in the tomato sauce mixture. Much more flavorful than diluting with extra water :). No need to add anything but the amount called for in the recipe.
Hi Katy,
I was wondering if you could clarifie what you mean by tomato sauce; would passata work?
Do you mean pasta sauce? If so, I would get one that doesn’t have any flavorings. But pretty much any grocery store should sell tomato sauce. It’ll be near the canned tomatoes.
Passata are pureed tomatoes, usually low in sodium. There are no flavors added. I also wondered if it can be substituted for tomato sauce.
Yum! What a great recipe and alternative! Great one Katie!
Hey Katie, this isn’t about the recipe, but there is a product that I really think you would like. It is called Melt Organic buttery spread. Have you heard of it or tried it? It is sooooo delicious and healthy at the same time. You can bake with it too. The main ingredient in it is virgin coconut oil! There are 2 flavors available now, and a chocolate flavor is coming out this fall. Just thought I would pass this on… 🙂
I will look out for it 🙂
I LOVE baked beans! So comforting and easy to make. I love throwing them in the slow cooker and coming home to dinner 🙂