VEGETARIAN BAKED BEANS RECIPE

It’s fun and easy to make baked beans with this great vegetarian baked beans recipe.

Here is a simple recipe I came up with that tastes better than the real thing and I didn’t even have to use molasses. This delicious homemade vegetarian baked beans recipe takes only about 45 minutes. It’s great for a summer BBQ or the 4th of July. You can use either canned beans or cooked. For the quick fix 45 minute recipe you’ll need the ingredients below along with a couple of cans of beans. Or use as many cans as you like depending on how many people you will feed. If you have extra time you can cook some dry beans that come in a bag but it takes much longer of course, about 2 to 3 hours total time instead of the 45 minutes.

Either way you won’t have to go to the store to buy those mass produced baked beans, especially on a holiday with long lines. You may find these to be more delicious than the Good ‘Ol canned stuff anyway. With this meatless homemade vegetarian baked beans recipe you probably won’t even know they’re vegetarian because they taste probably better than the beans made with meat or pork fat.

What you’ll need:

A medium or large stainless steel pot

And a large spoon to stir with

Notes:

• I prefer using a good stainless steel pot it’s much easier to cook with and easy to clean.
• For this recipe I won’t tell you exactly how much of each ingredient to add. But don’t worry for this one it doesn’t need to be exact and you can customize this to your taste.
• If using the dry beans you will want to make sure that they are cooked about 85% % of the way before adding the rest of the ingredients below to the pot.
• If cooking the dry beans yourself you will want to cook them according to the instructions in plenty of water for the time suggested.
• I’ve made these many times and they come out great each time no matter how I change the recipe around. So that’s why I tell you to customize it the way you wish.
• When using precooked beans in a can, you can just heat them up for a few minutes, then and add a little extra water (about 4 ounces) and give them a stir when they are hot before adding the ingredients.
• Now I have to say that when I make vegetarian baked beans I love making them from scratch the long way. I choose a very small Brazilian red bean that only takes about 75 minutes to cook before I add the ingredients to the pot.
• You will save a lot of time though using the already cooked canned beans. I’m sure the flavor will still be delicious because of all the other great ingredients you’ll be adding  and the cooking time to blend everything together is only about 45 minutes. And if you’re in a hurry then this is the way to go.
• Be careful when adding the sugar and spices. Add a little at a time is better, and you can always taste the beans every so often to see what they need more of while they cook.
• You’ll be cooking the beans with the ingredients as long as it takes to create a nice thick liquid with all of the flavors blended together. Usually about 35 to 45 minutes. They can cook a little longer but it’s probably not necessary.
• Play around with this vegetarian baked beans recipe and tweak it until you get the perfect flavor for your taste.
• You can add molasses if you like but I didn’t and without it the beans tasted so good. I may try in the future but I don’t see that it was needed.
• Adding a drop of honey may taste good, but I did’t put any in. It may enhance the flavor a little bit though. If you do make sure it’s “real” honey. There is a lot of fake honey sold on the market today! Too much actually on grocery shelves in American stores actually. Know your source or it is watered down with sugar or other syrups!
• Remember, this is an easy recipe so don’t stress over it. You’re just heating up some already cooked beans with the flavors of spices and ingredients you like.
• The beans usually used by companies that make baked beans are Navy beans and they’re white in color. But use any you like.
• I do NOT recommend black beans, garbanzo beans, lentils or peas for this dish.
• I love the flavor of a small red bean, but you can use whatever you have.
• When using the dry beans that take a while to cook, you can add the ingredients when the beans are about 75% cooked. This will save you a lot of time!

AFTER THE BEANS ARE COOKED THEN YOU CAN ADD THESE INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS:

IF USING A CAN OF “COOKED BEANS” CAN JUST HEAT THEM UP FOR 4 MINUTES BEFORE ADDING THE INGREDIENTS BELOW

• Water (Important): Always keep the beans covered by at least 2 inches of water except for the last 15 minutes or so. Taste the beans while the’re about halfway done cooking to see when the’re about 75% done. Make sure that they are generously covered with water and always add some water as needed. You will need just enough water to cover the beans by about 2 inches. After the beans are a little more than halfway cooked you can add all the ingredients. While simmering on low for a little while you will see this transform into a thick soupy like liquid. You can always add more water as you cook later when needed so they won’t get too dry and burn at the bottom. Always stir the beans at bottom every 10 minutes. Beans are a thick protein skin and can easily burn on the bottom of the pot, especially when they are almost done cooking! Water and frequent mixing protects them. If you chose to cook the “dry” beans, after about 90 minutes you can usually add all the other ingredients to the pot. Just always keep an eye on the water level. Do not add water to the beans when they are almost done. You will need to make sure that the liquid is thick enough but not too thin.
• Brown Sugar (about 1 or 2 tablespoons)
• White Sugar (organic preferred) about 1 or 2 tablespoons
• Tomato Paste (about 5 or 6 ounces)
• Sea Salt (about 1 teaspoon)
• Mustard (about 1 teaspoon if using regular prepared liquid type) or (about 1/2 teaspoon if using the dry powdered type)
• Turmeric (about 1/4 teaspoon)
• Ginger Powder (about 1/4 teaspoon)
• Onion Powder (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• Paprika (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• Garlic Powder (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• Ketchup (about 1 teaspoon)
• Option: A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for some tangy flavor.

DIRECTIONS:

• Put all ingredients into the pot of beans “after the beans have been cooked” and stir well.
• Cook together with the beans for about 35 to 45 minutes.
• Stir every 10 minutes well.
• Taste every 20 minutes to check the flavor.
• After 20 minutes of cooking taste to see if you may need some additional sugar or ketchup or mustard. You will know because it’s up to your personal taste buds to determine this.
• You’ll know when it is done by the flavor and the thickness of the liquid. For the last 15 minutes of cooking you do not need to leave the top on the pot.
• You don’t even need the top on after adding the spices unless it is splattering all over (then just reduce the heat)
• You are looking for a nice thick liquid that isn’t too watery. If it’s too water just let it cook for a few more minutes without the pot top, to help the water evaporate.
• Look for a nice creamy consistency, like a thick gravy that sits on top of mashed potatoes.
• Check the flavor, make sure it’s good and it should be done.

Serve these vegetarian baked beans over rice or scoop them onto a piece of bread. You can put them on top of a hot dog even. But wouldn’t that defeat the whole purpose of having vegetarian beans?

This is a great alternative for people that don’t want pork in their beans at least.

I sometimes eat them with sauerkraut and mustard and bread and imagine that I’m eating a New York Hot Dog.

This is a nice way to skip the meat for a day and give your body a rest.

Enjoy.