Vegan Baked Beans

On those nights when I'm feeling too tired to cook a meal, we usually eat canned baked beans with some of those frozen waffle fries and steamed broccoli. Suuuuper healthy, I know (sarcasm)! So I thought I'd try making some of my own baked beans, here at home, with no can in sight (except for the tomato paste can, hehe). It is definitely a lengthy process, mainly if you're using dried beans, which I did. It is also wayyyy cheaper to go the dried bean route. However, you can use canned beans for this recipe as well (I haven't actually tried it out myself yet, though, so don't hold me to it)!

If using dried beans: 1.5 cups dried northern white  or navy beans

Not sure which bean is which? Check out this handy little bean guide.


The Night Before you plan to make the beans…

Rinse your dried beans under water just to make sure they’re extra clean. 

Now, place them in a large glass bowl and cover them with filtered water. Place in fridge overnight. The next day, rinse the beans and drain.

Now, bring a large pot of water to a boil along with the soaked beans. Once at a boil, cover, and reduce heat to med-low for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beans are mostly cooked. Drain, transfer to large baking dish.

If using canned beans:

       3 cans white northern beans or navy beans

       (each can has about 1.5 cups of beans I believe)

The rest of the ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

¼ cup maple syrup

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. molasses

4 Tbsp. tomato paste, mixed with 3/4  cup water

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard powder

½ tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir the tomato paste mixture, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, salt, pepper, and other spices together in small bowl and set aside.

In large baking dish (where the beans should be right now!) add the sauce mix and the chopped onion. Mix until well-combined. Cover dish with tin foil and bake in preheated oven for 2-3 hours. Stirring occasionally. Remove cover and cook an additional 20 minutes. Add water if beans begin to look dry.