These thick, sweet & smoky slow-cooked vegan baked beans need a little initial prep then you can leave them to do their thing while you do yours. You will be rewarded with a comforting & delicious pot of the most amazing baked beans with rich, deep & complex flavours.
Step away from that can of baked beans and make these Vegan Baked Beans instead. Just do it.....you will not be disappointed. They are totally awesome and I should know as I have eaten rather a lot of them in the past few months while trying to get this recipe just right. By making them you will not only be treating yourself to a delicious, nutritious meal, you will also be helping to support International Year Of Pulses.
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE PULSE
2016 is International Year Of The Pulse as declared by the United Nations in 2013. The idea is to put pulses on the map as a primary source of protein and essential nutrients. Awareness of pulses will be increased globally and hopefully it will help to show that there is life after animal protein and decrease people's reliance on the cruel and barbaric meat and dairy trades. Pulses too can help improve the sustainability of agriculture. Read more about this and get more information on pulses in general by visiting Pulse Canada.
So in honour of Year Of The Pulse I bring you my Vegan Baked Beans. These beans can be cooked in a slow cooker, on the stove top or in the oven so you can choose the method that suits you best. Any way you do it they take a while to develop their rich, complex, smoky flavour but this is all hands off time.
After a bit of initial prep , these Vegan Baked Beans simmer slowly for hours and hours until they are rich, thick, sweet and smoky. They have the most amazing complex flavour and the smell in the house while they are cooking is so good!
PERFECT FOR BATCH COOKING
This recipe makes a lot but reheats perfectly and will keep for up to five days in the fridge. The flavours continue to develop over this time and just get better and better. They also freeze very well for a convenient no effort dinner at a later date.
HOW TO SERVE MY VEGAN BAKED BEANS
I love to bake a potato in the oven until it is crispy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside, cut it in half, dollop on a bit of my Easy Vegan Butter, sprinkle with nutritional yeast (I love the Bob's Red Mill brand) and mash it into the flesh a bit with a fork, then top with my thick, delicious Vegan Baked Beans. So, so good!
You can also serve them with some fresh bread or in the traditional English way, on toast. They also make a great side dish especially when they accompany my Bubble & Squeak Patties. A great dinner for getting lots of nutrition into unsuspecting children!
However you are going to serve them do it soon as I am sure you will love them! Let me know what you think by leaving feedback in the comments below. You can also share your pictures to my Facebook page or on Instagram or Twitter. Just be sure to tag me @avirtualvegan so I don't miss them.
Vegan Barbecue Baked Beans
Author:Ingredients
- 300g / 1.5 cups of small dried white beans , soaked overnight (measured before soaking - see recipe note if you forget to soak them) navy or great northern beans work best. If you don't have dried you may use 4.5 cups of drained canned beans
- 1 large onion , chopped finely
- 3 large cloves of garlic , chopped finely
- 28oz / 793g / 3 cups canned crushed tomatoes (see recipe note)
- 60mls / ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 80mls / 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
- 1 heaping tablespoon mustard (any wet variety)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes or powder (to give flavour not heat)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 heaping tablespoon smoked paprika , OR liquid smoke, (see recipe notes for advice on amounts) DO NOT use both. They both give good results.
- 240mls / 1 cup of water
INSTRUCTIONS
- First you need to cook your soaked beans (see recipe notes if you forgot to soak them) Drain off the soaking water, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil then simmer until the beans are just tender. 60 - 90 minutes should do it. If you are using canned beans skip this step. Once the beans have cooked, drain them and then continue onto the steps below depending on your cooking method.
Slow Cooker Method
- Add all of the ingredients to your slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours (I have left them for up to 10 hours in my crock-pot , or on high for 5 hours. Remember that all slow cookers are slightly different so I would suggest that you make sure you are semi around for the last couple of hours of cooking just in case your slow cooker runs hotter)
Stove Top or Oven Method
- Saute onions and garlic until transparent.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and cook over a medium heat until just starting to bubble.
- Turn down to low, cover and cook for around 3 hours or until the beans are very soft and the sauce is thick and rich. Check them often and stir to make sure they aren't sticking to the bottom or drying out. If they are just add a few drops of water to bring them back to the consistency you want.
- If baking in the oven once a simmer has been reached transfer to a covered oven proof dish and bake in a preheated oven on 300 ° F for 3 - 4 hours or until the beans are soft and the sauce is thick and rich. Again check every hour or so to make sure they are ok and not drying out.
NOTES
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Sam says
Dangerously addictive. We ate the whole batch in one evening!
Brittany says
Currently in my crockpot. Used navy beans and all required amounts of everything. May be a dumb question but- they do not at all look like the picture. Navy beans are white (which I knew) but thought maybe they absorbed the colors of the other ingredients. This is not the case. They are still white and the whole thing is a bit liquidy. I’m 7 hours in and not too impressed. Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Brittany. Sorry you aren't having great results. It's such a popular recipe and one that I make quite regularly myself for our dinners and it never fails to turn out well. They really do end up looking like the ones in my picture every time I make them and the beans do take on the orangey/red kind of colour. It's hard for me to trouble shoot when I didn't see your process or the ingredients you used, but the fact you say it's liquidy kind of suggests something may have gone wrong with quantities somewhere. There is only 1 cup of water in the recipe and 3 cup of crushed tomatoes which are really pretty thick straight out of the can. Mixed with all of those beans (about 4.5 cups once they are soaked and cooked) it really shouldn't be significantly liquidy, especially after cooking for 7 hours. Obviously there should be a sauce but it should be pretty thick and cling tot he beans. Other ideas:
Is there a chance your dried beans were old? When we buy them from grocery stores we have no idea how long they have been sat there. Old beans don't get as soft so won't soak up the flavours (and colours) so well.
There is a chance your slow cooker runs cooler than mine. Do you cook other recipes in it and find the timings ok?
To thicken the sauce in this case you could transfer it all to a pan on the stove top and cook over a low-medium heat without a lid until it reduces and thickens up. You would need to stir them frequently in case of sticking.
I hope that helps!
Angela says
The ingredient list calls for 1 heaping tablespoon of smoked paprika or liquid smoke; however, later on the text says to start with 1 teaspoon...possibly adding up to 1-1/2 teaspoon more. Gah! I’ve already mixed in the tablespoon...
A Virtual Vegan says
You don't make it clear whether you are using smoked paprika or liquid smoke. The quantity is 1 heaping tablespoon for the smoked paprika. If you use liquid smoke instead of smoked paprika it clearly says in the ingredient list to "see recipe notes for advice on amounts". This is because different brands of liquid smoke vary in strength so much. That is why I advise adding it gradually and tasting at different stages. Regardless, if you have used 1 tablespoon I'm sure it will be fine. It's not much more.
Jo Zimny says
I made this dish this morning. I just had some and the beans were still a bit crunchy. Not so that they are inedible, but they aren't creamy like I expected. I did a little research and discovered that adding salt to the mixture was not recommended. Salt apparently inhibits beans from cooking properly, so....next time I will salt them once they are cooked then let the mixture sit, or let my guest salt their beans to their liking. I think either will work. The flavour was fabulous though, really liked the taste!
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you liked the flavour and sorry they were a little hard. However, salt making beans tough is a myth. https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/soaking-salting-dried-bean-myths-article . There are so many myths out there about dried beans. It really doesn't make much of a difference at all whether you salt or don't salt. If anything it tends to make them very slightly softer because the salt helps break them down. The number one reason beans stay a little crunchy or tough is because they are old or not stored properly. When we buy them we have no idea how old they are or how they have been kept before they reached the shelf. I recommend next time you buy beans to go for a different brand or buy them from a different store. And don't buy them from bulk bins as you have no idea how long they have been sat there or out the back of the store. No matter how careful you are when buying them though, getting a dodgy bag is inevitable occasionally. Hope that helps!
Bexy says
Happy Baked Beans on Toast Day (25th Dec).
A simple peaceful tradition started a few years ago here in the UK by one of my adult children, as an alternative to the avarice, stress and waste created by mainstream traditions (kept going by films and the media, for retail). Enjoying simple pleasures, for to live a simple life helps others to simply live.
A Virtual Vegan says
I love that sentiment! I hope you enjoyed your Baked Beans on Toast Day!
Bexy says
We did enjoy our Baked Beans on Toast Day. It was lovely and peaceful. I've been recuperating from a chest infection and the comfort of eating something lovely and simple like baked beans on toast was just the right thing. I'm now planning on going crazy with slices of Brussel sprouts and sliced almonds in a fry up. Happy whatever day you read this. Namaste.
Janice Reid says
Allergic to mustard what could I use? The recipe looks great.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. Just omit the mustard. It won't make too much difference!
Rochelle Campbell says
Very excited to try these. Do you think it would be ok to leave out the molasses? Trying to bring down the carb!
A Virtual Vegan says
You could totally leave out the molasses just a long as you are aware that it does add a lovely barbecuey richness. They will still be good without though. ????
Kati says
Made this recipe on the stove top a couple months ago...(1st one I ever tried) they were really good ! Oh and I did freeze the leftovers and they did freeze very well ????So now I'm about to make them in the crockpot today..looks like this is my go to recipe for baked beans lol..ty!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great Kati. Hope you enjoy the crockpot version too!
Veronica says
I had to throw these away.
1. The beans did not soften. They were not old - I made sure the best by date had not passed. I soaked them overnight, boiled them for 2 minutes (package instructions) and then simmered for 40 minutes, added other ingredients, covered and cooked on low for 3 hours. They were still hard. The instructions should be that we should ensure the beans are soft before adding the other ingredients.
2. The beans remained white and did not soak in the color or flavor. Mine were not liquidy.
Used organic ingredients so it was such a waste I had to throw away the entire batch. Old beans is not the reason this happened to me too. I used the stove top method and used great northern beans.
Diane says
A year after your comments I came upon this recipe looking for a vegan bean dish for your wedding Kati! Looks like this is the one.
Kay says
This recipe is perfect. Thank you!
Melissa Y. says
I made these overnight in my crock pot and woke up at 5 am to the most wonderful smell! Of course I had have them immediately! I am your newest fan can't wait to try everything! THANK YOU!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's wonderful Melissa. I am so glad you liked the recipe. What a way to wake up! I have never cooked them overnight like that so can only imagine how good your house smelt. And I can think of worse things to eat for breakfast than barbecue baked beans ;O) I hope you enjoy my other recipes as much as you have these!
My says
Hello! This recipe looks amazing, but I get lost in the beginning. After the beans are soaked overnight and drained, you then say cover in fresh water and cook. After they are cooked for the 40 minutes,do you drain that liquid as well or do you add that to the crockpot with an additional 1 cup of water?
Thank you for clarifying!
M.
A Virtual Vegan says
You drain the cooking water and discard before adding the beans with the rest of the ingredients to the crockpot. Sorry it wasn't clear. I have amended the instructions so hopefully they should be ok now :O) Enjoy your beans!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you and you are very welcome :0)
Simons says
can you use cider vinegar from any other fruit?
A Virtual Vegan says
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Your comment got marked as spam and I only noticed it tonight when I was going through it all.
You could sub the apple cider vinegar for other cider vinegar if that is all you have.White wine vinegar would probably work too although I haven't tried it. The vinegar is just there to add a bit of acidity and I like using apple cider vinegar because it tends to be a lot less processed than other vinegars and has a lot of health benefits. Let me know how it works out if you do sub the vinegar :O)
Stefania says
made them, crockpot style, brilliant, the best recipe yet.
A Virtual Vegan says
Oh wow, thank you so much for taking the time to leave feedback here Stefania! I am so glad you enjoyed them. Making them the crockpot way is so effortless which I love. They are one of our favourites here:0)
Vanessa says
Oh yum! Love Love Love these barbecue bake beans! This recipe is perfect! Thanks for sharing :)