Baked Bean Recipes

Loaded with protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, beans make a perfect addition to any healthy menu. When choosing baked beans as your side dish, mix up your recipe ingredients regularly to keep friends and family members guessing.

Classic Vegetarian Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Baked beans can be a vegetarian side dish option that's bursting with flavor and packed with essential nutrients. Try a slow cooker version.

Ingredients

• 4 (15-ounce) cans navy beans
• 1 1/2 cups chunky vegetarian tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Drain navy beans.
2. Place beans and tomato sauce in a slow cooker and stir.
3. Add all remaining ingredients and stir well.
4. Cover the cooker and cook on high heat for 3 hours and enjoy!

Servings: About 8

Variation for Meat Lovers

If you love a traditional baked bean recipe but want to add meat to this recipe, all you need to do is include 1 pound of cooked, chopped bacon (or pork or both) to the slow cooker when mixing the ingredients from the original recipe above.

Baked White Bean Pork Sausage Stew

When you're in the mood for something meaty, try this flavorful baked bean stew that's loaded with sausage to warm you up on cold nights.

Ingredients

• 

  2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 (15-ounce) cans of great Northern beans, drained
• 1 pound of cooked chorizo sausage link sausage, cut in bite-sized pieces
• 1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth

Directions

1. In large pot, sauté the chopped onions in the 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add garlic, paprika and salt; stir well.
3. Add the tomato paste and cook 1 minute.
4. Add chicken broth, beans and sausage.
5. Bring mixture to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium low, simmer for about 20 minutes (stirring occasionally), and enjoy!

Servings: About 8

Barbeque Baked Beans Recipe

What better way to enjoy the savory taste of barbeque sauce than in a barbeque baked beans recipe. Serve this dish with any meat of your choice and a vegetable to complete a mouth-watering, home cooked meal.

Ingredients

• 

  2 (28-ounce) cans baked beans
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 pound bacon, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup barbeque sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Combined all the ingredients together in a large bowl, and mix well.
3. Place beans in a large oven-safe dish, and cover.
4. Baked for 30 minutes (or until warmed throughout), and enjoy!

Servings: About 8

Beer Baked Beans

Why not let your favorite beer flavor your next baked bean recipe? You won't be sorry you tried it.

Ingredients

• 

  1 medium onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 (15-ounce) cans white beans, drained
• 2 (12-ounce) bottles of Blue Moon
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound cooked bacon, cut into bite-size pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree Farenheit.
2. Cook onion and garlic in a large pot over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add honey and mustard to the pot mixture, and cook for an additional minute.
4. Add beer, beans, broth, vinegar, salt and pepper.
5. Bring mixture to a boil.
6. Cover pot and place it in the oven.
7. Baked at 350 degrees for about 2 hours.
8. Add bacon, and enjoy!

Servings: About 8

Baked Bean Recipe Variations

The sky is the limit when it comes to mixing and matching recipe ingredients to create flavorful baked bean variations. Examples of change-ups to try include:

• Add bacon or sausage to any of the above baked bean recipes. Opt for turkey bacon or turkey sausage to cut calories and fat from your recipe. If you're a vegetarian, try adding tofu or setian to baked beans in place of meat.
• Add chopped carrots or chopped red potatoes to the white bean pork sausage stew (or any other bean recipe) to boost your daily dose of veggies.
• Mix up your beans (instead of using the same type of bean, mix white beans with pinto and black beans).
• Replace molasses with honey, or leave out sweeteners altogether to cut calories.
• Replace Blue Moon beer with another Belgian-style white ale.
• Add Worcestershire sauce, minced jalapeno pepper, or chili powder to pack punch into your baked bean recipes.

The Perfect Side Dish

Whether you're a vegetarian or prefer the savory taste of flavorful meats, baked bean recipes make the perfect side dish. Beans boost satiety and are loaded with nutrients like protein and fiber, which means baked beans can play a role in optimizing your health -- as long as you steer clear of high fat meats and too much added sugar.