Bake white beans in tomato sauce with bacon, onions, garlic, honey, broth and chili flakes. The result is a uniquely flavorful, savory take on baked beans.
White beans are so versatile. We usually have several cans ready and at least a pound or two of dried beans in the pantry.
A hearty baked bean recipe
This is a simple baked bean dish where the beans are first cooked in simmering water and then baked in a tomato sauce, seasoned with bacon and sage, sweetened with honey and spiced with some chilli flakes.
You can also use pancetta in place of the bacon, or rosemary in place of the sage. If you swap out the molasses for the honey, you have something that’s a lot closer to the Boston Baked Beans.
How to cook tender beans
Recently, while reading Shirley Corriher’s CookWise, I learned some useful information about cooking, and that is that both sugar and calcium prevent beans from going soft. So if you cook with hard water, you may find that your beans take much longer than you expect to soften.
Molasses and brown sugar contain calcium, so you can cook a pot of baked beans with molasses all day and the beans will still hold their shape.
Sugars are naturally present in tomatoes and onions, so once the beans are added to the sauce in the recipe below, they will take a long time to soften if they aren’t already cooked.
CONTINUE READING:
More delicious baked bean recipes
- Easy baked beans on the stove
- Slow Cooker Boston Baked Beans
- Baked beans with three beans
- Pressure cooker baked beans
- cowboy beans
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Baked beans in tomato sauce
If you want to save time, you can use canned beans instead of dried ones. Use 3 or 4 cans (15 ounces), drained and rinsed and continue to step 3. If you want a vegetarian version, omit the bacon, increase the olive oil, and use vegetable broth.
ingredients
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1 lb dry cannelliniBorlotti or Great Northern beans
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1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
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1/4 lb bacon or pancetta, roughly chopped
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1/2 Middle Onion, chopped
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4 cloves Garlic, chopped
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1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped (can substitute fresh rosemary)
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1/2 to 1 teaspoon Chili Flakes (depending on how spicy you want it)
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2 tablespoon honey
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1/4 Cup tomato paste
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1 fifteen–ounce can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
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2 cups beef or chicken share (for gluten free version use gluten free broth)
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Salt
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1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
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2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
method
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Soaking beans in water:
Pre-soak the beans, either by covering them with two inches of water and soaking overnight, or by pouring boiling water over them and soaking for an hour.
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Drain the beans, cover with water, cook until soft:
Drain the beans and place in a medium saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook until beans are just tender enough to eat, about 1 hour, more or less 15 minutes or so depending on how old the beans are (older beans will need cook longer).
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Prepare bacon or pancetta:
Preheat oven to 325°F. In a 3 or 4 quart heavy-bottomed saucepan with an ovenproof lid, such as B. a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the bacon or pancetta and cook slowly until lightly browned and crispy.
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Sweat onions:
Add the chopped onions and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to brown. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
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Add the garlic, chili flakes, and sage, then add the tomatoes and broth:
Add the garlic, chili flakes, and sage and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the honey and tomato paste. Stir well to combine.
Add the tomatoes or tomato sauce and the broth. Bring to a boil. Taste for salt and add some if necessary.
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Add the beans, cover, cook in the oven:
Drain the beans and add to the pot. Mix well.
Cover the pot and cook in a 325°F oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
If it’s still a little wet, remove the lid and cook for another 15 minutes.
Note that cooking time depends on several factors, the most important being how thoroughly the beans were cooked when they were cooked.
If the beans are still a bit hard when they go into the oven, it may take several hours for them to soften after the tomato and honey are added.
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Stir in the parsley and balsamic vinegar:
Just before serving, gently stir in the chopped parsley and balsamic vinegar. Taste for salt, adding more if necessary to taste.
Serve either hot or at room temperature.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 212 | calories |
| 2g | Fat |
| 37g | carbohydrates |
| 13g | protein |
