Baked beans is one of my favorite summertime picnic foods!
A couple years ago I started trying to figure out my own way of making them – real food style. Without the can of high fructose corn syrup beans, using real ingredients, BUT still tasting GOOD!
My biggest challenge was figuring out a way to make them taste really good – and make my husband a baked bean convert. He was never a fan growing up. And I figured it out. More bacon. Thicker consistency. And by accident, discovered that a hit of flavor from chipotle powder CHANGED THE ENTIRE DISH. I never grew up with baked beans with this ingredient – but I swear it makes the whole meal. Such a beautiful difference in flavor. Even if you don’t like “heat” per say, I challenge you to try just the small amount in this – it will change your life. Well, maybe not your life – but definitely your picnic!
This hardy side dish actually makes a fantastic full lunch with a side salad, coleslaw, or zucchini coleslaw. Super filling and kid friendly – the girls inhale it 🙂
a simple real food recipe :: baked beans
Author: Renee - www.theSIMPLEmoms.com
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs dry organic navy beans (Could do pinto too. Could do 4 – 15 oz cans of drained PLAIN beans – using dry beans is more cost effective and less “gassy” however!)
- 1 lb bacon, chopped (preferably from a trusted local organic/pasturing pig farmer)
- 2 small or 1 large onion, sliced long
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 – 15 oz can organic tomato sauce
- ¼ cup water
- ⅓ – ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup organic unsulphured molasses
- ¼ cup organic Dijon mustard (watch ingredients!)
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp chipotle powder (could add more if you like more heat)
- Sea salt/pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put your dry beans in a large soup pot and cover 3 inches above with water. Place under the light in your oven overnight/12 hours and then rinse. At this point you may either cook off your beans in water, OR for better digestibility, you can sprout the beans over the course of a day or so – sprouting makes more nutrients available in the beans and also takes the “gassy” out of the beans. Just put them back into the pot after rinsing and set under the light in your oven for 24-48 hours until they sprout. Rinse them 3 times a day. You will note a little “sprout” tail come out of the bean when they are ready!
- Cook your soaked/sprouted beans in water or chicken stock (just cover the beans with water to cover a couple inches, bring to a boil, and simmer for a good hour or 2. At this point you can either freeze your cooked beans until you are ready to make your baked beans, keep them in the fridge up to a week until you are ready to make your beans, or make the baked beans right away.
- In a large stock pot, fry the bacon pieces in a tablespoon or 2 of butter or coconut oil until their fats start rendering out.
- Add the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes while stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add the rest of the ingredients including the cooked beans and bring to a simmer.
- Put the lid on and let the beans low simmer for 20ish minutes until it thickens. Stir every 5-10 minutes.
- Taste test for salt and pepper – and if you want more heat from more chipotle.
- You may store in a crockpot on low or warm if you are taking this to a picnic or party.
Kitchen Tips:
- This is such a great make ahead dish. The flavors only get better as they sit over days. I actually make a this big batch up to keep in the freezer for the summer so I can just pull out baked beans when I want them for a side dish or for lunch. If you are planning on this whole amount for a picnic, you could make this up even the week before.
- Please don’t be intimidated by sprouting the beans or doing dry beans in general! I never grew up using dry beans and was so intimidated but it is SO easy and really very little hands on time.
- This batch actually fed my family of 4 as a main dish for lunch one day with side salads and the same thing for the girls and I later that week. The rest (2 quarts) I froze for later use!
- Play around with the flavors to how YOU like baked beans! The main ingredients are the “typical” baked beans ingredients but tailored to my family’s taste – change them up to how you like them.
YOUR TURN!
What is your favorite summertime picnic food?
This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, and Holistic Squid’s Party Wave Wednesday!
Brigette Streeper
July 18, 2013 at 11:06 amThank you for sharing this! I am starting to get into Organic and Whole food since I started reading up on all the adverse affects of preservatives and other nasty things in processed foods. My husband was not thrilled to say the least…. He wanted me to buy a can of baked beans but I told him it really wasn’t that healthy for him. Well I am making this, and freezing the rest like you did so I can have what I want (healthy foods) and he can have what he wants (tasty foods). Yea!
Renee
July 18, 2013 at 2:08 pmPerfect Brigette 🙂 I bet he likes this even better than canned anyway! Way more flavorful and he’ll love the bacon!