What goes great with Southern food? Or any food? Baked beans!
Smoky, sweet and packed with protein, this is a wonderful vegan dish that works with EVERYTHING. Serve with tacos, fried eggs or as a side to roasted chicken.
Baked Beans
Servings
6 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound pinto beans soaked overnight
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large red or Spanish onions sliced thinly
- 2 red bell peppers sliced thinly
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ cup bourbon or apple cider
- 1 cup ketchup
- ½ cup molasses
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Drain beans and reserve soaking liquid. Set aside.
- Heat a large sauté pan, lightly coated with oil, over medium-high heat. Caramelize onions, stirring occasionally, until dark brown and very soft. Add peppers and continue cooking for a few minutes until softened. Add garlic and stir to combine.
- Transfer vegetables to a slow cooker or Dutch oven. Add beans, mustard powder, paprika, bourbon (or apple cider), ketchup, molasses, salt and pepper. Stir in reserved bean soaking liquid and additional water to equal 4 cups of liquid.
- Cook on HIGH in slow cooker for 4 hours until thick and beans are tender. Alternatively, cook beans in a 350°F degree preheated oven, covered for 1 hour. Uncover and continue cooking until thick, saucy and beans are tender.
Oh no, so sorry, it for sure could be the age of the beans, I have had so many problems particularly with Red Kidney beans but I find most other beans usually soften without a problem especially Pinto, maybe try a different bean next time.
Sorry to report that this recipe was a flop. The flavor is excellent, but following the directions to bake in the oven resulted in rock hard beans. Google advised adding baking soda and trying some more, but no go, sadly. Google also said it could be due to the beans being old. Who knows how long the makolet holds onto dried beans before selling them?
Perhaps you could include a directive to, after presoaking, boil up the beans on the stove before adding the flavor ingredients? Of course just for those who don’t have a slow cooker.
Thank you! Hope to try this out again, but on the stove first.