There is nothing like baked beans to go with a summer barbecue. This version is balanced with several unrefined sweeteners for a delicious taste, and well seasoned with chili powder. Quick to throw together, it cooks gently in the slow cooker so that you don’t have to worry about it or heat up your kitchen. It’s perfect for this time of year, and is yet one more way to enjoy beans and save money!
Ah, summertime! What are you looking forward to most this year? I think I’d have to say I’m anxiously awaiting all the fresh summer fruit – berries, melons, stone fruit… I can’t wait until they start showing up at the farmer’s market!
The other thing I’m excited about is that it’s time to uncover the grill! I love grilling, and as the thermometer inches up and up, I often find that the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time over the stove, much less turn the oven on and heat up the kitchen. My other essential kitchen item is the crock-pot, though I use that all year long.
Last night, we used both of these appliances to cook a meal we shared with friends. We feasted on burgers, a cold green bean salad, herbed rice, baked beans, and sun tea, with homemade chocolate ice cream for dessert. It was a great evening of food, fun, and fellowship!
The recipe for the baked beans is the one I’m sharing today. Mom developed it, drawing inspiration from a few different recipes found on the internet and tailoring it to our tastes. Tastes which, before starting our real food journey, quite enjoyed Bush’s baked beans. But these are much better than anything found in a can! Beans are also a great choice for a frugal, nourishing dish.
- 2 lbs dried organic pinto beans
- 1 cup Rapadura sugar
- ½ cup molasses
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup arrowroot powder
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 tsp. dried mustard powder
- 10 TB chili powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 5 cups water
- Place beans in large bowl, cover with warm water until water comes a few inches above the beans. Allow to soak 12-24 hours.
- In 7-qt slow cooker, combine soaked beans, sugar, molasses, syrup, arrowroot powder, onion, mustard powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, and water.
- Cook on high, stirring occasionally, for 8 hours or until beans are soft.
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Now those are my type of beans! They look and sound much more better than the traditional recipes that I have tried. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks!
wondering… doesn’t NT recommend soaking beans in an acid medium to reduce phytic acid? or is soaking in water good enough?
i usually soak my beans with some ACV, but i want to make sure i’m doing it correctly.
Sarah,
Yes, in Nourishing Traditions. Later there was an article in the Wise Traditions Journel ( search for it as westonaprice.org) giving very specific instructions for different types of legumes (some used baking soda, for example, instead of vinegar, if I remember right). Some of us have not had good results doing it this way with a pot of beans sometimes seizing up and refusing to soften….ever…which is why I generally recommend the warm water soak. However, I should probably try it again, just to see what happens. 😉
In my copy of NT, the beans introduction mentions something to the effect of “some beans are soaked with an acid, some with just plain water” and the basic beans recipe gives a list of beans to use – black, pinto, kidney, white, and black-eyed peas, but says whey or lemon juice for black beans only, so that’s what we went by. 🙂
What is the purpose of the arrowroot powder in the recipe? I have yet to use it in anything because it costs so much.
What is the purpose of the arrowroot powder in the recipe? I have yet to use it in anything because it costs so much. These sound great. We love baked beans but have yet to find a real food recipe that works for us.
To thicken the sauce a bit, so I’m sure you could leave it out if you wanted to, they just might be more runny or have more liquid. 🙂
I often use organic corn starch in place of arrowroot, if I don’t have arrowroot on hand. I would make sure it is organic though, to avoid GM corn.
I just made crockpot baked beans from a similar recipe, and they were very good. I didn’t love the diced green pepper in the recipe, though I do love green pepper. I’ll give this recipe a try next time. I like the idea of the sauce thickening a bit with the arrowroot. One question… is 10 TB of chili powder correct? That sounds like a LOT of chili powder! 🙂
That’s what we used, but feel free to cut it if you think it will be too much for you. They were definitely sweet/spicy.
Can I sub coconut sugar for the Rapadura??? I’m going to try it tomorrow, will let you know how it turns out!!! 🙂
I often use coconut sugar in place of rapadura, so I am sure it would be fine. 🙂 As you probably know, coconut sugar isn’t quite as sweet, so you could always add just a little more, if you wanted.
These look really good. Having so many food issues, I’m always looking for something hearty to bring along to a cook out (so I’m sure they’re will be at least one thing I can eat). I’ll have to cut the recipe in half (half sized slow cooker) or use my dutch oven, but I am greatly looking for to these!
I have been looking for a good baked bean recipe and love using my slow cooker, I tried this recipe and took it to a family gathering on Father’s Day, it was so spicy no one would eat it!!! I think I will use it again but cut the chili powder down to 1 – 2 Tbsp.
Have to admit these aren’t necessarily the healthiest side dish what with all the sweet ingredients added in. But they definitely sounds good. And they’re healthier than they could be because they use all natural ingredients. I love it. Thank you for this amazing recipe that combines healthy with a little bit of a splurge.
Do you ever sprout your beans after soaking them? I have done this in the past, with success, but the last time my beans turned slimy on the second day. I don’t know what went wrong and I had to throw them out. I’m wondering if they even need to be sprouted or is soaking enough. What do you think?