I love beans in soups and salads. And I find beans so easy to use in recipes, even though I don’t have many on Comfy Belly. That may change over time. Here’s an easy recipe for sweet and tangy baked beans, with some Kale for good measure.
I don’t actually bake the beans, but if you have a dutch oven, that’s pretty much the same as baking them. And I bet a slow cooker will work as well. The goal here is to reduce the liquid content in the beans by slow-cooking them, thereby caramelizing the tomato sauce, beans, and onions into a tasty bean side or main meal.
My version of this recipe takes me about 30 minutes when I’m using canned beans. I use a large saucepan with the top off. I tend to use canned beans (I use the Eden brand) mostly because I can’t always remember to soak the beans overnight.
If you’re not using canned beans, this could take longer depending on how soft your beans are at the start of this recipe. Canned beans are soft to bite, just to give you an idea. If you find your beans are still a bit hard, add more water to the simmering beans, and let it go longer.
I originally used one of my favorite food blogs, Simple Recipes, as a reference for this recipe, and it’s worth a read since it’s some interesting notes about cooking baked beans. I love cruising through the recipes on this website for fun and to find the recipes that are easy to modify.
Carnivore Tip If you want to add bacon, add about 4 slices of finely diced bacon to the saucepan at the beginning, when you’re cooking the onions and garlic.
Baked Beans with Kale (4 servings)
Ingredients
- 4 cups of white or red kidney beans (in a can or soaked overnight)
- 2 tablespoons of ghee, oil, or butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- about 3 tablespoons of honey (sweeten to your taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon of chipotle powder (adds a spicy, smokey flavor)
- 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1/4 cup of tomato paste
- 1 cup of tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
- a pinch of dried or fresh rosemary or sage
- about 1/2 cup of finely chopped Kale (I use Dino Kale)
Method
- In a large saucepan, add the ghee, garlic, and onions and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat.
- Next add the remaining ingredients, except for the Kale. Gently boil on a low to medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until it’s been reduced to just about where you want it.
- Add the chopped Kale to the saucepan and continue heating for another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Enjoy! This dish can be stored in the refrigerator for a several days and reheated.
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I love how this doesn’t look to be an ooky sweet baked bean recipe. I will definitely try to make something like this during the winter.
Yes, no brown gooky stuff here. I think because I don’t use molasses or brown sugar, or burn it. Just an easy simmer.
This looks very good. I like Eden beans also since their cans don’t have BPA? in them. I avoid all canned goods as much as possible because of that problem You are such an adventurous cook. Thanks for your many ideas. I tried soaking beans once and did not have much luck…please share any tips for success with this. I am afraid based on my one bad experience.
I’m not too patient with soaking myself. I usually buy beans that don’t need as much soaking (as 8-12 hours) and then cook them in soups that can simmer for a long time. Yes, love that Eden doesn’t have BPA in them. Another option is frozen beans if you can find the ones you want.
This was really great! I substituted navy beans because that is what I had on hand. I soaked them overnight and then boiled until done. Once the beans were done I drained them and added all ingredients above. Really really delicious!
So glad you tried it and liked it