Baked Beans
I like this recipe because it is easy. You just need to plan ahead a little since the beans need to soak in the ingredients for 24 hours and then they need to bake for four hours. I like to prepare my beans for soaking on Saturday in the early afternoon so then they are ready to go in the oven the next day in the early afternoon and are ready at a decent hour Sunday evening.
I found this recipe at Fatfree.com. It had been adapted by Barbara Heller but originally came from the book Lean, Luscious and Meatless.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
2 cups chopped onions
1 clove of fresh garlic – chopped
4 cups of water
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 bay leaves
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
32 oz can tomato sauce
1 lb navy beans (dried, uncooked)

Add brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, dry mustard, pepper, nutmeg, ground cinnamon, and allspice. Everything except the tomato sauce.

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for about 24 hours. I’m using red cling wrap because my husband accidentally bought it at Christmas time! 🙂 We’ll be using it for a while…

After 24 hours of soaking, transfer the bean mixture to an oven-safe pot and add the tomato sauce. Be sure to spray the pot first with non-stick spray. When choosing tomato sauce I strongly recommend searching for the lowest sodium brand you can find. It’s amazing how much sodium companies pack into their canned goods and you don’t need that much sodium.

Bake for 4 hours at 300 degrees, but be sure to check it about every 30 minutes and add water as needed. I didn’t check mine this time until relatively near the end so mine got a bit dried out. 🙂 I won’t do that next time!
- Posted in: Main Dish
- Tagged: apple cider vinegar, baked beans, cup molasses, dry mustard, lb navy beans, tomato sauce, tsp allspice, vegetarian