Vegan Baked Beans
This Vegan Baked Beans recipe (or BBQ Baked Beans) is absolutely delicious! It’s sweet, savory and spicy, but it also has a LOT of sugar, so do your best not to eat all of it in one sitting!
For a 1/2 cup serving, there are 207 calories with 92 coming from sugar. It has 23 grams of sugar (still far less than a can of soda), which is more than half of the recommended daily value. That means this is NOT a health food recipe. It’s meant to be a treat on a special occasion (like Labor Day) or a family event when you want to show people how good vegan food can taste. If you’re currently a diabetic, you should definitely not eat these beans!
While this recipe does have a lot of sugar, it also has some healthy ingredients. The beans are loaded with protein and fiber, as well as calcium and iron. They’re also really low fat, with less than half a gram per serving. Our bodies are very efficient at burning carbs (including sugar) for energy, and they’re very efficient at storing fat for future use during times of famine (that most of us never have to experience). So if you’re in good shape, at your ideal body weight, and without diabetes, you can enjoy these Vegan Baked Beans knowing your body will know how to handle the carbs (it’ll probably make you feel like going for a long walk after dinner).
Most BBQ Baked Beans are made with lard and/or bacon, which obviously isn’t vegan or healthy (unless you live in upside-down world). However, you can achieve a similar taste by using liquid smoke. After all, that’s what gives bacon it’s flavor. Without liquid smoke and sometimes maple syrup or molasses, bacon would taste like bland, fatty meat…pretty much how all meat tastes without plants added for seasoning. But if the liquid smoke is too reminiscent of bacon for you, just skip it.
If you’re in the US, most liquid smoke and molasses aren’t vegan. That’s because they contain non-organic sugar, which is processed using the ground up bones of dead animals to give it a pretty white color. Sugar in most parts of the world has a tan hue, which tastes the same, it’s just not as superficially pretty. Look for “pure liquid smoke” without molasses. And look for vegan or organic molasses, or molasses made with organic sugar.
These Vegan Baked Beans pair well with any vegan burger, potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, green beans, or any of your favorite vegan recipes.
If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth
- 2 cans white beans drained or 4 cups cooked white beans from dry
- 1 medium onion white or yellow, chopped
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses or to taste-add 1 tbsp more for a sweeter sauce
- 2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tsp chipotle powder or chili powder
- 2 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
- 2 tsp liquid smoke
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Assemble your ingredients and chop your onions.
- Heat veggie broth in a skillet (iron if you have it) over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and steam fry covered until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the ketchup, brown sugar, molasses and spices and cook for 1 minute to combine.
- Stir in the beans.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven. If you aren't using an iron skillet, make sure your skillet is oven proof or transfer the beans to a baking dish.
- Bake, covered for 20-25 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the sauce is thickened and a deep brown.
- Serve with Vegan Mushroom Burgers and Vegan Potato Salad, or your favorite plant-based recipes.
Serving size is 1/2 cup of Vegan Baked Beans.
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