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Better-than-Tinned Baked Beans

Better-than-Tinned Baked Beans | Border Park Kitchen
Dairy free icon | Border Park Kitchen

Dairy Free

Gluten free icon | Border Park Kitchen

Gluten Free

For food allergies and intolerances, please carefully check the ingredient list on each product before using or consuming.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed *
  • 500g (2 cups) passata or chilaquiles sauce *
  • 125g (½ cup) broth or water
  • 40g (2 tbsp) Worcestershire sauce
  • 50g (2 tbsp) maple syrup
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ¾ tsp salt

Instructions:

  1. Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan.
  2. Gentle boil. Cover and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to prevent the beans sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  3. Reduce heat. Once bubbling, reduce heat to low and cook for a further 5 – 10 minutes to allow flavours to mix.
  4. Taste and season.
Serve with:  

Top with a fried egg and a handful of baby spinach and a slice of sourdough bread. Or use to make into Sausage Baked Bean Stew, Indian-style Baked Beans, 3-ingredient Aussie Beef Quesadillas

Allergy-Friendly:  

If gluten-free is necessary, check the ingredients of your broth and Worcestershire sauce.

Substitutions:  
  • For a more frugal and gut-friendly option, substitute 1 cup dried cannellini or navy (haricot) beans that have been soaked overnight and thoroughly cooked. See this guide for Cooking Dried Beans from Scratch.
  • For a vegetarian version, use tamari in place of the Worcestershire sauce.
More substantial:  

Add some diced vegies and cooked meat in Step 1 for a one-pot meal.

Boost the flavour:  

Add ¼ tsp garlic powder or flakes, some grated cheese or stir some diced, cooked bacon through before serving.

Storage suggestions:  

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.

Peri’s Tip:  

To really bump up the flavour, I love using homemade chilaquiles sauce. These beans are even tastier a day or so after cooking once the flavours have melded.

Peri's Recipe Reflections:

Let’s face it. Every busy family needs a stash of pantry staples that can be quickly used to make a meal. I can’t think of a more classic, internationally accepted example of a pantry staple than baked beans. And it seems, they’ve reached almost cult-food status in the wake of the recent global pandemic.

Although most of our family enjoy them, I can’t help but cringe at the ingredients they contain:

  • 3 teaspoons of sugar in a ½ cup serving (4 – 5 teaspoons in US versions)
  • maize thickener
  • seasoning (that reportedly contains natural flavours, whatever this means)
  • citric and ascorbic acids (that are manufactured chemically, not from natural sources)

 

Hmmm, now that convenient tin of beans isn’t looking so appealing.

But if you’re left wondering what you’ll do for a quick meal, I’ve got you covered. I’m going to be bold and say that this option is much better than tinned baked beans in terms of health and taste!

By combining 7 whole food, pantry staples, it is possible to make your own baked beans. They take just 15 minutes to pull together and use just one saucepan.

They’re a quick, low-GI meal that provides a serving of vegetables, folate, and excellent protein and fibre, (including prebiotics to feed our good gut bacteria).

But possibly my favourite thing about these beans is there’s absolutely nothing to chop. This fact alone raises this quick meal to cult-food status for me!

And just quietly, there’s zero-guilt if you enjoy yours generously topped with grated cheese, cos that’s how most of our family insist on eating it 😉

 

Peri x

 

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