Easy Baked Beans (stove top or slow cooker!)

The quickest and easiest baked beans recipe that you can make on the stove top or in the crock pot! Full of flavor and super allergy friendly, this is the ultimate summer side dish. Also can be made vegan friendly! Everyone will love these baked beans. 

Baked beans are a year round staple in my family. We enjoy them with summer BBQs for sure, but also have been known to make a huge pot around the holidays to go with baked ham. Basically, we love this recipe! 

Baked beans are a classic recipe and are so easy to make yourself, plus you get to customize the flavors to best suit your tastes. Make them vegetarian or even vegan, omit the mustard if allergic to mustard seeds, or add extra bacon if you are into it. The options are endless! 

How to Make Easy Baked Beans

Making these baked beans is a piece of cake! (piece of beans?) Simply place everything in the pot, give it a good mix, and give it a stir every 5 minutes or so to keep things from browning too quickly on the bottom. 

This recipe comes together in about 5 minutes and then simmers on the stove top for 40-45 minutes, depending on how much water you added and how thick you like your beans to be. I like my beans to be thick so I tend to let mine simmer for a good 45-50 minutes. 

Variations for Baked Beans 

Allergy Variations–

Mustard seeds, you can omit this ingredient and have no difference in the final product! They taste just as delicious.

Avoiding nightshades,  you don’t have to use the tomato paste and can either swap out for a nightshade free sauce (you can check out my nightshade free sauce here!) or omit the ingredient entirely. If not using tomato paste at all, I would increase the meat and molasses by 50%. 

Soy, swap out the soy sauce for one that you can use. Coconut amino acids, soy sauce alternatives, or omitting the ingredient are all great and simple swaps.

Vegetarian / Vegan – To make this a vegetarian and vegan friendly dish, simply omit the meat! If you want to give a bit of that umami flavor to your beans, consider adding a few chopped shiitake mushrooms about halfway through cooking. You can also add things like chopped red bell peppers. 

Spicy– Add some kick to your baked beans with the addition of peppers. Fresh red and green bell peppers can be added. You can also add some cayenne pepper and/or chipotle peppers for a rich smoky spice. 

Smoky– Add about ½ tsp liquid smoke to the recipe to get a rich smoky flavor. 

Slow Cooker– While my recipe is made stove top, you can for sure make these in a slow cooker! Add all the ingredients same as the recipe is written and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 

Different Meats- Try making these beans with different meats. Ham, ham hocks, bacon, sausages, chorizo, or sliced lunch meat ham all taste amazing in this dish. 

Storage for Baked Beans

You can make these beans ahead of time if you are making them for a potluck or holiday party. They keep well in the fridge for about a week when stored in an airtight container.

Want more Summer Recipes?

S’mores Donuts (gf, v, top 8 free)

Black Bean Burgers (gf, v, top 8 free)

Gluten Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream (gf)

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how this turned out for you! Pop over to the Facebook Page to share your success or tag me over on Instagram with the hashtag #livingbeyondallergies I love to see your creations!

Print Recipe

Easy Baked Beans

Full of flavor and so easy to make on the stove top or in a crock pot these baked beans are perfect for summer time or potlucks! Can be made vegetarian. Easy + allergy friendly recipe.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time50 mins

Course: Side Dish

Keyword: allergy friendly, coconut free, dairy free, dinner, easy, egg free, gluten free, nightshade free, nut free, sesame free, soy free, tomato free, vegan, wheat free

Servings: 7 cups

Ingredients

• 48 oz Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 cup ham (optional) see variations in notes
• water to cover

Instructions

• Add your beans to a large cooking pot. Cover beans with water by 1/2 inch of water. Add remaining ingredients to the pot and give a good mix. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 45 minutes, giving it a stir every 5 minutes or so. Can cook shorter if you desire more saucy beans or can cook longer if you desire more thick beans. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

Allergy Variations:

Mustard Seed Allergy-  you can omit this ingredient and have no difference in the final product! They taste just as delicious. 

Avoiding nightshades- you don’t have to use the tomato paste and can either swap out for a nightshade free sauce or omit the ingredient entirely. If not using tomato paste at all, I would increase the meat and molasses by 50%. 

Soy Allergy-  you can swap for a soy free soy sauce (coconut aminos for example) or omit entirely.

 

Other variations:

Vegetarian/vegan, omit the meat.

Spicy, add chopped red and green bell peppers as well as cayenne pepper.

Smoky, add 1/2 tsp liquid smoke.

To make in slow cooker, add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours and high for 3-4, depending on desired consistency.

 

LivingBeyondAllergies.com

Easy Baked Beans (stove top or slow cooker recipe!)