Slow Cooker Vegetarian Baked Beans

This Vegetarian Baked Beans recipe is cooked with a little bit of a kick added. It’s a quick Crock pot baked beans dinner because a variety of canned beans are used. By dinner time they are perfect and ready to be served to the whole family.

Vegan Baked Beans are rich and spicy all at the same time. This recipe utilizes canned beans instead of dried so the cooking time is shorter.

That makes it nice that you don’t have to hurry in the morning to get the crockpot loaded. You can put it on a little later after the house has calmed down or you are on a lunch break.

Just use your favorite brands, add a flavorful base, and in no time you have a rich and tasty dinner for the whole family.

The flavorful base is made of ingredients that you probably already have in the cupboard and it’s a great base made from scratch for baked beans.

Of course, if you want to get it set up early and have one of those programmable crockpots then you can set it to start it’s cooking any hour you want and you’ll still have a perfect hot meal.

Beans

• Cooking dried beans is great but canned are quick and if you don’t have a lot of time they cook much quicker. 
• If you are worried about sodium, choose a low sodium vegan brand.
• You can make this amazingly delicious meal with zero fuss over a stovetop but sometimes you want to be able to walk away for a while and not even have to worry about stirring.

That’s where the slow cooker comes in handy.

There is also no soaking overnight or if you forget, hurrying up in the morning and precook the beans for an hour or so for plumping.

Of course, you want to get it set up early enough to cook on low for 4 hours.

If you have a programmable crockpot to preset the start of cooking time, you’ll have a perfect hot meal ready any hour you chose.

The trick to using canned beans in a slow cooker is to add a concentrated base of flavorful sauces and seasonings.

This way they will absorb more of these flavors in less of the time. And they won’t lose their texture or get all mushy!

Ingredients

• The list of ingredients is simple, and everything takes just a few minutes to prepare.
• Use your favorite type of canned beans in this recipe, but I do recommend combining different kinds and adding chili beans, too, for a great flavor.
• This Vegetarian Baked Beans recipe makes enough for about six people, but don’t hesitate to scale it up if you want to entertain guests or make it for a potluck.

• Chili Beans – are great heated right out of the can. You can imagine the flavors it adds.
• Kidney Beans – are deep earthy-tasting beans.
• Cannellini Beans – are white kidney beans and a bit lighter in flavor.
• White onion – doesn’t have to be pre-sauteed for this recipe but still adds a sweet cooked onion taste.
• Hot sauce – and I used Sriracha. You can add a bit more than others such as Tabasco.
• Ketchup – adds a tomatoey sweetened flavor.
• Brown sugar – is a maple-like sweetness.
• Prepared yellow mustard – helps to mellow out the sweetness and yellow mustard is what you want to use.
• Dry mustard – is also important for contrasting flavors.
• Garlic powder – is the all delicious seasoning for savory dishes.
• Worcestershire Sauce – is full of concentrated spices but make sure you buy a vegan one.

Chefs tips

• Mix in the liquid of the chili can: a can of chili beans are already spiced up with great ingredients, and you don’t want to lose these flavors. Trust me; it works beautifully in this recipe.
• Stir in the sauces and seasoning before cooking.
• The crock pot baked beans are cooked low for 4 hours.
• Use prepared mustard, not Dijon or another substitute because you need the mustard tang to help cut the sweetness.
• This rich bean dish when done is creamy throughout, and the sauce is nice and thick. 
• Stir in the sauces and seasoning before cooking.
• The crock pot baked beans are cooked low for 4 hours.
• Use prepared mustard, not Dijon or another substitute because you need the mustard tang to help cut the sweetness.
• This rich bean dish when done is creamy throughout, and the sauce is nice and thick. 
• My husband doesn’t like spicy food so I leave out the Sriracha for him and he loves it. You can leave it out for your kids too.
• That is something you’ll have to take into consideration. Heat or no heat. Me? If I don’t get to add it into the recipe I add a little splash of Sriracha in at the table and into my bowl.

Beans are such a nice change from pasta or rice but I think people forget about them when they are planning their weekly meals.

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and even forget about those good old standards.

You could serve this up as a hearty lunch or dinner but it would make a wonderful side dish too.

Those chilly nights just got a whole lot cozier.

Variations

Perfect Barbecue Baked Beans – is cooked low and slow with the Great Northern variety.

Can you freeze baked beans

• IF FREEZING:
• Let the mixture cool to room temperature and freeze in any of the ways I have described in my article Preparing Food for the Freezer
• TO PREPARE AFTER FREEZING:
• Take out of the freezer and put in the refrigerator a few hours (about 6 hours) before heating. Heat in a large saucepan or in the microwave. Serve hot.