These simple homemade maple baked beans come together quickly on the stovetop and are a delicious side dish or topping for hot dogs or toast! Vegan, sweet 'n savory, and made from whole foods... a classic case of healthy comfort food.
Okay look, we're not about to tell you you're NEVER going to want canned baked beans again, because there's always a time and a place for nostalgia and convenience. And honestly, canned baked beans are pretty darn good. But friends, allow me to introduce you to simple stovetop baked beans recipe that's a smoky, savory, and sweet in all the right places.
We LOVE these baked beans on toasted sourdough, and to be frank, they make quite the hot dog topper, too ;). All around, this baked beans recipe is an ultra-comforting and healthy way to round out any meal whether or you eat meat or not. Let's get these simmering on your stovetop, stat!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh cloves of garlic
- Sweet onion
- Tomato paste
- Navy beans
- Water
- Dijon mustard
- Smoked paprika
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Salt
- Pepper
Substitutions & Variations
As is, this homemade baked beans recipe is plant-based. However, some of the variations and serving ideas below will suit folks who eat meat, while other suggestions will keep it plant-based. All are delicious!
- Spicier - use hot smoked paprika instead of sweet! I use this hot pimentón (aka hot smoked paprika) (affiliate link) and love it.
- Bacon - If you're not vegan or vegetarian, simply cut a strip or two of bacon into 1-inch pieces, and sauté with the onions and garlic. You can drain the fat if you'd like, but I highly recommend leaving at least a little bit of bacon fat in there for cooking the remaining ingredients. It's so good!
- More or less molasses - If you want a deeper molasses flavor, you can reduce the amount of maple syrup and swap it for more molasses. Alternatively, you can omit the molasses if you prefer baked beans without molasses.
How to Make These Maple Baked Beans
Step 1: Peel and mince the garlic (I love using a microplane!), dice the onions small, and drain & rinse the navy beans.
Step 2: Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized pot. Once hot, add the garlic and onions and sauté for a few minutes, until soft. Add a pinch of salt and the tomato paste and stir it into the onions and garlic. Sauté for another minute to combine all the flavors.
Step 3: Next, add in the navy beans, mustard, maple syrup, molasses, water, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine, bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer over low-medium heat.
Step 4: Allow the baked beans to simmer, covered, for 15 minutes during which they will thicken and all the flavors will meld. After the 15 minutes are up, remove the lid and remove the pot of beans from heat. Stir the beans, and once slightly cooled, taste and add more salt if needed.
Serve immediately as a side dish, or top toast or hot dogs (plant-based franks to keep it vegan, of course). Delicious!!
Serving Ideas
- Hot dogs: Baked beans on hot dogs is a classic comfort food, and with these homemade maple baked beans, it's a comfort food made healthier. We don't eat hot dogs a lot, but when we do, we enjoy the kind by Fork In the Road or Field Roast plant-based sausages.
- Toast: Beans on toast -- another comfort food classic! When it comes to toast, we are obsessed with our local sourdough bakery, (Madison Sourdough - we love you!).
- Baked sweet potato: Bake a sweet potato, cut it in half, add a little butter, olive oil, or coconut oil, and plop these baked beans right on top. This is one of our favorite dinners when we need to get by with pantry staples, and it is super filling and delicious!
- Side dish: Throw a pot of these homemade baked beans on the stove to simmer while you cook a meal of roasted veggies such as sweet roasted delicata squash (complements the maple perfectly), healthy mashed potatoes, and your main dish of choice. I love them with this homemade whole roasted chicken or with these baked turkey meatballs without breadcrumbs.
Baked Beans FAQs
I use navy beans in this recipe, but cannellini beans (slightly larger white beans) would also be good.
Yes! When you make homemade foods, you use fewer processed ingredients, just like in this baked beans recipe. Plus, since we use all natural sweeteners (molasses, maple syrup), all of the sugar in this recipe comes from the naturally occurring sugars in the ingredients themselves. This recipe also contains garlic and onion, which are natural detoxifiers, plus tomato paste, which contains the antioxidant lycopene.
To store: Store the beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can easily reheat them on the stovetop or in the microwave.
To freeze: To freeze these baked beans, place them in an airtight container (filling it full, with very little air space), and store in the freezer for up to three months. When you're ready to eat, let them thaw in the fridge, and reheat on the stovetop or microwave.
📖 Recipe
Simple Homemade Maple Baked Beans
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
Description
These homemade maple baked beans come together so easily on the stovetop! They're healthy, cozy, smoky, savory 'n sweet in all the right places. Top toast or hot dogs or serve on as a healthy side dish -- delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced small
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ of a 6-oz. can tomato paste
- 2 15-oz. cans navy beans
- ½ cup water
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Sauté aromatics. Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Then, reduce heat to medium and add garlic and onions. Sauté for a few minutes until softened, and add a pinch of salt.
- Add tomato paste. Add the tomato paste and stir into the onions and garlic. Sauté for another minute or so, stirring occasionally.
- Add remaining ingredients, and simmer. Add the navy beans, water, maple syrup, molasses, dijon mustard, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together in the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer (low heat). Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir, & serve. After the 15 minutes is up, remove the beans from the heat. Uncover the pot, stir, taste, and add more salt if needed. Serve & enjoy!
Notes
- Storage & Freezing: Store the baked beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. Freeze baked beans in an airtight container (with as little empty space as possible) for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge and enjoy!
- Recipe: This recipe was adapted from a baked beans recipe in It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ cup
- Calories: 230
- Sugar: 10.1 g
- Sodium: 704.2 mg
- Fat: 3.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.2 g
- Fiber: 8.1 g
- Protein: 11.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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