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Vegetarian Baked Beans | Slow Cooker Recipe

Making baked beans in a slow cooker is not difficult. You can even achieve an old-fashioned New England baked bean flavor without the meat.

Yield: 8-10 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. dried beans (such as Great Northern or Navy Beans)
  • 1 large onion, diced fine (around 1 3/4 cups) — keep the end
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 4 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. vinegar
  • 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (a vegetarian version)
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. ground mustard
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
  • 8 whole cloves

Instructions:

The night before, pick through the beans to remove any stones, then place them in a bowl and cover them with enough water to cover the beans by two inches. Soak overnight.

In the morning, mix together all ingredients except the beans, onion, and cloves in a large bowl.

Layer the diced onion in the bottom of the minimum 4-quart slow cooker, then add the beans*.

Pour the liquid mixture over the beans, then add up to 3 cups of water until the tops of the beans are just submerged.

Take the reserved onion end and press 8 cloves in a circle for extra flavor. I used a skewer to make the holes before inserting the cloves. (I also used more than 8 cloves, which I think overpowered the beans a bit, so in the future, I will be using less!) Place the onion end into the center of the beans. Remove before eating.

Cook the beans on high for 6-8 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. I left mine in the pot on low for around 12 hours (it was a long day), and as you might expect, they taste better the longer they sit.

Additional Notes:

If vegetarian baked beans are in the slow cooker for less than 8 hours, parboil them for 30 minutes before adding them. If the cooking time is longer than 8 hours, there is no need to parboil.