Summer is no doubt grilling season! Whatever you like to put on the grill, baked beans always make a delicious addition to your meal. I made these slow cooker vegetarian boston baked beans over the July 4th weekend. I received thumbs up from the family, so I knew they would be worthy of sharing with you! These beans are a perfect side dish for the meat eaters and non-meaters alike.
I little chopping and measuring and that is it! The only catch with this dish is you have to plan a day in advance. I originally expected these beans to cook in 10 hours, but they took 16 hours to cook. That is a long time, but the slow cooker did all of the hard work for me. It might not take your beans that long to cook, but I hardly ever soak my beans in advance. That is not necessarily a rule of thumb to not soak the beans, I just tend to forget every single time! Even though I plan out the meals I make, I always forget to soak those beans!!! Oh well, it will not hurt your dish one way or another. Now, on to the recipe of the one of the most delicious made from scratch not from the can baked beans I have had in a while.
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Boston Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried navy beans sorted & rinsed-Soak beans in water for 8 hours if you prefer
- 1 medium onion small diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper small diced
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 t dry mustard
- 1 t smoked paprika
- 1/4 t cayenne pepper more or less, depending on your spicy preference
- 3 t kosher salt more salt can be added later if needed
- 1/4 t ground black pepper
- 1 dry bay leaf
- 6 dashes hot sauce
Instructions
- Pour all ingredients in your slow cooker and give them stir.
- Cook on low for 10 to 16 hours. (If you soak your beans, they will not have to cook the full 16 hours.)
- Add more salt if needed. (I had to add another 1/2 t salt after cooking)
- Remove bay leaf before serving.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Dayna is a food blogger and pet parent to Cooper the cat! 
