Making homemade baked beans from scratch is absolutely worth the effort. Try my recipe for a stunningly colourful and flavoursome weekend brunch. I promise, you will never want to go back to the shop-bought variety of baked beans again!
Vegetarian homemade baked beans from scratch
A beautiful vegetarian recipe for homemade baked beans. Your efforts will be rewarded with the rich taste of the tomato sauce, balanced with the wonderfully textured beans.
Homemade baked beans ingredients
- 180g dried white beans, such as butter, haricot or cannellini (you can use a mix of beans)
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 100g white onions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 200g passata (use passata maker if using fresh tomatoes)
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 75g red wine vinegar
- 250g water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A few sprigs of thyme (optional)
How to make baked beans from scratch
Day 1
- Cover the white beans in cold water and soak overnight.
Day 2
- After the beans have soaked overnight, drain them and put them in a large saucepan. Cover them with plenty water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour until the beans are just tender. Top up with more boiling water if required.
- Drain the beans and set aside.
- Heat the rapeseed oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic to the pan and stir for a few minutes until the onion is softened.
- Add the passata, tomato purée, smoked paprika, vinegar and water and bring to the boil.
- Season with salt and pepper and add the thyme if using.
- Add the beans, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for an hour or so until the sauce has thickened.
- Serve while hot with freshly baked bread or homemade potato farls.