breakfast:

baked beans

Published 5th June 2017

Baked beans is one of the easiest, heartiest, tasty and healthy meals going around. Beans are a great source of protein, fibre and a perfect option for vegetarians. When making baked beans, I always like to include bacon, ham or chorizo to give a more rounded flavour and meatiness - this is not essential and it is still very tasty without it.

Baked beans on toast may not sound like much as far as a meal goes, but I can assure you, once you have tried baked beans like this, then you won’t go back to the canned variety. It is super easy to make, it freezes well and is one of the few meals that can be a breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you want to make it ‘fancy’, you can add some poached eggs and feta.

Borlotti beans are your traditional baked bean bean, so I always make sure I have 1-2 tins of borlotti beans, and the third tin is another type of bean to mix it up, usually cannellini beans, butter beans, chickpeas or kidney beans. Of course, if you’d prefer to use dried beans and soak them, you can, but that will obviously make this quick and easy meal more time consuming.

 
 
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My kids love baked beans, always have, and it’s a great go to meal for them if we have both been at work or if we are having something that they won’t appreciate for dinner. This recipe also lends itself well to the inclusion of any vegetables you have lying around, which is great for the kiddies. I will always include a green leafy such as kale, spinach or silverbeet as you can add in heaps and it wilts down to not much. Vegetables such as carrot, zucchini, broccoli, etc cut up small will work really well also.

It takes literally 5-10 minutes preparation time and about 15 minutes of simmering and you’re done!

Enjoy xx

 
 

 

Ingredients:

Serves 6-8

  • 2 rashers of bacon, fat trimmed and diced, or 1 chorizo sausage finely chopped

  • 1 onion, diced

  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed

  • 3 x 400g tins of beans – borlotti, cannellini, kidney, butter, chickpeas, etc.

  • 3 x 400g tins of diced tomatoes

  • 2 tsp Worchestershire sauce

  • 1 tbs golden syrup

  • 1 tbs brown sugar

  • 1 tbs wholegrain mustard

  • 2 large handfuls of kale, spinach or silverbeet, chopped

  • 1 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

  • Salt and pepper

  • 1 egg per person

  • 1 tbs feta per person

 

Method:

  1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add chopped bacon. Cook for ~ 5 minutes. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring until translucent.

  2. Drain and rinse all the beans and add to the frypan along with the tomatoes. Stir to combine and add Worchestershire sauce, mustard, brown sugar and stir well. Bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for ~15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

  3. Once the sauce has thickened slightly, add the greens, season well and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

  4. Serve with a poached egg, feta and toast. Alternatively, you can have the baked beans on their own.