This stunning recipe for homemade baked beans is a great alternative for those of you who, like me, cannot stomach a tin of baked beans – but love the concept of an easy and creamy tomato sauce with nutritious white beans, all made from scratch.
These homemade baked beans are wonderfully easy to make – about 25 minutes in total, with most of that time spent simply roasting your tomatoes and garlic! You might also want to check out my butterbean stew recipe for more beany goodness!
They’re best served with a heap of crusty bread on the side to dip and scoop to your heart’s content – but heaped on top of a baked potato would go down a treat, too.
What You’ll Need
This dish is very simple. In terms of equipment, you’ll need:
- A baking dish, to roast your tomatoes and garlic
- A frying pan
- A hand blender, to blend the sauce. If you don’t have one, transferring the sauce to a Nutribullet or something similar would also work.
Here are all the ingredients you’ll need for your homemade baked beans – scroll down to the recipe card for the full quantities and instructions!
- Tomatoes: I use cherry tomatoes, often because that’s what I have harvested from our allotment when making this! Any tomato would work, really though.
- Garlic: If you have a dislike for garlic you could omit it, but it does add a wonderful fragrance and flavour.
- White beans: My preferred bean for this recipe is cannellini beans. Haricot could also work (smaller), or perhaps butter beans (larger).
- Cream cheese: I use a large dollop of the Philadelphia plant-based cream cheese for this recipe. Use whatever you prefer.
- Seasonings: I keep the seasonings very simple in this recipe. Just salt, pepper, a little oregano, and some fresh parsley to top. You could also add smoked paprika for more depth.
Making the tomato sauce
This recipe uses roasted tomatoes and garlic for the sauce base. It’s simple – literally just tossing the whole tomatoes and garlic cloves in a dish with some oil and roasting for 20 minutes!
Plus, roasting the tomatoes give them a wonderful flavour for the sauce.
Once roasted, dip the tomatoes and garlic cloves into your saucepan (or allow to cool and then transfer to your blender if using) and add about a quarter to a third of the tin of cannellini beans and blend. This gives the sauce a really lovely thick, creamy texture.
Making the beans
To finish the dish, tip in your beans and a large dollop of the plant-based cream cheese and stir to combine. Top with the freshly chopped parsley, more black pepper, and perhaps a pinch of chilli flakes or a drizzle of chilli oil to add some heat!
More bean recipes:
Serving and storage
I love having these homemade baked beans as a heart lunch by itself with a great pile of crusty bread to dip and scoop on the side.
However, you could also serve it on top of a baked potato, or as a side dish with cajun fries and tofu nuggets, for example.
Homemade Baked Beans
A homemade 'posh' baked beans recipe with roasted tomatoes and garlic, and the addition of a dollop of plant-based cream cheese for a velvety, creamy sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 tin of cannelinni beans, drained
- 200g cherry tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp plant-based cream cheese (I use the Philadelphia brand)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 handful chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
- To serve: crusty bread
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200° C, then add your cherry tomatoes and garlic to a baking dish and top with the salt, pepper, and olive oil. Stir to combine, then roast for 20 minutes.
- Add the roasted tomatoes and garlic to a saucepan along with about a quarter of the cannellini beans and blend into a smooth and creamy sauce.
- Add the remaining beans and plant-based cream cheese and stir, resulting in the most beautiful velvety sauce!
- Plate up with the chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, more black pepper, and serve with crusty bread!
Notes
Chilli oil can also be a fab substitute for the red pepper flakes here.
These beans will keep in the fridge for about 3 days in an airtight container, and can also be frozen.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 344Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 1741mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 10gSugar: 15gProtein: 11g