Medium | Servings: 8 | Ready In: 90 minutes | Yield: one 9×9 dish
Smoky Baked Beans are a classic summer barbecue dish. A dash of chipotle powder adds a smoky, spicy kick, perfect for impressing guests at a dinner party or family picnic. Serve this all of the summer sides, like Sweet Corn Succotash, Broccoli Sunflower Crunch and Three-Bean Salad. This healthy fat-free, gluten-free recipe is packed with protein and satisfies both vegans and meat-lovers.
Ingredients
- 1 sweet apple, diced
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 8 pitted dates
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 x (15-oz) canned Navy beans (about 3 cups cooked beans), drained and rinsed
How It’s Done:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
To make the Chipotle Barbecue Sauce: Place the apple and onion in a dry sauté pan over high heat. Cover and cook until they turn brown, about 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes
Add the chipotle powder and paprika and cook until aromatic, about 2 more minutes.
Once the onions and apples are caramelized (they should be the brown color of caramel), add the tomato paste and “singe” (let it brown) as well, a couple of minutes. The tomato paste will turn a dark, brick-red color when it “singes” (aka “caramelizes”).
Add the cider vinegar to the pan. Use a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan, scraping up any bits from the bottom. Cook for 2 minutes, until vinegar has mostly evaporated.
Add the dates, garlic, mustard, and 2 cups of water to the pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for about 7 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by about half.
After 7 minutes, turn off the heat and transfer the sauce mixture to a blender. Sir in the molasses and salt. Puree until smooth. Taste to check seasoning and add more salt, if needed.
To make the Chipotle Baked Beans: Combine the beans with the Chipotle Barbecue Sauce. Pour into a 9 x 9 baking dish or comparable size. Place the dish on a baking sheet pan (in case there’s dripping). Cover and bake at 350F for at least 30 minutes, but ideally 60 minutes. Remove the cover during the last 15-20 minutes of baking.
Serve and enjoy.
Chef Katie’s Tips:
No Refined Sugar or Syrup: I’m on a mission to get rid of empty calories. This recipe uses the natural sweetness from caramelizing the apple and sweet onion. The molasses adds dark color and extra smoky flavor. Molasses is refined, though. If you prefer, you can omit it in this recipe.
Spice to Taste: For more heat, add more chipotle. For less heat, substitute the chipotle with 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. You’ll get the smoky flavor without the heat.
Make Extra Sauce: You can make a big batch of the Chipotle Barbecue sauce and freeze it in smaller containers. Use it for this recipe or slather it over Roasted Sweet Potatoes, grilled Portabellas, or Black Bean Burgers.
Beans Varieties: This is a great way to mix up different varieties of beans. Black beans, pinto, and Great Northern all offer different flavors and textures. If you prefer to cook your beans from scratch, you’ll need about 1 1/2 cups raw beans to get the 3 cups needed for this recipe.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (5.8 ounces).
Calories 174.88
Calories From Fat (3%) 6.07
% Daily Value
- Total Fat 0.72g 1%
- Saturated Fat 0.12g <1%
- Cholesterol 0mg 0%
- Sodium 95.61mg 4%
- Potassium 665.57mg 19%
- Total Carbohydrates 37.37g 12%
- Fiber 10.09g 40%
- Sugar 14.24g
- Protein 7.33g 15%
- Calcium 9.3mg <1%
- Iron 76.02mg 422%
- Vitamin A 553.54IU 11%
- Vitamin C 6112.35mg 10187%
Shopping and Gear List
- Frontier Ground Bottle, Chipotle, 2.15 Ounce
- Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, 16 Ounce (1 pack)
- Golden Barrel Unsulphured Supreme Baking/Barbados molasses, 16 Ounce
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I’d love to make this, however, I’d prefer not to use the molasses since it’s processed. Should I use date paste? What could I add to replace the smokiness of the molasses?
You can omit the molasses. Add an extra teaspoon of smoked paprika for more smoky flavor. You can add a couple more dried dates during the cooking for more sweetness and dark color