Her is another great slow cooker recipe for you my Herbivores . . .
The best thing about slow cookers is how you can pop everything into the insert the night before or in the morning, the slow cooker does all the work, and you get to eat the yummy results. This recipe for slow cooked barbecue baked beans, from Skinny Ms, is not exception.
I love the smokey maple flavor of a good BBQ sauce, and unfortunately, until recently, that can be hard to find here in New Zealand. I used to make the trip out to Martha’s Backyard, the American Store in Mt. Wellington, just for BBQ sauce. Luckily now some of the fancier food stores like Nosh and Farro are bringing BBQ sauce in from the US. Even one of my favorite brands, Kansas City Cowtown BBQ Sauce. I got so excited when I saw this at a friend’s house that she bought me a bottle the next time she came over for dinner. A friend that brings good BBQ sauce is a good friend indeed!! The Bonz Kajun Kitchen in Elliott Stables makes great locally made BBQ sauce that they bottle and sell, but you have to ask nicely for a vegetarian version, because he will normally put pig fat drippings in his sauce otherwise.
The thing that makes BBQ sauce so good is the combination of smokey, savoury, spicy, and sweet all perfectly balanced for optimal enjoyment. When slow cooked with these beans, it makes a great side dish or can easily be turned into a main, like I did, by spooning the beans over a baked potato and adding a bit of spring onion/green onion and cheese. A Kiwi favorite is baked beans on toast, and this recipe can be be used to make a great version of that dish as well. Add a fried egg on top, and you got a yummy savoury breakfast!!
If you do not have access to a good BBQ sauce, you can easily make your own with the recipe included below.
Slow Cooked Barbecue Baked Beans
MAKES: 8, 1 cup servings
INGREDIENTS
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1.7 kilograms or 60 ounces cooked Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (recipe below)
- 1/2 cup unrefined sweetener, (choices of unrefined sweeteners: Madhava Coconut Sugar, honey, molasses, pure maple syrup, sucanat, sorghum)
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Sea salt to taste
for BBQ Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 sweet onion, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 – 230 gram or 8 ounce can tomato puree
- 1/2 cup mild molasses or sorghum
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Sea Salt to taste
Add all ingredients for the BBQ beans into the slow-cooker. For the unrefined sweetener, I used a combination of golden syrup and molasses, but any of the other options will do). Cover, turn to low and cook 6-8 hours.
It is as simple at that!!
To make your own Barbecue Sauce:
In a medium sauce pan add canola oil, turn to medium-low heat and saute onion and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining barbecue sauce ingredients, stir and simmer until sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes. Viola!!
ENJOY!!
