Listen, I know how easy baked beans out of the can are. I even know how easy it is to “doctor” up baked beans out of a can to make them taste better. But let me assure you, either option is NOTHING compared to the flavor you get out of these apple cider baked beans.
These are one of our go to summer side dishes and honestly, we love them so much that they have turned into a meal sometimes too. My youngest says they are like our lentil sloppy joes but with beans and she means that with the most love in her foodie heart.
My goal was to make this easy, but still amazingly full of flavor, so give it a go and let me know what you think!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Restaurant Quality – With all the fresh and dried spices and variety of ingredients, you’ll be shocked at how much this tastes like it’s out of a top tiered restaurant.
- Easy – This dish dump and let cook, which means you only need to spend like 10 minutes getting everything together before you can walk away.
- Meal Prep – This dish tastes even better the next day, making it perfect for meal prep!
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🥘Recipe Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
Beans
We’re using navy, cannellini, kidney and pinto in this recipe. We like the combination and the texture and taste differences they give.
Substitute: You could only use white beans like navy or great northern if you’d prefer.
Apples
You’ll want a sweet but firm apple like honeycrisp or fuji, in addition to apple cider.
Substitute: Apple Juice would be the next best option to apple cider, but white grape would also work in a pinch.
Tomatoes
We’re using tomato paste and tomato sauce for this recipe. The concentrated flavor of the paste along with the sauce gives just the perfect amount.
Fresh Ingredients
You’ll need garlic, onions, and fresh thyme for this recipe as well.
Other Sauce Ingredients
We’re also vegan worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, maple syrup, molasses, and apple cider vinegar to finish out the recipe.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
More Summer Sides to Consider:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Easy Slow Cooked Vegan Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 15 ounces canned navy beans, drained and rinsed (425g)
- 15 ounces canned pinto beans drained and rinsed (425g)
- 15 ounces canned cannellini beans drained and rinsed (425g)
- 15 ounces canned dark red kidney beans drained and rinsed (425g)
- 1 medium crisp-sweet apple (such as Honeycrisp or Pink Lady), cored and finely diced (about 1½ cups/180g)
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 cup/150g)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 cup apple cider (240mL)
- 8 ounces canned tomato sauce (227g)
- ¼ cup tomato paste (65g)
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup (80g)
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (45g)
- 2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses (40g)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (30mL)
- 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce (15mL)
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt, more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Add the navy beans, pinto beans, cannellini beans, kidney beans, apple, onion, garlic, and thyme to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the apple cider, tomato sauce, tomato paste, maple syrup, molasses, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, vegan Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, cinnamon, and cayenne, if using.
- Pour the sauce over the beans. Stir until the beans are evenly coated and the tomato paste is completely incorporated.
- Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours, stirring once or twice if convenient. The apples and onions should be very tender and the sauce should darken and thicken.
- Remove the lid and stir well. For thicker, glossier baked beans, continue cooking uncovered on high for 20 to 30 minutes. The sauce will also continue to thicken as the beans cool.
- Taste and add more sea salt, black pepper, maple syrup, or apple cider vinegar as desired. Let the beans rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
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Recipe FAQs:
Yes. There is only vegan worcestershire sauce that contains allergens in this dish (soy and wheat). A safe steak sauce (like A1) would be the easiest swap.
Yes, these beans can be frozen.
Yes, this dish is good for 2-3 days after it’s made. Store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge when not using. Don’t spread on toast until ready to eat.
Good news! There’s no oil in this dish!
I’ve never tried anything with kidney beans, however, I love trying new recipes. Especially ones with apple. I didn’t cut mine, or the onion, quite as small as they appear in the video I saw on the tiktok channel. The spices are the best part of this recipe; I love cumin and paprika and the cayenne gives the beans a nice zing that balances the sweetness of the apple. I will be making these for Thanksgiving this year and any time I want baked beans.
Thank you so much! We’re thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the recipe enough to want to include it in your thanksgiving lineup!!
Everything you promised and more! These will definitely be in the rotation from now on.
That’s great to hear! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try and sharing your experience here with us. We truly appreciate it!
It is cooking now! The sauce tasted great before it started cooking and it will only get better with time in the crockpot. I am happy with this recipe.
YAY!
I made it, and will make this on repeat! So good. I love all the flavors. A smokey, sweet heat that was surprising. Much cleaner than a standard “baked beans” recipe. I love that it’s not drowned in sugar. The beans cooked up perfectly and the sauce was delicious. I literally chose to eat leftover beans than eat dessert!
Wow, what an amazing review, thank you! We’re so happy to hear how much you enjoyed the recipe and that you would even choose the beans over dessert! Thank you!!
I’m so looking forward to making this. what kind of rice are you serving with that? is there a recipe for that?
Hey! Thank you so much for your interest in making the recipe. Yes we have a recipe for the rice and I’ll leave a link for it here. https://makeitdairyfree.com/anti-inflammatory-garlic-turmeric-rice/
You weren’t kidding … this is amazing! I’m tempted to hit it with an inversion blender and use it as a dip – that’s how good it is!
Awww, thank you so much! That’s such an interesting idea, you’ll have to let us know how it goes. We truly appreciate you giving the recipe a try and sharing your experience here with us!
Best Beans Ever!!!!
Thank you so much! We couldn’t agree more!