Homemade Baked Beans with Marmite and Bacon
Crammed with smoky bacon bits, these Marmite-infused baked beans are full of umami. Homemade baked beans always taste so much better than the tinned variety (no offence, Heinz) but Marmite gives these beans a much richer, fuller-bodied flavour. Thick-cut back bacon works best for this recipe, as you don't want it to wither away to nothing during cooking. I swear by Edwards's of Conwy's Dry Cured Smoked Bacon, but you can use bacon from other quality butchers if you wish.
Servings 6
Calories 272kcal
Cost 2.50
Equipment
- Oven or casserole dish
Ingredients
- 250 g Organic Haricot Beans (borlotti and cannellini work well too)
- 1 tsp American mustard
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- ½ medium onion left whole
- 30 ml Cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Marmite
- 150 g thick-cut smoked bacon cut into one-inch squares
- ½ tbsp black treacle
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- 250 ml passata
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Place the beans in a large saucepan or bowl and cover them with water (if you're using pre-cooked beans, skip to step 3). Cover and leave to soak overnight, discarding any shrivelled or damaged beans or stones in the morning.
- Drain and rinse the beans. Bring some water to the boil in the saucepan (wash it first!) and add the beans. Simmer for around an hour to soften them up before putting them into the oven.
- While the beans are cooking, fry the bacon in a little olive oil for 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer all the beans into an a oven or casserole dish along with all the other ingredients, reserving 250ml vegetable stock. Cover and cook in the oven on around 160°C for 3 hours, until the beans are softened. Add more vegetable stock during cooking. Alternatively, you can also cook your baked beans in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours.
- Dependent on how hungry you are, you could either serve your homemade baked beans with Marmite and bacon on their own (I like mine topped with grated Welsh Cheddar!) or pair them with your fave comfort food. They taste delicious teamed with Edwards of Conwy’s Welsh Pork Sausages and creamy mash!
Notes
- This recipe uses 250g dried cannellini beans, which makes around 6-8 generous portions of beans; once cooked, the beans pretty much double in weight. If you’re in a hurry, you could use cooked canned beans in place of dried beans, but you'll need to use around 500g cooked beans. You can also use haricot or borlotti beans if you prefer.
- It’s important to soak the beans in cold water overnight before cooking. A saucepan with a lid is ideal for this, just make sure the beans are fully submerged in the water. The following morning, rinse the beans in cold water and sort through them, discarding any shrivelled or damaged beans.
- Not all baked bean recipes call for the beans to be pre-cooked but, personally, I think it helps to soften them up before they go into the oven.
- For vegan baked beans, simply leave the bacon out when making this recipe.
- I haven't included the soaking of the beans in the prep time for this recipe, but I recommend leaving them to soak for at least 12 hours prior to cooking.
Nutrition
Calories: 272kcal