Are you there summer? It’s me, Nina.
Although the weather hasn’t caught on yet, Memorial Day Weekend always kicks off summer vibes in my mind, and when I think of summer, I think of two foods: my mom’s baked beans and my great grandmother’s potato salad, otherwise known as my favorite sides at any summertime barbecue.
My mom’s recipe for baked beans—a riff on the ones she used to make with her own mom growing up—calls for canned beans, which makes the whole thing super easy. You don’t have to soak the beans overnight or worry about whether you’re cooking them properly. You simply dump the beans into a baking dish, mix in aromatics and other good stuff, and let ‘em cook. After a couple hours in the oven, you’ll have baked beans that are thick and sticky, with a caramelized crust, and a mustardy zing in every brown sugary bite.
Oftentimes, baked beans have meat in them, like pulled pork or sliced hot dogs, but not these. My mom’s vegetarian version welcomes all eaters, including the gluten- and dairy-free amongst us. These are the most inclusive baked beans you’ll ever find, and they also happen to be the best.
I love eating these beans straight from the oven, but they’re even better the next day for breakfast (yes, breakfast!) after a night in the fridge, once they’ve had time to set and chill.
I’ll be eating these beans all summer. See you there?
My Mom’s Baked Beans
Total time: 10 minutes active time + 2-3 hours cook time
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Words With Friend to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.