Vegetarian Baked Beans with Vegetables

This is a great alternative to 'traditional' baked beans, in that it has a heavy load of vegetables and no meat. Of course, you can use real bacon, if you're not vegetarian. Mashing up some of the beans and returning them to the mix will help keep the beans from being too watery when finished. Serve with sour cream, if you like.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 3 hr
• Total Time: 3 hr 30 mins
• Calories: 428 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• salt to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• ½ cup barbeque sauce
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• ½ cup imitation bacon bits
• 2 small carrots, diced
• ½ cup mild molasses
• ¼ cup rum (Optional)
• 2 tablespoons dill
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Step 2

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, bell pepper, and garlic. Sprinkle lightly with salt and saute until onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, barbeque sauce, molasses, bacon bits, rum, dill, and mustard and stir to combine. Reduce heat and simmer sauce 20 to 30 minutes.

Step 3

Pour 1/4 cup beans into a bowl and mash. Pour remaining beans into a casserole dish. Mix mashed beans into the saucepan with the sauce and pour mixture over beans in the casserole dish. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil.

Step 4

Bake in the preheated oven for 2 1/2 hours. Uncover and bake 30 minutes more. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.