These Brothy Baked Beans are packed with flavour and are naturally vegan and gluten-free. Enjoy these beans on their own, as a side or to with some crusty bread!

cannellini beans in broth with crusty bread

Say hello to your new favourite cozy bean recipe

Beans are a great pantry staple to have on hand and are great for easy, healthy vegetarian meals that are packed with protein. This recipe is perfect for a cozy lunch or dinner when the weather starts to get colder out.

I usually enjoy making recipes with a can of beans, but this recipe for Brothy Baked Beans is made with dried beans.

How to make this recipe

This recipe couldn’t be easier to make! While it does take the about an hour to cook, it’s as simple as adding all the ingredients to the pot and popping it into the oven….that’s basically it.

  • A blue pot filled with white beans, sage, shallots, garlic and bay leaves
  • A blue pot filled with beans in borth

What type of beans to use

This recipe uses dried cannellini beans.

You can substitute any type of white beans on this recipe. White navy beans and lima beans would make great options!

While you can *technically* use canned beans in this recipe, I highly recommend using tried beans for a few reasons:

  1. Cooking the dried beans in the broth will allow the beans to absorb all the flavours of the broth, and also contribute their flavour to the broth
  2. Canned beans are usually packed with sodium and can tend to have a bit of a metallic taste. Truth be told, dried beans taste better.
  3. Soaking dried beans helps to unlock all the nutrients in the beans

Soaking vs. not soaking dried beans

Before getting started with this recipe, It’s recommended to soak your beans overnight in a bowl of water.

Why? Simply because it will reduce the cooking time of the beans if they’re soaked. Plus it’s not much effort to soak them, just put them in a bowl or pot of water and stick them in the fridge the night before.

If you don’t soak your beans, you can still make the recipe, but you will likely need to double the cooking time.

a bowl of white beans in broth topped with chili flakes

Recipe additions and substitutions

  • Subbing canned beans for dried: You can technically still make this with canned beans (though it won’t be quite as yummy and flavourful.) Simply follow the recipe and cook for just 30 minutes.
  • Add in additional veggies: like chopped carrots, potatoes and squash. Add these in after the beans have been cooking for about 30 minutes, and then let these veggies cook in the pot with the beans for the rest of the time.

Tips for making this recipe perfectly

  • Use dried beans and soak your beans the night before. This will give you the most flavourful brothy baked beans and soaking the beans will cut the cooking time by half.
  • Use a mix veggie stock or a mix of veggie stock and water as your liquid. This will create a more flavourful broth.
  • Taste and adjust cooking time as needed! Different brands of beans and sizes of beans will have slight variations in cooking time. Check your beans after 60 minutes, if they taste a bit too firm, put them back in the oven.

More bean recipes to try

A bowl of cannellini beans in broth with a spoon

If you tried these Brothy Baked Beans or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!

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cannellini beans in broth with crusty bread

Brothy Baked Beans

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Jessica Hoffman
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 minutes
  • Total Time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Cook
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free
Print Recipe

Description

These brothy baked beans make for the ultimate healthy and cozy meal and are PACKED with flavour!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups dried cannellini beans, soaked in water overnight then drained 
  • 1 bulb of garlic, outer layer peeled off(or 2 small bulbs) 
  • 4 shallots, outer layer peeled off 
  • 1 sprig of sage (about 6–8 leaves) 
  • 2 bay leaves 
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes 
  • 1/2 tsp salt 
  • 2 tbsp olive oil 
  • 6 cups of water or veggie stock (I use a mix of both) 

For serving

  • Crusty toasted bread 
  • A drizzle of olive oil
  • Pepper 

Instructions

  1. Add all the ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir everything together and let bubble for 2-3 minutes.
  2. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven at 350 degrees F, letting cook for 60-75 minutes until the beans are tender. 
  3. Remove from the oven and give everything a stir. Optionally (but recommended) to use a wooden spoon to squeeze the garlic out of their skins and mix them into the broth. 
  4. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, pepper and some rustic toasted bread. 

Notes

Use dried beans and soak your beans the night before. This will give you the most flavourful brothy baked beans and soaking the beans will cut the cooking time by half.

Use a mix veggie stock or a mix of veggie stock and water as your liquid. This will create a more flavourful broth.

Taste and adjust cooking time as needed! Different brands of beans and sizes of beans will have slight variations in cooking time. Check your beans after 60 minutes, if they taste a bit too firm, put them back in the oven.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
  • Calories: 260
  • Sugar: 1g
  • Fat: 5g
  • Carbohydrates: 40g
  • Fiber: 16g
  • Protein: 15g

Keywords: how to make beans in broth, white bean soup