Sunny Side Up Nutrition

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Make These Easy Baked Beans To Simplify Your Lunch Packing Routine

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Leftover baked beans make a great lunch.

It’s that time of year when, if you’re like me, you’ve been tired of packing lunches for awhile now. We’ve got about 5 months of school left. So, you might also be looking for something new and SIMPLE to add to your lunch list? I know I am!

Do you want to simplify packing lunches? Try making a Master Lunch List.

What do I mean by a lunch list? Anna and I are both fans of keeping a list of all the lunch items we pack. We call it our Master Lunch List. We write out all the entrees, sides and fruit and veggie ideas we pack. When we can’t think of anything to pack, or we’re doing our weekly meal planning we can refer to our list for ideas. And we periodically add new items to the list – like the Easy Baked Beans recipe in this post!

Another Tip To Streamline Packing Lunches

Another way we like to streamline packing lunches is to plan ahead and make 1-2 dinners with enough for leftovers. For example, I’ll make a bigger batch of pasta with pesto and send the leftovers for lunch the next day or 2. Or, I’ll cook something I can use for lunches while I’m cooking dinner. I might make my easy black beans to use for lunches and snacks while I’m cooking something else for dinner – especially on a weekend when I have some extra time.

A note on this photo: I don’t always buy organic beans. This is what I happened to buy this time. Sometimes I buy non-organic. It often comes down to what I grab off the shelves. I also buy different brands of canned beans.

Easy baked bean leftovers make a great thermos lunch for school.

Recently, I’ve rediscovered baked beans as an easy lunch entrée. I used to send heated, canned baked beans for my older daughter when she was in elementary school, but for some unknown reason, I stopped. Maybe she told me she was tired of them? Maybe it was because I knew my younger daughter didn’t like baked beans and I didn’t want to be making two different lunches. Who knows! But I do know it’s been a long time since baked beans have been on my Master Lunch List.

The recipe is the epitome of SIMPLE! Minimal chopping, opening cans and adding ingredients to a pot and voila! My mother-n-law gave me the recipe for these baked beans and the word is her mother used to make them. I made a number of changes to the original recipe, like using fewer onions, adding extra beans, using dark brown sugar instead of light brown, using tomato puree instead of ketchup, and draining the beans. 

Sometimes, I make a double batch and freeze some to use during an especially busy week. They work well served on their own or over rice. They also work well as a side dish for many meals. And the leftovers are scrumptious heated and sent in a thermos for lunch! 

Just Keep Offering!

Caroline, my 15 year old, has always LOVED these beans. Ellie, my 12 year old never ate these – until just recently. We were at my in-laws and Ellie mentioned how much she loved the beans and asked if I’d please make them to put in lunches. Hooray! She’s been exposed to these beans since she was a baby and had never liked them. Just this morning, out of curiosity, I asked Ellie about the beans. She said, “Oh, I had baked beans at sleep away camp this past summer and they were great! So when we had them at Nana and PopPop’s, I tried them and loved them even more than the ones at camp.” Hearing this was somewhat of a relief, because it’s evidence I’m raising her to be able to make do with what’s available. It’s also a reminder to “just keep offering!”

When I asked what Ellie was in the mood for in her lunches this week, she said “baked beans!” Great–because I made 3 batches this week testing this recipe!

Leftover baked beans make a great lunch.

Are you looking for more tips to simplify your lunch packing routine?

Do you find yourself wondering how you can simplify your lunch packing routine? We’re putting our tried and true formula down in an e-book to share with you! Would you like to be one of the first to know when it’s available to purchase? Click here now!

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Easy Baked Beans

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
Scale

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 small onions, chopped

1 15 oz can baked beans (I use vegetarian baked beans but you can use regular)

1 15 oz can black beans

1 15 oz can white beans

1 15 oz can kidney beans

1 ⅓ cup water

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 Tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon dry mustard ( or 1 tablespoon dijon mustard)

½ cup tomato puree (or ketchup)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Chop the onion and garlic. Add olive oil to a dutch oven placed over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan and sauteé for 5-7 minutes. 
  3. While the garlic and onion are cooking, gather together the rest of the ingredients. 
  4. Drain and rinse the beans.
  5. Add all the ingredients to the pan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, turn off the heat under the beans.
  6. Place a lid on the pan and put them in a 350 F oven for 1 ½ hours. Stir twice during the hour and a half.
  7. Carefully remove the pot from the oven. Take the lid off and allow the beans to cool for a bit before serving.
  8. Allow to cool and store the leftovers covered in the refrigerator. 

 

Notes

These also freeze well if you want to make a double batch.

A 15 Minute Recipe: 7 Different Ways

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A 15 minute black bean recipe you can use 7 ways!

NOW is the perfect time to share one of the EASIEST recipes.

For those of you with children, we hope this first month or so of school is off to a smooth start. If you’re like me, in addition to work, you’re juggling packing lunches, making dinners and coordinating logistics of everyone’s after school activities. It definitely takes time to get settled into a new rhythm when school starts. WHEW!

So, now seems like a great time to share one of the EASIEST meals around! This is SO very easy!  It really does take only 15 minutes to make these black beans. In my house, at least for the moment, it’s a favorite reheated with rice and packed in a thermos (along with some cheese and avocado on the side) to take to school.

A 15 minute black bean recipe you can use 7 ways
  • These 15 minute black beans make an easy reheated packed lunch.
  • 15 minute black beans you can serve 7 different ways

1 Recipe – 7 Easy Meals

This is one of those versitale recipes that will simplify your life! Let me know if you make it and discover new ways to serve it.

  1. Rice and black beans with cheese, avocado and sour cream
  2. Black Beans, rice and cheese burrito
  3. Top a baked potato with black beans, grated cheese and sour cream
  4. Serve the black beans over roasted chicken thighs with rice 
  5. Top nachos with grated cheese, black beans, guacamole and sour cream
  6. Spoon black beans over roasted salmon (or scallops or shrimp) with farro or rice
  7. Top scrambled (or fried) eggs on a warm corn tortilla with black beans, cheese and avocado

A New Food? Provide Structure Not Pressure

For younger children or more selective eaters, serve the black beans next to the rice, chicken, fish, etc. It’s easier to eat around the beans if they’re worried about trying them. Or serve it in a big serving bowl and allow them to serve it to themselves (even if they’re a toddler). You’re maintaining structure by offering the food and then allowing your child to decide if they serve themselves some of it. And by serving the beans on the side, it offers more selective eaters a chance to approach the food in a way that may feel less pressured.

Just keep offering. Yes, even if everyone doesn’t eat them!

We often remind our clients (and ourselves) to make foods they know their children don’t typically eat. WHAT?! Why would I do that, you ask? Because, children may need many, many exposures (sometimes more than 20) to foods before they’ll try something new. Remember, you’re going to serve one item you know they like – for example, your child might only eat the rice and none of the beans.

Sometimes, I personally fall into periods where I forget my own advice. That’s what happened with this recipe. I started making this recipe as black bean burritos when my husband and I were in grad school (about 20 years ago). I can’t remember exactly when I stopped making this or even why. I’m going to guess that one of my children didn’t like it, or maybe I just got tired of it myself. It wasn’t until Anna posted her Easy Black Beans and Rice recipe (click here to read it) that I remembered I used to make something similar!

The Perfect After School Snack

When I finally reintroduced this recipe, everyone enjoyed it. WOW! It’s not often everyone likes the same meal. This one is back in my “go-to meals” rotation on a regular basis. Especially for lunches and snacks served over rice with grated cheese, avocado and sour cream. As kids get older they often need a second lunch after school and this is an easy one to reheat on their own. I often make a double batch of it along with some rice over the weekend so there’s plenty for the week.  

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Easy Black Beans with Corn and Tomatoes

These super simple and delicious black beans with corn and tomatoes take only 15 minutes to make.

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
Scale

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 – 15 oz cans of black beans drained and rinsed

1 – 15 oz can of corn, drained 

1 – 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

¾ of a 4 ½ ounce can of chopped green chiles**

1/4-1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Salt and pepper to taste

Splash of red wine vinegar (about 1 teaspoon)

Instructions

  1. Peel and chop the garlic. 
  2. Add the garlic and olive oil to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
  3. Open all the cans.
  4. Drain and rinse the black beans and corn and add them to the pan.
  5. Add the chopped tomatoes and their juice, the water and the green chilies.
  6. Add the coriander, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Then turn heat down to medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes.

 Serve over rice or one of the 6 other suggested ways to serve these beans.

 

Notes

*To add a little kick to the beans, add a pinch (or more to taste) of red pepper flake when you sauteé the garlic.

**Use the whole can of chilies if you prefer a stronger green chili flavor.