My tried and true original Crock Pot Baked Beans have molasses in them which are not GAPS legal.  They also use canned tomato products which are fine except for the citric acid.  I’ve had a hard time finding canned tomato products that don’t have citric acid or any other additives in them.  And considering we use on a regular basis it’s really best that I find a source without.  I found that the Kirkland brand Organic Canned Tomato Paste that Costco carries does not have additives.  But that’s only for the paste. And the Jovial brand glass diced tomatoes also do not have additives.  Jovial products can be purchased at Whole Foods or Amazon, but they are very expensive! So I tweaked my recipe to use more canned tomato paste, meat stock and no molasses.  I don’t think you can tell much difference in the two recipes especially after it’s had time to really slow cook. Plus, this version gives you a lot more of the gut healing broth in it!  Click here for my original Crock Pot Baked Bean recipe.

GAPS Baked Beans

Author: The Allergy Free Family

Ingredients:
1 lb grassfed ground beef
1 large yellow onion – diced
1 large green bell pepper – diced
1 cup diced tomatoes (use Jovial brand)*
2 – 6 oz cans of tomato paste (use Costco brand)
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup honey
4 cups gently cooked navy beans (soaked and sprouted)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celtic sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

*Note to use Jovial brand or other brand similar in consistency. (Since originally posting this recipe, I have found other brands that are GAPS compliant in glass jars or carton containers without additives.) If not following GAPS or you cannot find Jovial brand diced tomatoes then use sugar-free tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes.  You do not want to use chunky diced tomatoes for this recipe.

Brown the ground beef and then drain any excess fat (if preferred, otherwise you can leave it in).  In either a large stock pot or crock pot add browned meat and all of the other remaining ingredients.  You may need to adjust the salt and other spices depending on how much flavor your stock has in it.  The KEY to these beans is they need to slow cook for several hours.  If cooking on stove top, cook on low for at least 2 hours.  If cooking in a crock pot then cook on low for at least 3-4 hours.  It’s best to start with recipe as is, let cook for a while, and then see if you need to add more salt or stock.  The mixture will liquify a little after cooking a while. **Make sure to soak beans overnight and then cook before using in this recipe.  I used my Instant Pot to cook the beans for 15 minutes and immediately remove.  Since the beans will continue cooking in pot, you don’t want to overcook the beans in the Instant Pot.  Otherwise they could end up mushy.