These $15 Baked Beans Are So Good, I’ve Made Them Three Times This Month

This spring has been off to a chilly start, at least here in Toronto. This weekend I had a friend over for dinner and fully intended to make something fresh and spring-y—but then reverted back to comfort food due to the dreary forecast. (For the record, I made Alison Roman's mushroom pot pie and I have no regrets.)

Similarly, I've been planning to batch-prep the ingredients for Mandy’s Wolfe Salad for at least three weeks now, but I'm still craving something warm for lunch. Hence my current fixation with Stefanie Phillips’s recipe for Harissa Baked Beans.

I've made these baked beans three times in the past month, and they never disappoint. They're cozy, filling, packed with protein and fibre, and the perfect balance of sweet and spicy. They also come together in a flash, with zero chopping, and reheat like a dream. (The recipe makes four servings, and since my husband is not a bean guy, that's four lunches for me.) I used to have trouble finding harissa paste at my local No Frills, but it now carries multiple varieties—including one by President’s Choice.

Here’s the cost breakdown:

I already had butter, lemons, brown sugar, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce on hand—and I skipped the cilantro—so I only needed to stock up on the following at No Frills.

• No Name White Kidney Beans, 2 x 540-mL cans : $3
• President's Choice Black Label Harissa Paste, 125 g: $4.79
• Queen Victoria Spinach, 227 g: $2
• Dimpflmeier 100% Organic Sunflower Seed Rye Bread, 454 g: $5

Grand total: $14.79

Ready to cook it for yourself? Get our recipe for Harissa Baked Beans.

Looking for more inexpensive recipes? Try this $20 tofu stir-fry, this $10 lentil soup, this $27 sheet pan salad or this $19 noodle dish.