When I was growing up, Beanee Weenees were a novelty item…Mama bought them sometimes, but not a lot. And I know why now. Have you SEEN how much those little boogers cost? It’s outrageous. I mean, it’s BEANS AND WEENIES IN A CAN! It’s not exactly caviar. You can’t blame that on inflation because IT’S BEANS AND WEENIES IN A CAN…which are still cheap foods even 30 years later. I have renamed this recipe to Beenie Weenies – so you won’t confuse the two. 😉 Plus, it’s how I like to spell it. The two EEs are just weirdo.
Mostly my mom would just make her own Beanee Weenees (see, it’s weird) and she still does that for us sometimes. She would cut up hotdogs and mix them with cans of Pork ‘n Beans. To this day, I still love them. My Grandmaw would always keep cans of them for the kids – and my Papaw…but sometimes you just get things at grandma’s house that you don’t get anywhere else. It’s like Vegas.
Now I’m making my own BEENIE WEENIES (see, much better). I don’t really rely much on canned beans since I cook mine from the dry state in the crock pot. This recipe is super easy, super delicious, and pretty cheap – and kid happy. Even Andy approves, minus the hot dogs because his Mama is a freak show about giving hot dogs and choking. Amen.
After I soak my beans overnight, I drain, add new water, and boil for about 1 ½ hours until they are almost completely tender. Cooking them in advance before popping them in the crock lets you know that you won’t have hard beans for dinner…because sometimes they take a looooong time in the crock. And sometimes they don’t. They’re ornery, those dried beans.
Could you just cook this on the stovetop? Well sure. But I like cooking mine long and slow in the crock – it gives them a different flavor because they’re marinating in that lovely juice all day long…and making me hungry. Cooking in the crock means I snack a lot. Maybe I should put it out on the carport.
After the beans are done, you’re just going to slap all this in a crock and let it cook for about 8 hours. I love cooking the weenies in with the beans – it really lets all the flavors mingle – and who doesn’t want mingling beans and weenies?
This recipe is easily customizable – you can make them hot by adding cayenne or hot sauce. You can add any seasonings you like. I leave mine pretty mild for the kiddos – but Barry and I never hurt to lick our bowls clean. I like salsa in mine – I also like them plain. Nutritional yeast is pretty tasty on top – or sugar-free barbecue sauce would also be quite tasty…but I’m stuck on the salsa.
Now, let’s talk hot dogs for a minute. Our family likes these from Oscar Mayer. They’re a bit better than some of the cheap-o hot dogs. They’re nitrate free. Yes, they are still mass produced hot dogs from a large company. But hey, we like hot dogs and so we eat them occasionally…I’m not worried about death by Oscar Mayer. We also LOVE LOVE LOVE the chicken hot dogs from Trader Joe’s. Fab-u-lous!
So, let’s not have any nasty comments about my choice of weenies, okay? 😉 Pick whichever weenies your family likes. Moving on!
If you like your mixture thick, you might need to add some cornstarch or arrowroot to thicken. I added just the TEENIEST amount of gluccomannan (a thickener made from konjac root) to thicken…but depending on your crock, you might not need it. Some let moisture out and it will thicken itself – mine does not.
You’ll get about 7 cups total for this batch. I say that’s 5 servings because we eat about 1 ½ cups each…except the kids – they don’t. Pansies.
Crock Pot Beenie Weenies
- 2 cups Great Northern beans, soaked overnight
- 4-5 hot dogs, sliced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 – 1 ½ cups water (I swish mine around in the tomato sauce can to get all the stuff out)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup, sucanat, or ¼ teaspoon stevia extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- Additional seasonings or toppings as desired
- Drain soaked beans.
- Bring to a boil in a medium sized saucepan (NOT IN YOUR CROCK ON THE STOVE).
- Cook 1 ½ – 2 hours or until just barely tender. Drain.
- Combine beans and remaining ingredients (minus toppings) in 4-5 quart crock.
- Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.
- Thicken if desired.
Yield: 5 servings
Looks great! Just wondering if I could use brown sugar in place of the syrup as the sweetener?
Sure – although I haven’t tried it.
My kids LOVE this and have been asking for it. Making it again tomorrow. Thanks for giving me a recipe my kids will ask for and I won’t feel bad about serving them. xo
Really enjoyed this recipe! Funny story: the first time I made it, I remembered to soak the beans the night before, but I soaked an entire 24 oz. bag. That makes for a lot of Beanie Weanies! I added some apple cider vinegar, because I found them too sweet. (That stevia extract is powerful stuff!) I’ve got a crock-pot full right now, but this time I’m using canned beans (2 cans per recipe) and only added 1 1/2 packets of Truvia per recipe. Oh, and I’m keeping the ACV. Xx
That IS a lot of beans. LOL
Making this next week. I think molasses will work in place of the sweeteners listed. Hope so, because it’s what I have.
Should work great – I love molasses in baked beans!
I never knew one could actually buy these pre-made. We use up leftover BBQ’d weanies/weenies and beans. Am looking forward to trying your recipe since it’s not BBQ weather.
Ha, ha! Yes, just look UP in the beans section…they’re usually on the top shelf in small sized cans. 🙂
YUM, I could use our veggie dogs! Awesome! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂
Hope your week is great!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
Haha! Fun title! The kids are sure to eat this one! Thanks for sharing at Sweet & Savory Saturdays #30.
🙂 Mine love it!
My husband’s family always eats this!
Smart family. 🙂
I wanted to invite you to the Friday Flash Blog Party, the best linky in town! I hope you’ll join us and link up. Who knows. You may just get highlighted! The party goes on ALL weekend.
Jennifer @ The Jenny Evolution
http://www.thejennyevolution.com
Thanks for the invite!
Love the humor interjected in this post. You eat hot dog? *gasp* Although, I hardly think of a chicken “link” as a hot dog. Where’s the BEEF? 😉 Thanks for linking up to Let’s Get Real! I enjoyed reading this and I was reminded of a long forgotten meal we would eat as kids when we were “poor” 🙂
I like beef too – but I prefer chicken hot dogs. 🙂
Yum! I’ve been craving hot dogs during this pregnancy, so I may have to try this. Thanks for sharing the recipe at Thrive @ Home!
I’ve noticed. 🙂 Your food pictures are cracking me up!
Haha! Yeah, so much for me sticking with the THM diet during pregnancy… So many healthy foods just sound revolting. lol Oh well, at least I can eat something. That’s what I’m focusing on! 🙂
Hot Dogs are totally THM friendly! 🙂
I’m a hot dog lover as well. I will even eat gas station hot dogs (before THM), but we sorta keep that on the down lo. 😉 We have made beanie weenies for years and love them. Something I do that’s a little different is add homemade taco seasoning to my meat. It gives it a little Southwest flavor. Oh, and now you have totally made me crave beanie weenies!
Yum! I would love that – I just have to keep things a wee bit on the mild side for my kiddos – but I would totally add that to my bowl…I was cranking up the salsa!
Hi Stacy! This recipe is so ‘American’, lol, we, here, down under, only eat hot dogs in a bun, with a squirt of mustard and tomato sauce. Hehe. 🙂
But we do enjoy our baked beans (which seems to be a similar recipe). I’m keen to try this recipe but I was wondering what ‘tomato sauce’ is? Our tomato sauce is your ketchup and I doubt you been to squeeze 8oz of ketchup in the crock pot? Is it tomato paste? Tomato spaghetti sauce? Tinned tomatoes?
Sorry about the silly questions. :p
Keep up the good work!
Hmmmmmmmmm. It’s just pureed tomatoes. It looks like ketchup, but there are no flavorings or anything. And it’s a bit runnier than ketchup. Paste is too thick unless you use a good bit of water to thin it down. 🙂 So interesting….I love when you ask these questions!
It’s tomato puree where I come from (NZ)…
Great! Thanks for the info. 🙂
I loved beenie weenies as a kid (and still do!). I really enjoy your blog, Stacy, and I appreciate your practicality! I have read lots of “Mommy blogs”, and most of them leave me feeling overwhelmed and inept. Not yours! The things that you talk about are doable and fit into my busy Mommy lifestyle. (Even if a particular blog title isn’t something that I usually would read, I read it anyhow cuz I get a kick out of your sense of humor! Then, I learn something new about frugality, healthy eating, etc! Bonus!)
So, anywho, thanks! Your writing is a blessing to me! 🙂
And Y’ALL are a blessing to me. 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! You’re a genius. And also, hilarious. You make me laugh out loud! And I’m a tough crowd!!! 🙂
Mmmm! Makes me hungry just reading it! 🙂 I’d probably add a couple of steps for added flavor:
1) Grill the hotdogs (or grill extra and freeze the “leftovers” ’til you need them)
2) Sauté the onions
But even without these steps it sounds yummy!! 🙂 And I’ll soon have some dried beans from my garden, … . Mmmm! 🙂
PS I agree w/ your brand of hotdogs — but DH will only eat the beef. 🙂
Well, you sound like an overachiever with beans. LOL LOL
Stacy,
You’re so funny! 🙂 This looks like. Will have to try it soon! 🙂 Thanks so much!
You’re welcome! 🙂
You’re totally right! Beanee Weenees with all those Es is just creeeeepy! Ugh. Nightmares. Shiver. I didn’t know they came in a can.
I love “franks and beans” as we Midwesterners call them, and your recipe looks fab! I didn’t think to use bird-based dogs for an E. Thanks for the idea!
Franks? FRANKS? Are you serious? That’s weird. That’s more weird than BEENEE. 😉
Loving beanie weenies the way I do, I will be trying this very soon. But you know what I’d like to see? (And this is no statement about you in particular, it’s just something I’ve never, ever seen.) I would like to see–just once–a blog post that mentions hotdogs or canned soup or whatever is on the bad-mommy list this week without apologizing or otherwise drawing attention to the fact that this food is on the bad-mommy list. Let him who eats hotdogs, eat hotdogs unto the Lord. Let everybody else hush up their food-snobby mouths. 😉
Preach it. And pass me a hot dog.
Amen honey, Amen. Sometimes we LIKE corn dogs or stuff like that…we just enjoy it and don’t make it real often.
Thank you for the recipe, Stacy. I know what I will be cooking real soon!
You do? What?
Stacy, when you boil your beans, do you add just enough water to cover? (I’m sorry…I’m one of those “Is there a hyphen in anal retentive?” types. 😉
Yep. 🙂
Hello. Hot dog lover here. yup. *Adding to list* 🙂
I love hot dogs. I want one right now.