A week or so I did a post on 1924 meatless menus that included menus for five meals. One of those menus included a dish called Boston Roast.
Several readers made comments about Boston Roast. A couple wondered what it was; another did an online search and found a recipe for Boston Roast and discovered that it was made using kidney beans, and still another noted that Boston is sometimes called “Bean Town” so it was made sense that the dish was called “Boston Roast.”
I’d found the meatless menus in a hundred-year-old cookbook. After getting all the comments about Boston Roast, I looked at the book’s table of contents and found the recipe for Boston Roast. The recipe called for kidney beans, grated cheese, onions, bread crumbs (cubes), chopped onions, and milk. The recipe also noted that “this is a good meat substitute.”
The recipe turned out well – though it had a slight tendency to fall apart when I sliced it. The kidney beans were the predominant flavor.
Here’s the original recipe:
I used canned kidney beans rather than dried ones. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of dried kidney beans which is the equivalent of 3 1-pound cans of kidney beans. I didn’t use the 3 tablespoons of salt since I didn’t cook dried beans in salted water. Instead I just used 1 teaspoon of salt which I mixed in the with other ingredients.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Boston Roast
3 1-pound cans kidney beans
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used cheddar cheese.)
2 tablespoons onions, chopped
1 cup bread cubes (coarse bread crumbs)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
melted butter
hot water
Preheat oven to 375° F. Drain kidney beans and then chop. (A food processor or blender can be used to chop the kidney beans.) Put the chopped beans in a mixing bowl and add the cheese, onions, bread cubes, milk, and salt. Stir until thoroughly combined. Shape into a loaf (or put into a loaf pan) and put in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes. If the top seems dry while baking, baste with melted butter and water.
That is different.
Agree – though when I google “bean loaf” several recipes pop up.
Thank you, Sheryl, for trying out the recipe! It reminds me of a meatloaf in how it looks, so I assume that was the point–to be a meatless meatloaf. Interesting how the name Boston Roast sounds so much better than “Beanloaf” though! Nice follow up with this post.
Yes, I think that the point is to be a meatless meatloaf. I googled “bean loaf”, and was surprised to see several recipes made with various types of beans (black beans, kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas). Several suggest that bean loaves are perfect for holidy meals. A site called Fatfree Vegan Kitchen has a recipe for a bean loaf that is called a Thanksgiving Meatless Loaf.
https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-meatless-loaf.html
Interesting! I have a vegan cookbook that has a similar recipe but no milk or cheese but substitutes for them… Not sure I’d ever make this!
When I googled “kidney bean loaf” I was surprised to find a recipe very similar to this one on a site called Homeschool in the Woods: https://store.homeschoolinthewoods.com/blogs/words-from-the-woods/how-to-make-kidney-bean-loaf
I think this is one of the most curious recipes that I’ve seen in, well, ever. lol Thanks for sharing.
It is different. 🙂