Old Fashioned Baked Beans
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Thick, smoky, sweet, and savory, this Old Fashioned Baked Beans recipe is one you’ll come back to again and again! Serve these oven baked beans at your next BBQ, picnic, potluck or family dinner and watch your guests lick their plates clean and ask for more! The best baked beans – made from scratch!
Baked beans are an American staple. The combination of sweet, savory and smoky flavors makes them irresistibly delicious. Making your own homemade baked beans from scratch is easier to make than you may think, you just need to set aside enough cooking time. They need time to cook low and slow to allow the beans to soak up all those amazing flavors. The perfect make-ahead dish, these baked beans are even better the next day after the flavors have had more time to develop!
What to Serve With Baked Beans
Baked beans is a versatile dish that can be served with any number of mains and sides. Here are some popular options:
- Grilled Meats and Barbecue Ribs
- Burgers, Sliders, or Hot Dogs (e.g. Banzai Burger, Greek Burger)
- Grilled Vegetables (e.g. Grilled Eggplant)
- Fried Chicken
- Skillet Cornbread
- Creamy Coleslaw
- Freezer Slaw
- Macaroni Salad
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Potato Salad
- Broccoli Salad, Pea Salad, Four Bean Salad, or a tossed salad
- Bread Rolls or Buttermilk Biscuits
Can I Make Baked Beans in a Slow Cooker?
Yes. While the traditional method cooking “baked” beans is to bake them in the oven, which is the method we present here, you can also make them in a crock pot. The sauce may be thinner at the end of the cooking time in which case remove the lid towards the end of the cooking to allow some of the liquid to evaporate.
SLOW COOKER METHOD: Follow steps 1 and 2 in the recipe and then pour everything into the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours or until the beans are tender. Open the lid for the last 30 minutes or longer until the sauce has thickened. If the beans are too thick at any point and too much liquid has evaporated, stir in a little extra water.
Why Are My Beans Still Hard After Hours of Cooking?
You’re not alone, this is a not an uncommon problem. From Fine Cooking: “Some beans refuse to soften. You can soak them overnight and then simmer them all day long, and they’re still hard as pebbles. The main causes of this are age and improper storage.”
As dried beans age the pores in the beans that allow water to enter close up which will prevent the beans from softening no matter how long they are cooked.
Be sure to follow the instructions to soak the beans overnight and then boil them for an hour. For especially hard beans one classic trick you can try is to add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to the beans while you’re boiling them (1/4 teaspoon for every pound of beans). Be careful though: If too much is added or if it’s added to beans that aren’t too hard, you could end up with mushy beans.
Baked Beans Recipe
Let’s get started!
Soak the beans overnight in a pot of water. Make sure the beans are covered by at least a couple of inches of water. Drain the beans and put them in a pot of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. Drain and reserved the bean liquid.
In a large pot or Dutch oven fry the bacon until crispy then add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Stir in the tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and bay leaf.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the reserved bean water and the beans.
Bring everything to a simmer for a minute or two to heat it up.
In the meantime preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Transfer the Dutch oven with the lid on to the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 2 to 3 hours or until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened, removing the lid during the last 20-30 minutes to help the sauce thicken.
NOTE: If at any point during the cooking process too much liquid evaporates and the beans get dry, add a little more of the reserved bean water. The beans themselves can vary from batch to batch and you may end up either needing to add more liquid if the beans are too dry or you may need to bake the beans longer with the lid off if there is too much liquid. Adjust as needed.
Add more salt the pepper to taste.
Serve immediately or let cool completely and refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Enjoy!
For more favorite sides to complement your BBQ try my:
- Skillet Cornbread
- Creamy Coleslaw
- Freezer Slaw
- Macaroni Salad
- Potato Salad
- Broccoli Salad
- Black Eyed Pea Salad
- Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad
- Chicken Salad
- Pea Salad
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Old Fashioned Baked Beans
Equipment
- Dutch oven I love this one from Lodge!
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans
- 8 ounces thick cut bacon , diced
- 1 medium yellow onion , finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 cup plain tomato sauce or ketchup
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Place the dried beans in a pot of water covered by a few inches of water and let soak overnight. Drain the beans, place them back in the pot with fresh water and bring to a boil. Simmer for one hour, then drain, reserving the liquid. See NOTE.
- In a Dutch oven or other oven-proof pot fry the bacon until crispy then add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.Stir in the tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and bay leaf.Add 1 1/2 cups of the reserved bean water and the beans.Bring everything to a simmer for a minute or two to heat it up. In the meantime preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Transfer the Dutch oven with the lid on to the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 2 to 3 hours or until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened, removing the lid during the last 20-30 minutes to help the sauce thicken. NOTE: If at any point during the cooking process too much liquid evaporates and the beans get dry, add a little more of the reserved bean water. The beans themselves can vary from batch to batch and you may end up either needing to add more liquid if the beans are too dry or you may need to bake the beans longer with the lid off if there is too much liquid. Adjust as needed.Add more salt the pepper to taste.Serve immediately or let cool completely and refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- SLOW COOKER METHOD: Follow steps 1 and 2 and then pour everything into the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours or until the beans are tender. Open the lid for the last 30 minutes or longer until the sauce has thickened. If the beans are too thick at any point and too much liquid has evaporated, stir in a little extra water.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet August 30,2020
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Hands down the best baked beans ever! And that’s saying a lot because my grandma was known throughout town as being unrivaled for her beans. Hers are only rivaled by yours which are now my favorite :)
Thank you so much for the generous compliment, Renee, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed them! <3
Made these beans almost verbatim and they were absolutely delicious. I saved the recipe and will be making them again.
Fantastic, thank you so much for the positive feedback, David!
I made these today and they were absolutely delicious! I substituted home made plum chutney for the ketchup (trying to use up my stash from last year, now that this year’s plums are almost ripe…), which turned out to be a great substitute.
I pre-cooked the beans in the instapot, then added the other ingredients and left on slow cook function for 4 hours: this dish will definitely be a keeper, thank you!
Fantastic, Gabriele, thank you so much for the feedback!
I’ve made these baked beans at least a half dozen times and I wouldn’t change a thing, they’re perfection!
Ah thank you so much, Riley, I’m so happy to hear that! <3
I just put mine in the oven. It didn’t seem like there was enough sauce for the amount of beans. I used 1lb dried navy beans. We will see. I suspect I’ll need to add some of the remaining bean water and some chicken stock possibly. There wasn’t much bean water after draining. There was maybe 1/2 cup left after the 1.5 cups.
I wanted to make this for my grandchildren and thought it was worth trying to recreate the way it was made in my youth. It was stupendously magnificent, and everyone voiced their acclaim. So many recipes claim it is better than takeout. This was so good that everyone had seconds and thirds, and no one asked for takeout or spat any out. My wife was making something else in the oven, so I zapped the beans in the pressure cooker, removed them to do the bacon, onion, and garlic, and then added the rest and cooked it in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes. I added three cups of bean water to prevent burning. I then simmered it until it thickened after removing the lid. I substituted a little maple syrup for the sugar, but used molasses.
Oh that’s awesome, Dennis, I’m so glad your grandkids loved it and appreciate the feedback, including the pressure cooker info!
Seasonings are nice. I adjusted most of them slightly. The only major change was the sugar. I would guess I probably doubled it at least. I like brown sugar & molasses forward in my beans. Also when I make it again I will definitely drain the bacon fat before adding onions and garlic…..I do not enjoy oily/greasy beans. Of course if you cook,cool and refridgerate you can use recipe as is and remove the fat after it solidifies in the fridge. All in all a great recipe as is or a great starting point to make it your own.
Thank you, DoubleD, I’m happy you enjoyed it and appreciate the feedback!
How many 15oz cans of cooked beans would be equivalent to a pound of dry beans?
Hi Linda, I just Googled it and it says 1 pound of dried beans equals about four cans of beans.
Today I’m making these beans for the 2nd time. Delicious!
Wonderful, thank you so much Annie!
I really want to make this recipe to go with dinner tonight. Is there a quick soak method you would recommend so I can have the beans in the oven in time for dinner?
Hi Kimberly,
Regarding the slow cooker process, approximately what size of slow cooker would you recommend for this recipe? I was thinking maybe 5 quart (4.73 L).
Thanks, cheers! 🙂
Hi Julie! I use a 6 quart slow cooker and there’s plenty of room to spare, so 5 quart is perfect. Happy cooking! :)
I have to admit I’m personally not a fan of baked beans & I make them for my husband & daughter who love them. That being said I really, really loved these! I’m a converted fan! While we had them for supper tonight, I will be making a double order very soon! Best baked beans ever!
Yay!!!! That makes me smile, Beverly, I’m so thrilled that they were a hit all around, thank you so much for the positive feedback!
I have been trying to make baked beans from scratch for years and have given up. Just made this one. Perfect.. taste like my mom’s. Beans are tender, sauce is great. Now I will make them all the time. Thanks
That makes me happy, Don, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed them, thank you!