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 other classic sides to complement your BBQ or cook-off try my:

• Skillet Cornbread
• Creamy Coleslaw
• Freezer Slaw
• Macaroni Salad
• Potato Salad
• Broccoli Salad
• Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad
• Chicken Salad

Originally published on The Daring Gourmet August 30,2020