These Old Fashioned Baked Beans are made from scratch with a sweet and savory sauce. This is a family heirloom recipe for the BEST Homemade Baked Beans!
Baked Beans are a classic side dish for potlucks and summer picnics and pair perfectly with BBQ Chicken Legs, Chicken Burgers, Homemade Hamburgers, or Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Thighs.
Baked Beans from Scratch
My Papa was famous for a LOT of recipes, but he was known for his Baked Beans.
And once you have his version of baked beans, you will NEVER settle for any recipe! They are sweet, savory, tangy, and smokey--all in one recipe!
Ingredients for the Best Baked Beans
- Navy Beans-- 1 â…“ cups dried navy beans or 4 cups cooked navy beans
- Bacon--omit if looking for vegetarian baked beans
- Onion
- Tomato Sauce
- Brown Sugar
- Molasses
- Maple Syrup
- Dried Mustard--feel free to use prepared mustard instead
- Apple Cider Vinegar--to cut through the richness of these baked beans
- Apple Juice--to help create a sweet sauce with a little less refined sugars.
How to Make Homemade Baked Beans
Step One: Prepare the Beans
- Place dried beans in large container that can be sealed shut. Cover the beans with cold water and seal the container shut. Let the beans soak for 8-12 hours.
- Drain off the soaked beans.
- Place the beans in large stock pan and cover with fresh water.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer beans for 1 hour or until tender.
- Alternatively, you can prepare your dried beans WITHOUT soaking in the Instant Pot.
Full disclosure, my Papa used canned beans! Feel free to take that shortcut as well! Just measure the beans AFTER you rinse and drain them!
Step Two: Fry Bacon and Onions (optional)
- Turn a large saute pan to medium heat and place bacon in heated pan.
- Once bacon begins to render off it's fat, add in the diced onions.
- Saute for 2-3 minutes, just until the bacon BEGINS to crisp up.
Feel free to omit the bacon for vegetarian baked beans. If omitting bacon, just add the diced onion directly to the bean mixture--no need to saute.
Step Three: Make Baked Beans
- Mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, salt, dried mustard, and the bacon and onion mixture together.
- Add in the beans and stir gently.
- Add in the apple juice and water and stir again.
- Pour the beans into a 2 quart casserole dish or bean crock.
- If the beans look dry, stir in up to ½ cup more water.
Step Four: Bake the Beans
- Cover the casserole dish and bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees.
- Uncover, stir the beans and cook for an additional 30 to 60 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and thickened up.
Slow Cooker Baked Beans
If you would like to keep the heat out of your kitchen or don't have enough room in your oven, you can make these baked beans in the slow cooker.
- Prepare dried beans as directed.
- Saute bacon with onions.
- In the slow cooker, mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, salt, mustard, bacon, onions, and apple juice together. No need to add in extra water.
- Add in the beans and stir gently.
- Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours or high heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Can you use Pork and Beans for this Recipe?
I get asked frequently if you can use canned pork and beans or prepared baked beans (like Campbell's or Bush's Baked Beans) in place of the dried beans.
And the answer is YES, with a few modifications.
- Use 32 ounces of canned prepared baked beans.
- You will not need to add in tomato sauce, apple juice, or water.
- I would omit the maple syrup as well, or cut back on the sweeteners a tad as canned bake beans already are sweetened.
- Bake as directed.
The Secret to the Best Baked Beans
What truly makes these beans over the top is serving them with potato chips!
YES, potato chips!
My Papa taught me that trick and it is PERFECTION! The sweetness of the beans makes a perfect contrast to plain potato chips.
More Picnic Worthy Side Dishes
Baked Beans from Scratch
Ingredients
- 1 â…“ cups dried navy beans soaked overnnight
- 3 slices thick bacon chopped
- ¼ cup yellow onion chopped
- ½ cup tomato sauce or ketchup
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup brown sugar use up to ½ cup if you like REALLY sweet beans
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup apple juice or water
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Prepare Navy Beans
- Place dried beans in a container that can be fitted with a lid. Pour fresh water over the beans until the water is at least 1 inch above the beans. Seal the container shut. Soak beans for 8-12 hours.
- After soaking, drain the beans. Add the soaked beans to a large stock pan. Cover beans by 1 inch with fresh cold water.
- Bring water to a rapid boil, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour. Drain cooked beans well.
- Alternatively, you can speed up the process by cooking the soaked beans in the Instant Pot after they have been soaked (Navy beans' texture is best if soaked before cooking.)
For the Baked Beans
- Preheat oven to 300℉
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the sliced bacon. Cook until bacon begins to render fat and then stir in the chopped onion. Saute bacon and onions together until onions begin to soften and the bacon is browned and slightly crisp. This should take about 5-6 minutes. After browned, drain off the excess grease that the bacon has rendered.
- In a large bowl, mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, dried mustard, vinegar, apple juice, water, and salt until well combined. Add in bacon and onion mixture and cooked beans and gently stir to combine.
- Pour the bean mixture into a 2-quart oven-safe dish. Beans should be pretty well submerged in liquid and the mixture should be relatively loose. If there does not seem to be enough liquid in the baking dish, add up to ½ cup of additional water or juice. Cover the pan with foil or an oven-safe lid.
- Bake covered for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove the lid or foil, and bake for another 30-40 minutes, until thickened.
Notes
Nutrition
Paulette LaBrash
Excellent directions and delicious beans!
Debbie
Thanks, this looks like a great recipe. I may try it using a pureed apple or two instead of apple juice. We don't ever buy apple juice and I have sliced apples in the freezer. I may also try it without the brown sugar to start with and add to taste later in the process.
Joe
Fantastic base recipe. I added some garlic hot wing sauce and some Worcestershire sauce. Absolutely 💯
Nancy
Great flavor. It Did take a lot longer for the beans to cook than the three hours the recipe said. More like 4 hours before they got soft. Even with this, I will make this recipe again.
Natalie
Is this recipe good to make in advance and then freeze?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Natalie! Yes, you can freeze these baked beans with success. I would prepare as directed, allow them to cool fully, then transfer the beans to a freezer-safe airtight container or freezer-safe bag, leaving 1-2 inches of extra space for expansion. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, allow the beans to thaw fully in the refrigerator and then reheat the beans in a baking dish, covered with foil (or fitted with an oven-safe lid) at 300 degrees F for 45 minutes to warm through. Alternatively, you can microwave them in a heat-safe dish fitted with a heat-safe lid for 5 minutes, stopping to stir after every minute.
jaime
forgot to say in my first post........Store bought and alot of recipes online tend to make me sick as they rare tooo sweet. These baked beans are Perfectly balanced. Looking to try more of your recipes since this was such a winner!!
Jaime
LOVE this recipe,way better than anything canned. As a mom and grandma was wondering if i could make this in a slow cooker ?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Jaime! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed these! There are modifications in the post for making these in a slow cooker. You will want to prepare dried beans as directed and then saute bacon with onions in a skillet over medium-high heat. In the slow cooker, mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, salt, mustard, bacon, onions, and apple juice together. No need to add extra water. Add in the beans and stir gently. Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours or high heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Heidi
Hello, I’m using a 1lbs bag of dried navy beans. Would that be doubling the recipe? Thanks!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Heidi! One pound of beans is about 3 cups, which is slightly over doubling this recipe. However, I would recommend just doubling the other ingredients. If it looks too thick, add 2 tablespoons more juice and 1 tablespoon more maple syrup and a pinch of salt. Enjoy!
Caryl
This is probably the third time I've commented on this recipe, and it remains as great as it's always been. Just a note though on soaking beans. It's totally unnecessary and does nothing to reduce gas. Here's an article from the LA Times on that:
https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dont-soak-dried-beans-20140911-story.html
Mila Weiss
yum and so easy & flexible. thank you!