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This Homemade Baked Beans recipe is made from scratch with a rich, sweet, savory sauce that tastes so much better than anything from a can. Made with navy beans, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, and bacon (if desired), this recipe delivers classic baked beans that are perfect for everything from summer cookouts to holiday dinners.
This baked bean recipe was passed down from my Papa and has been a staple at nearly every family gathering for generations. And while they are always right at home next to grilled BBQ chicken breasts and classic burgers, these old-fashioned baked beans fit in just as easily at a Sunday dinner alongside baked ham and my great-grandma's Texas sheet cake.
Homemade Baked Beans Recipe at a Glance
- Yield: 10 generous side dish servings
- Options for Prep: Start with dried beans OR canned beans for a shortcut
- Flavor: Sweet, tangy, smoky sauce that is not overly sweet
- Dietary Note: Dairy-free & easy to make vegetarian
- Heirloom Family Recipe Generations-old recipe with hundreds of 5-star reviews
Recipe Highlights
Kristen's Keys for Homemade Baked Beans
To replicate the flavor and texture that made my Papa's baked beans so well loved (and guarantees the pan is scraped clean), pay attention to the following tips:
- Do not undercook the beans before baking. The navy beans should already be tender before they go into the oven. If they are still firm, they will stay firm no matter how long they bake.
- Use a combination of molasses, brown sugar, and maple syrup to sweeten the baked beans. Together, they create a sauce that is rich and nuanced rather than overly sweet.
- Cook low and slow. Cooking the baked beans at a low temp lets the flavors develop without drying out the beans.
- Serve baked beans with potato chips. Okay this is technically optional, but the sweet and salty combination is magical. Try it once and you may forgo utensils permanently!
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
5-Star Reader Review
This is by far the best baked beans from scratch recipe. Following the recipe as written, results in a perfect outcome. The beans are rich, sweet and paired with brown bread and ham, a perfect wintery Saturday night supper. -Cynthia C.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ingredients for Homemade Baked Beans
These old-fashioned baked beans use simple pantry staples, but each ingredient helps build that signature sweet-and-savory flavor.
- Navy Beans: The classic choice for baked beans, as they are creamy, tender, and soak up the sauce beautifully. This recipe includes instructions for both dried beans and canned beans, so you can choose what works best for your schedule.
- Bacon (optional): Bacon adds smoky depth, but the recipe is still fantastic without it. In fact, both of my kids prefer bacon-free baked beans. (My Papa would be shocked by this!)
- Maple Syrup, Brown Sugar & Molasses: This trio creates the BEST baked bean sauce. Maple syrup adds warmth, brown sugar brings caramel-like sweetness, and molasses gives the beans richness, color, and that classic baked bean flavor.
- To Flavor: Tomato sauce, dried mustard, apple cider vinegar, and minced onion balance the sweetness and give these baked beans their rich, tangy flavor.
- Apple Juice: Sounds unexpected, but it helps create that saucy texture, while adding additional flavor that water alone can't duplicate. Be sure to use 100% apple juice, not sweetened or flavored juice.
How to Make Baked Beans from Scratch
Don't let the process of making baked beans from scratch intimidate you, it is really quite simple! I have even provided a few modifications to speed things up without sacrificing any flavor!
Step One: Soak and Cook Dried Beans
If starting this recipe with dried navy beans, place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water by several inches. Let soak overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
After soaking, drain, add to a large pot, cover with fresh water, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once bubbling, reduce the heat and simmer until tender, but not falling about. about 45-60 minutes.
If starting with canned beans, skip this step.
Step Two: Pan-Fry Bacon (Optional)
Add diced bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until fat begins to render off the bacon.
Add the minced onion to the rendered fat and partially cooked bacon and continue cooking until the onion is softened and bacon is lightly crisp, about 4-5 minutes.
Not adding bacon? Skip this step and simply mix the raw minced onion into the beans. They will soften as the baked beans bake.
Step Three: Combine Beans + Bacon + Sauce
In a large mixing bowl, mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, salt, mustard with the apple juice and water until evenly combined.
Add the cooked (or drained canned beans), bacon, and onion and gently fold until the beans are coated in the sauce.
At this stage, the sauce will look a little thin. That's normal. As the beans bake low and slow, the sauce thickens into that rich, glossy consistency everyone wants in classic baked beans.
Step Four: Bake
Transfer the prepared baked bean mixture to a baking dish, cover with foil, and bake at 300℉ for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove the foil, give everything a gentle stir, and continue to bake for 30-60 minutes, or until sauce thickens and clings to the beans.
Step Five: Serve
Now grab a spoon or a bag of potato chips and dig in! The salty crunch with the sweet, saucy beans? My Papa swore by it and after one bite, you will too.
Recipe Variations & Modifications
- Baked Beans with Canned Beans: Replace the dried beans with 4 cups of rinsed and drained canned navy beans (~3 cans of navy beans). My Papa often started with canned beans himself to save time!
- Baked Beans with Pork and Beans: Combine 32 ounces of canned pork and beans (or prepared canned baked beans) with 2 teaspoons of dried mustard powder and ¼ each of brown sugar, molasses, and minced onion. Bake as directed for a shortcut that still tastes homemade.
- Slow Cooker Homemade Baked Beans: Prepare the baked bean recipe up to baking, omitting the added water. Pour the bean mixture into a large slow cooker and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours or high heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. This is especially nice in the heat of the summer!
- Vegetarian Homemade Baked Beans: Omit the bacon from the recipe and skip sautéing the onion and add it right to the baked bean sauce. The baked beans will still have plenty of flavor!
- Make them Sweeter: Add an extra ¼ cup brown sugar or swap the tomato sauce for ketchup.
- Use the Instant Pot to cook the soaked navy beans for a hand-off approach. Follow my Instant Pot dried beans recipe to cook the soaked navy beans.
- No Dried Mustard? Replace with 1 tablespoon of prepared yellow mustard.
- No Apple Cider Vinegar? Distilled white vinegar works just as well.
Storage Tips
Homemade baked beans can be served warm from the oven, at room temperature, straight from the fridge, or reheated. And honestly, the flavor actually improves after chilling as the sauce thickens and the beans continue soaking up flavor.
- Refrigerate: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Transfer the cooled baked beans to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheat: Transfer the refrigerated or thawed baked beans to a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 300℉ for 45 minutes, or until warmed through. Alternatively, microwave in a heat-safe dish, covered with a lid or damp paper towel, in 60-second intervals, stirring between each interval, until warmed through.
More Picnic Worthy Recipes
If you love my Papa's old-fashioned baked beans recipe, don't miss these other family favorites:
- Old Fashioned Potato Salad -- another summer staple from my Papa
- Sour Cream Cucumber Salad -- my mom's contribution to every summer picnic
- Tri Color Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing -- it didn't matter who, but someone had to bring this!
- Mini Cheesecakes with Vanilla Wafer Crust --my cousin always made these and they are perfect for individual servings
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Baked Beans from Scratch
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups dried navy beans, soaked overnnight
- 3 slices thick bacon, chopped
- ¼ cup minced yellow onion
- 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 1⅓ cups dried navy beans in a large bowl 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 at room temperature 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 or until beans are tender but not falling apart. 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℉ (150℃).
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the diced bacon and cook until bacon begins to render fat and then stir in the minced onion. Sauté 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 ½ cup tomato sauce, ¼ cup molasses, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup pure maple syrup, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, ½ cup apple juice, and ½ cup water until well combined. Gently fold in the beans, bacon, and onions.
- 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, or until thickened.
Equipment
- Large skillet (my favorite non-toxic nonstick pan)
- 2-Quart Dish (I have owned this dish for 20+ years!)
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in 2015 and updated in 2026.
Recipe looks good, but no specifics on ingredients
Hi Tim! I am sorry you are having issues finding the ingredients. They are all in the recipe card listed out in amounts with specific instructions. Hope that helps.
Soooo tasty. I did cut the sugar back some with the double batch I made. Plenty sweet still. Tasty!
So glad you enjoyed Kimm!
I made these for a family get together and I had to triple the recipe. I followed everything except I used great northern beans because I had them on hand. After baking I took out of the oven and let sit for 30 minutes and the beans were hard and dried out. I let the beans soak overnight and they cooked for 90 minutes even then they were not entirely soft but figured all the time in the oven would soften them more. I ended up putting them in the crock pot and adding all the wet ingredients again. Even after 4 hours in the crock pot you still ran across a crunchy bean!! The flavor was excellent so maybe the recipe wasn't meant to be tripled? I'll definitely make again but next time I'm using canned beans that was way too much fuss! There was leftovers and we used for beans and weiners which went even better with the potato chips.
Hi Melissa! I am so glad you enjoyed the flavor. About your crunchy beans--did you not triple the soaking water or cooking water? Or did you salt the water? Either of those could cause the issue. That may have caused the issue. By all means--used canned beans to make it easier on yourself 🙂
I have no idea how you all got your beans to be soft and not like little pebbles. I tried this twice and the only difference is that I used a dutch oven instead of a bean crock and it took me 5 hours in the oven and an extra 1-2 cups of water for the beans to soften.?????
Hi Lane! I am so sorry you had issues. Did you simmer your soaked beans for 1 hour before baking? That would be the reason they dried out and hard. I hope that helps.
Hi Kristin! I forgot to boil my beans before mixing them into the sauce! If I follow Lanes method (adding more water and cooking for longer) do you think that would do the trick? TIA!
It is worth a try Kat--better than tossing in the trash! I doubt your beans will as soft as desired--Lane himself did not have success. Keep us posted on your results--they may get close!
Hi
This recipe looks delicious and I will be making it tomorrow. You said we can use cooked beans, I was wondering would the oven/cooking time Be reduced and if so by how much. Thanks - so many great looking recipes here.
Hi Jessica! The baking time will remain the same if using canned beans (because if you used dried beans you must simmer first.) I hope you enjoy! And find many other recipes here you love!
I'm planning on making these tomorrow. I love a kick and tang to my beans. Can I add BBQ sauce in place of the tomato sauce or maybe do 1/2 BBQ and 1/2 tomato? The recipe looks awesome! Can't wait to eat them!
BBQ sauce in place of the tomato sauce will be delicious, but you may want to decrease the sugar slightly, as the BBQ sauce is sweetened. I hope you enjoy!
Hi there.. Im wondering if I can do the final step in a slow cooker rather than the oven. If yes how long in a slow cooker?
Hi Val! You can certainly cook in the slow cooker on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours, just keep in mind you will want to remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking time to allow the liquid to evaporate. Enjoy.
This is unnecessarily Loaded with sugars, 31g per serving, wow!
Hi Maura. If you read my post, I comment that these are a special occasion and as sweet as a dessert. I would agree these should not be eaten on a daily basis. And they are delicious if you cut the sugar in half...it just isn't my Papa's recipe then