These homemade baked beans with bacon are made with pantry staples, they’re so simple to make and incredibly delicious! There’s a rich tomato base, along with molasses, brown sugar and rosemary. Enjoy on their own or as a hearty side with dinner. Oven baked beans never tasted so good!
This oven baked beans recipe was originally published in July of 2015 and has been updated.
Hey everyone! How’s it goin’? Are you all ready for Valentine’s Day? Our fur baby’s birthday is that day (he’ll be 8!) so, of course, he is top priority.
But, I’m sure hubby and I will do something special to celebrate, like make a nice meal or something. Cards all lined up and ready to go.
I usually get hubby a mushy one and a funny one. I gotta say, the funny one was so funny, I chuckled out loud in the store!
Do you do anything special with your sweetie or your gal pals? There’s nothing sexier than baked beans with bacon (ha), so let’s get to it!
This recipe is definitely a dish that is perfect all year-round! Just think about it – they are great in the winter after coming in from outside; they warm ya up and fill your belly.
And in the summer, who doesn’t love baked beans sitting around a campfire? Lately, hubby & I have enjoyed ’em with steak for supper. Have a glass of wine with it and that’s fine dining I tell ya!
Baked beans has it goin’ on – well, you know, as far as beans goes 🙂
Benefits of Beans
Beans are something that we regularly eat at home. Why?
- Just looking at the bean package, you’ll notice that beans are loaded with fibre, protein, vitamins and are low fat (which means they are good for you and fill you up).
- Versatile! For instance, you can make old fashioned homemade baked beans (like here), put ’em in bean soup, salads, and they are fabulous in dips and quesadillas.
- Beans are pretty budget friendly (especially dried beans)! You can buy a huge bag for a couple bucks and can get a whole bunch of meals from one bag.
Best Bean To Use
For this recipe you want to use dried navy beans (not canned beans).
How to Make Baked Beans with Bacon
There’s nothing complicated with making this recipe (which I’m a huge fan of). All of the ingredients are simple pantry staples.
Step 1: Prepare Beans
Firstly pick over the beans (that is, remove any foreign objects, like rocks, and any imperfect beans).
Then, rinse them with fresh, cold water
Place the dried beans in a large bowl, cover with fresh, cold water and let them soak overnight. You can store them in the fridge as they soak.
Then, the next day, remove them from the water/drain, rinse again with fresh, cold water and they are ready to use!
Step 2: Cook Bacon
Crisp bacon in the oven and crumble once cool enough to handle.
Step 3: Add Bean Base to Pot
Combine canned tomatoes, tomato paste, molasses, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce in a large dutch oven or similar pot. Blitz with an immersion blender until smooth OR using a potato masher to break up.
Step 4: Add Aromatics and Seasonings
Next, add bay leaves, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, rosemary, crumbled cooked bacon and black pepper. Stir to combine all those goodies!
Step 5: Top up Pot With Water
You want enough liquid in the pot because the beans need that to cook. Plus, water will be absorbed through cooking/heating. Stir water in.
Step 6 : Cook
Bake, checking on every so often by stirring and adding more water, as necessary.
Tip: When beans are tender and cooked to your liking, add a little more water if you like things looser. Remove bay leaves and season with salt to taste. Enjoy!
Good news – other than crisping the bacon first, all of the ingredients are placed in one pot and baked for about 6 hours. Nothing to it!
Can I Freeze Beans?
Yes!
As an added bonus, these baked beans with bacon freeze really well so you can make a batch and have ready to go when you just don’t have the time to cook.
After they have cooled, portion them up and place into vacuum seal bags. Spread the sealed bags out flat and place in the freezer.
You’ll have a delicious meal ready when you are!
More Helpful Tips & Variations
Soak beans overnight in a bowl of cold water. Ensure that the beans are fully covered.
When prepping the beans for the oven, if you don’t have an immersion blender, you can easily mix the wet ingredients (tomatoes, etc) by mashing with a potato masher.
You’ll want to check on the beans every 2 hours or so to check and see if more water is required and they aren’t sticking to the pot. I will usually add about ½ cup to a cup of water at a time, if necessary, to loosen the mixture up.
If you want a slightly ‘creamier’ consistency in the tomato based sauce, after the beans are cooked you can remove about a cup of beans and blitz with an immersion blender or mash with a potato masher. Then, add back to the pot. Stir to combine.
Want to omit the bacon? Everything will still taste delicious! For instance, I’ve also used cubed, cooked ham or even shredded, cooked pork instead of bacon in this recipe. You can add either ham or pork during the last hour of the bean cooking time.
Make It A Meal!
Round things out with some cheesy skillet cornbread for dunking in that rich tomato sauce. A lovely side salad is delish too.
And, if you’re looking for other delicious bean recipes, another fave of mine is Newfoundland boiled beans (my dad’s recipe) or my smoky baked black beans.
Hope you enjoy these baked beans with bacon as much as we do. I’m pretty sure you’ll be going back to the pot for seconds 😉
If you make these old fashioned baked beans, be sure to leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed! Thank you!
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The Best Homemade Baked Beans With Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried navy beans (soaked overnight)
- 796 millilitre can whole peeled tomatoes (a little more than 3 cups)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 yellow onion , peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 2 sprigs rosemary , minced (or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary)
- 8 slices bacon
- 4 to 6 cups water (more, as necessary, for desired consistency)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Pick over beans (i.e. remove any foreign objects, like rocks, and any imperfect beans). Rinse with fresh, cold water by using a colander. Soak beans overnight in refrigerator (put beans in a bowl and generously cover with fresh, cold water).
- The next day, when you are ready to make, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place bacon on parchment paper covered baking sheet and cook until crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes (or you could fry bacon on stovetop on medium heat until crispy). Drain grease. Once cool enough to handle, crumble bacon. Lay to one side. Reduce heat in oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place canned tomatoes in dutch oven (about 5 to 6 quart size) along with tomato paste, molasses, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Blitz with an immersion blender to combine (or break up tomatoes with a potato masher). Drain beans and rinse again with fresh, cold water. Add them to the pot.
- Next, add bay leaves, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, rosemary, reserved cooked bacon, and black pepper. Stir to combine. Top up with water (start with about 4 cups – it will be a lot, but it will reduce and thicken as the beans cook). Stir.
- Cook for about 5.5 to 6.5 hours, covered, carefully checking on every 2 hours or so by stirring, and adding more water (if necessary) making sure beans don't burn or stick.
- Once beans are at desired doneness, season with salt. Remove and discard bay leaves. Enjoy!
Notes
- I like to check on the beans every 2 hours or so to check and see if more water is required and they aren’t sticking to the pot. I will usually add about ½ cup to a cup of water at a time, if necessary, to loosen the mixture up.
- When prepping the beans for the oven, if you don’t have an immersion blender, you can easily mix the wet ingredients (tomatoes, etc) by mashing with a potato masher.
- More recipe tips in body of post above.
Nutrition information (if provided) is provided as a courtesy and should be considered an estimate only. Ingredients can vary and Girl Heart Food makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Nutrition (estimate only)
