The Best Homemade Baked Beans {with bacon}

These homemade baked beans from scratch use pantry staples and are so simple to make! There’s a rich tomato base, along with molasses, brown sugar, bacon and rosemary.  Delicious on their own or as a hearty side to dinner. Beans never tasted so good!

This 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…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 😀 I’ll share the card after Valentine’s Day in my Instagram story so be sure to follow along. Do you do anything special with your sweetie or your gal pals?  Now, there’s nothing sexier than beans (HA), so let’s get to it 😉 —>

Are Beans Good For You? Why you Should Eat Beans

Yes!  Beans are something that we regularly eat at home and you should to!  Why?

-Beans are loaded in fibre, protein, vitamins and are low fat, which means they are good for you and fill you up.

-Beans are versatile!  You can make old fashioned homemade baked beans (like here, of course), put ’em in soups, salads, and they are fabulous in dips.

-Beans are freakin’ cheap (especially dried beans)! You can buy a huge bag for a couple bucks and can get a whole bunch of meals from one bag.

How to Make Old Fashioned Baked Beans From Scratch

There’s nothing complicated with making these homemade baked beans and all of the ingredients are simple pantry staples.

For this recipe you want to use dried navy beans (not pre-processed canned beans).

STEP 1:  PREPARE BEANS

-You should firstly pick over the beans (i.e. remove any foreign objects, like rocks, and any imperfect beans).

-Then, rinse the dried beans 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 & FLAVOURINGS

-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 POT UP 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.

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!

Homemade baked beans 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.

In the summer, who doesn’t love baked beans sitting around a campfire? Lately, hubby & I have enjoyed a side of beans 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 🙂

Tips & Variations for Making Homemade Baked Beans from Scratch

–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.

–Check on 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 1/2 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?  These homemade baked beans still taste delicious!  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.

Can you Freeze Homemade Baked Beans?

YES! As an added bonus, these baked beans 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!

If you enjoy these scratch baked beans as much as we do, I’m pretty sure you’ll be going back to the pot for seconds 😉

Looking for more Freezer Friendly Meals? Check These Out!

Curried Green Lentils and Kale

Smoky Baked Black Beans

Three Bean Chili

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Until next time take care and chit chat again soon!

P.S. If you think these easy baked beans will make your belly happy too, please be sure to hit that little Pin button down below.  Many thanks, you guys! XO

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5 from 7 votes

The Best Homemade Baked Beans {with bacon}

These homemade baked beans uses pantry staples and are so simple to make! There's a rich tomato base, along with molasses, brown sugar, bacon and rosemary. Delicious on their own or as a hearty side to dinner.

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Canadian

Keyword baked beans, scratch made beans

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 5 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 5 hours 50 minutes

Servings 8 people

Calories 234kcal

Author Dawn Coombs

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried navy beans -soaked overnight
• 1 can whole tomatoes -about 796ml can
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion -chopped
• 2 cloves garlic -minced
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes -or to taste
• 2 sprigs rosemary -minced, or 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 8 slices bacon
• 4 cups water -more, as necessary, for desired consistency
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp 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 go, preheat oven to 375 F. Place bacon on parchment paper covered baking sheet and cook until crisp, 15-20 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 325F.
• Place canned tomatoes in dutch oven (about 5-6 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 (about 4 cups - it will be a lot, but it will reduce and thicken as the beans cook).  Stir.
• Cook for about 5.5 - 6 hours, covered, carefully checking on every 2 hours or so by stirring, making sure beans don't burn or stick. Top up with water (if necessary and to your desired consistency). 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 1/2 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.

Tried this recipe? That's awesome!Mention @dawn.girlheartfood or tag #girlheartfood!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 234kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 442mg | Potassium: 581mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 4.9% | Vitamin C: 4.8% | Calcium: 8% | Iron: 12.8%