Homemade Baked Beans

Name: Homemade Baked Beans
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 330 min
Total time: 350 min
Yield: 8 people
Ingredients: 2 cups dried navy beans; 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)

February 12, 2018 Updated: February 12, 2019 By Girl Heart Food 34 Comments

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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! You can buy a huge bag for a couple bucks and can get a whole bunch of meals from one bag. Dry beans are the most budget friendly, but canned beans are also inexpensive. If you do buy canned beans, make sure you get the ‘unsalted’ variety, drain them and rinse them before using. They are not used in this recipe, but I do regularly stock them in our pantry for quick meals (like my white chicken chili).

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). You should place the dried beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water and let them soak overnight. Then, the next day, remove them from the water and they are ready to use! Other than crisping the bacon first, all of the ingredients are placed in one pot and baked for about 6 hours. Nothing to it!

Pre-soak beans overnight.
Crisp bacon in the oven. Crumble.
Place all ingredients in a dutch oven and bake.
Check on every so often, topping up water (ensuring there is enough liquid), as necessary.
Season.
Enjoy!

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 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 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.
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!

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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

5 from 7 votes