From Scratch Terrific Homemade Baked Beans!

Beans are super healthy, and make easy, less costly meals compared to using other proteins. We love baked beans, and while that usually means opening a can and either just heating them up, or dressing them up a little with other ingredients from the pantry, homemade from scratch baked beans are easy, economical, and quite tasty!

Baked beans started with some some kind of dried bean. Navy beans are probably most common bean to use, but I have some lovely cranberry beans in the pantry. So why not use them?

Dried beans take some time – either you need to soak overnight, or cover with water and bring them to a boil and let them sit an hour. I often use my Instant Pot or Ninja Foodie (or any other pressure cooker is fine) to cook them faster. Let’s face it, I seldom plan ahead enough to get them out the night before to soak.

Sauteed onions and bacon can be the basis for a lot of good things, and baked beans are no exception!

I used a combination of tart and sweet tastes – molasses, ketchup, maple syrup, brown sugar, apple cider, apple cider vinegar and dried mustard. All common ingredients used for baked beans, but not all of them in all baked beans. Make sweeter with more brown sugar, or use less for a tarter flavor. The result is a tart – sweet pan of baked beans that are tastier than any canned beans.

If you don’t have a Dutch oven, make in a large pan and pour into an oven safe dish to bake.

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Homemade From Scratch Baked Beans

Make a big pot of sweet tasty baked beans perfect for a picnic or a side to any meal

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword baked beans’, homemade baked beans, sweet spicy baked beans
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dried beans, soaked and cooked most of the way
  • water, as needed
  • 1 tsbp oil
  • 3-4 slices bacon, diced
  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup molassses
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp dried mustard
  • 1/2 cup apple cider
  • 1/2 cup water

Instructions

  1. Simmer beans until almost soft, if not prepared in advance.

  2. Heat the dutch oven over medium heat, add a tablesppon of oil, then the onion and diced bacon. Cook until the onions are softened and bacon browned & crisp.

  3. Remove from heat and add the ketchup, molasses, sugar, maple syrup, salt, pepper and dried mustard. Stir well to combine, then stir in the apple cider, apple cider vinegar and water.

  4. Return the beans to the pan and stir into the sauce. Add more water if the mix seems too thick, keeping in mind the beans will absorb more moisture as they finish cooking. Adjust seasoning if needed.

  5. Bake at 350F for 30-40 mintues until bubblilng.

Try making baked beans from scratch – like almost anything else, they taste better than the canned version!

What kind of beans do you prefer?

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2 thoughts on “From Scratch Terrific Homemade Baked Beans!”

  1. Gwenn says:

    how much apple cider vinegar?
    The recipe my great aunt use to make is almost the same as yours except no apple cider or maple syrup, and boy was that yummy!

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