Land Your Man Baked Beans
1986 was the first time I made this dish. I was a newlywed and I was very eager to impress my in-laws! My father-in-law sat there and critiqued the dish, breaking down every ingredient… I was sweating bullets!! And then he walked up to me and told me “these are the best baked beans I have ever eaten!!” Since then I have been crowned the “Baked Bean Queen.” I even have people request them as a Christmas present. And for every family function, I don’t even ask anymore… I just bake & take. ENJOY!!
What Kind Of Pork To Use
Vicky Wasik
Before I move on to the method for making the beans, a quick word on the pork. Traditionally, the cut used is salt pork, which is the salted and cured slab of thick fat that runs along a pigs back. It adds a deep, pure pork flavor to the beans, but you do need to watch out for two things. First, if you use a piece of salt pork thats solid fat, with no stripe of muscle at all, you may want to cut the quantity slightly . If you dont, you can end up with some seriously greasy beansgood if youre a lumberjack, but not great otherwise.
Second, some salt pork comes with plenty of salt still clinging to it. If yours does, youll want to wash the excess off, lest your beans end up oversalted.
If you cant find salt pork, you can, of course, substitute slab or thick-cut bacon. Since bacon comes from the belly, the cut has a higher ratio of lean muscle to fat than salt pork does. You can stay at a half pound per pound of beans, or you can go wild and bump it up to three-quarters of a pound if you want them extra bacon-y. Thats not such a bad thing, since the bacon adds a smoky flavor thats probably not too far off from the taste of the beans back when the Pilgrims cooked them in the flickering embers of a dying wood fire.
About Doctoring Canned Baked Beans:
My favorite beans to use for this recipe are Bushs Baked Beans, the original flavor but this still works well with their Original, Brown Sugar, Onion and Homestyle beans. They have about 14 varieties now and I havent tried them all. I wouldnt use any of their Grillin Beans for this recipe.
When I have a little time on my hands and want my canned beans to taste like real home-style cooked for hours from scratch, I transform those canned beans. Into a large saucepan goes bacon and onion to cook until the bacon is rendered and the onion tender, then beans with some sweet brown sugar and deep, earthy molasses. A touch of ketchup adds a rich tomatoey vinegary goodness. Then thats all fortified with the faintest touch of vinegar and lots of mustard powder to give some tang to offset the sweet. Thats mysecret ingredient right there, the mustard powder. If Im really feeling it, I might add a whisper of ground ginger it gives a little zip, but that just depends on my mood.
Then I bake those beans in a casserole, in the oven, slowly, for a good hour, until the top has darkened and almost caramelized, the beans are bubbling and thoroughly hot throughout and the smell is just about driving everyone cray cray. And about the time someone asks, Arent those beans done yet? They are.
Doctoring Canned Baked Beans
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How Do You Reheat Baked Beans
How do you reheat baked beans? Ever got some leftover beans and just wanted to warm them up so they are perfect and Well it is a good thing that you landed on this page, as I will showcase the quickest and easiest options available when it comes to warming up/reheating your beans.
The good thing is wont take much, so look at the options below and see which ones work best for you.
Precook Beans And Save The Bean Water
Now top the beans up with enough fresh water to cover by a couple of inches, and add a generous pinch of salt to the pot.
I always cook my beans with some aromatics, like onion, carrot, garlic, and woodsy herbs such as rosemary, sage, bay leaf, and/or thyme. It’s not necessarily traditional to do this for Boston baked beans, but the aromatics always add enough of a flavor boost to all my bean dishes that I see no reason not to do it here as well.
Bring the pot to a gentle simmer, then cook the beans until they’re done. I made the mistake early on in my testing of precooking them to just shy of doneness, and the result was an endless baking time due to the powerful effect of molasses. Take my word for it: You want the beans creamy and tender before they even go in the oven.
While the beans are cooking, I prep the other ingredients, cutting the salt pork into large chunks, dicing the onion, and combining the molasses with the mustard, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Molasses is very thick, which makes it difficult to combine with the beans. The solution: As soon as the beans are done, take a couple of cups of the bean-cooking liquid and mix it with the molasses to thin it out. A lot of recipes have you drain and discard the cooking water and replace it with fresh water, but that’s a terrible idea. That bean water is loaded with bean starch and flavor, two things you absolutely want to keep in the bean pot.
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Best Southern Baked Beans Recipe
Side Dish 1 hr
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ThisSouthern Baked Beans Recipe makes the best baked beans! Its a perfect side dish for so many meals and a family favorite recipe for years! So savory, scrumptious and easy to make!
When you plan fun cookouts, summer get togethers, and potlucks during the year, baked beans are often a favorite dish to include. The best Ive ever tasted are my Southern Baked Beans with this family favorite recipe.
These baked beans go perfectly with so many favorite dishes like pulled pork, grilled chicken, hamburgers, ribs, and everything in between. They are a regular around here and it is definitely a recipe you want to keep in your arsenal!
How To Use Leftover Baked Beans
Need any ideas for leftover baked beans? Serve on top of pulled pork and slaw on a bun, stir in leftover chicken with cooked rice or another grain for a quick hash-like dish. You can also add to a soup for extra taste and texture.
OK I have my own version of this.All the spices in your recipe onions, mustard etc.Two large cans of Baked beans.Add a can of lima beansA can of Kidney bean.Use a full pound of thick sliced bacon. Cut it in one-inch squares cooked to your liking, my wife likes crispy. Use 2/3 in the mix save the last 1/3 to add on top.Add at least a pound of BBQAdd a package of Conecuh Sausage precooked.Dream Land BBQ sauce to your taste Cook in crockpot all day or until you cant take the smell anymore and have to get a bowl full.
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Can You Use Pork And Beans For This Recipe
I get asked frequently if you can use canned pork and beans or prepared baked beans in place of the dried beans.
And the answer is YES, with a few modifications.
- Use 32 ounces of canned prepared baked beans.
- You will not need to add in tomato sauce, apple juice, or water.
- I would omit the maple syrup as well, or cut back on the sweeteners a tad as canned bake beans already are sweetened.
- Bake as directed.
How To Bake Bacon
Baking bacon is my preferred way to cook it, since theres NO mess, and its pretty hands off.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with a double layer of aluminum foil . Lay out your bacon so theyre close but not actually touching.
Place baking sheet in a COLD oven, turn the oven on and preheat to 400°F. Immediately start a timer for 18-19 minutes.
No need to flip them or anything, just walk away until the timer beeps. If you like your bacon a bit crispier, youll probably want to bake an additional minute or two.
BUT FOR THIS RECIPE YOU DONT WANT TO COOK THE BACON ALL THE WAY THROUGH!
- So when I bake my bacon for baked beans, I only bake it about 10-12 minutes.
- My advice is to cook it about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way done. That way it will be nice and crispy once the beans are finished!
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How To Cook Canned Baked Beans
Thats simple. You can use any oven proof dish you like and mix your canned baked beans right in there. Then bake until they are hot all the way through and bubbling around the edges.
As they cook the baked beans will thicken and get a little sticky crust around the edgesthat makes them look like theyve had ages in the oven doing their thing.
Two: Fry Bacon And Onions
- Turn a large saute pan to medium heat and place bacon in heated pan.
- Once bacon begins to render off it’s fat, add in the diced onions.
- Saute for 2-3 minutes, just until the bacon BEGINS to crisp up.
Feel free to omit the bacon for vegetarian baked beans. If omitting bacon, just add the diced onion directly to the bean mixture–no need to saute.
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Ingredients In Baked Beans
Beans Starting with canned baked beans adds flavor and also makes these extra quick since theyre already tender! Dont drain the sauce from the beans, it will be enhanced in the recipe!
Bacon Bacon adds both salt and a nice smoky flavor.
Sauce Ketchup adds some tang to the sauce while molasses and brown sugar sweeten the sauce. Apple cider vinegar adds a bit of tang.
Green bell peppers and onions add flavor to the baked bean sauce, jalapenos and green chiles can also be added. Stir in a little bit of garlic if youd like!
More Picnic Worthy Side Dishes
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add in the sliced bacon. Cook until bacon begins to render fat and then stir in the chopped onion. Saute bacon and onions together until onions begin to soften and bacon is browned and slightly crisp. This should take about 5-6 minutes. Drain off excess fat off bacon.
- Mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, dried mustard, vinegar,apple juice, water, and salt together. Add in bacon and onion mixture and cooked beans and gently stir to combine.
- Pour bean mixture into a 2-quart oven-safe dish. Beans should be pretty well submerged in liquid and mixture should be relatively loose. If there does not seem to be enough liquid in the baking dish, add up to ½ cup additional water or juice. Cover pan with foil or oven-safe lid.
- Bake covered for 2 hours. Uncover and bake for another 30-40 minutes, until thickened.
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Storing Tips + Variations
They should last for about 5 days STORED in an airtight container in the fridge.
To REHEAT you may or may not have to add some extra liquid when reheating the baked beans because they tend to dry out. Reheat in the oven, on the stove, or in the crockpot until they are warmed through.
FREEZE the beans in an airtight bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw the beans overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or so.
Additions/Variations:
- For more spice add small diced jalapenos, hot sauce, or use a spicy chili sauce
- To make beans sweeter then you should up the amount of brown sugar you add, you can increase it to a ½ cup if you want.
- For a vegetarian version use vegetarian beans, instead of pork and beans, and omit the bacon.
- Consider adding a ½ to 1 Tablespoon of liquid smoke for a smokier taste.
- To make in an instant pot follow a similar process to make instant pot baked beans as you would use for instant pot pinto beans, except you are going to want to use bbq sauce and bacon as you cook them.
Other side dishes for a BBQ:
How To Keep Baked Beans Warm Or Make Them Ahead
I dont think most people mind to eat baked beans that are room temperature. We seem to do a lot of that in the Southbut if you want to keep yours really hot, bake them until boiling or really, really bubbling then transfer the whole pan into an insulated tote.
I have used this Temp-Tations brand insulated tote for decades and food is still hot or cold inside it for 8 hours or longer.
Ive never found anything that compares.
Your beans dont have any ingredients that make it risky to leave them out unrefrigerated, so if you want to bake them and then serve them a couple of hours later at room temperature thats also fine.
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What Goes Well With Baked Beans
Baked beans are always the perfect side dish for anything BBQ related! The dish is high in protein so its great to keep kids full and happy. Bring this to your next potluck or neighborhood party! My husband and I will sometimes just make veggie kabobs and make these beans as the side, yum! Parker loves to use a potato chip as a spoon when he eats these! But let me tell you, once you make these you will never go back to plain old baked beans because theyre just that good. Youll be looking for excuses to make these baked beans with every meal.
Are you drooling yet? Luckily we still have some of these baked beans in the fridge so I can eat some right after I write this post! My husband is always temped to make a half batch when its just for us but I always convince him to make a big pot because I know Im going to want plenty of leftovers.
This really is the best baked beans recipe ever. Like ever.
I love bringing a big pot of these baked beans to all our parties all year long! No matter the occasion these beans go great with every meal and everyone of every age loves them! Even my own picky kids keep asking me to make these every week. Happy cooking everyone!
Three: Make Baked Beans
- Mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, salt, dried mustard, and the bacon and onion mixture together.
- Add in the beans and stir gently.
- Add in the apple juice and water and stir again.
- Pour the beans into a 2 quart casserole dish or bean crock.
- If the beans look dry, stir in up to ½ cup more water.
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How To Make Homemade Baked Beans With Canned Beans
Even though I made these baked beans with canned beans, they taste like you let them cook low and slow in the oven for hours!
Step 1: Heat a 6-quart Emile Henry Ceramic Dutch oven or other Dutch oven over medium heat.
Step 2: Add the bacon and cook, stirring often, until it is just crisp and fat is rendered. Remove the bacon to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
Step 3: Add the onions and garlic to the bacon fat in the pan and sauté until soft and translucent.
Step 4: Add all of the other ingredients to the pot with the onions, including the cooked bacon.
Step 5: Bring the bean mixture to a simmer.
Step 6: Remove the stirring spoon, cover the pot with a lid and transfer to the oven.
Step 7: Bake until the sauce has thickened, 45 to 55 minutes.
Step 8: Let the homemade baked beans rest out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving.
Saving Money On Doctoring Canned Baked Beans:
Canned beans really do scream summer and barbecues and cookouts. Watch or them on sale sporadically through the summer and especially before every holiday. The price can get surprising low. Stock up at the low it never hurts to have a can or two on hand to fill out a meal and once you try this recipe, you might be wanting to make them more often.
Bacon is one item I really shop strategically for. Its generally on sale before every holiday, often at half price. Since it doesnt take up much room in the freezer, it makes sense to stock up on bacon, too.
Ive pretty much always baked and always have molasses on hand. It keeps for years, just be sure the cap and lip of the bottle are clean before storing back in the pantry or youll never get it open again. A little molasses, along with white sugar, make brown sugar so its handy to have some molasses in the pantry if you dont regularly use brown sugar. If your brown sugar has hardened, either add a piece of bread to the bag and let sit overnight or place in the microwave, cover with a damp paper towel and microwave in 30-second intervals.
Doctoring Canned Baked Beans
Shortcut this recipe by draining off the excess liquid from the top of the can and baking for 30 minutes.
- Total Time:1 hour 10 minutes
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