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Home ► Recipes ► American

Baked Beans

Updated: 10.03.23 | Marc Matsumoto | 5 Comments

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Making baked beans from scratch may take a bit of time, but there's nothing difficult about the process and the finished baked beans will put the canned variety to shame.
Recipe

Like most people, my experience with baked beans has mostly involved taking a can opener to a can of Van Camp's or Heinz and reheating. Taken objectively, canned baked beans are bland, with an insipidly sweet sauce whose only saving grace is an ample dose of vinegar, with the occasional bit of meat you may find tasting more like a piece of wet cardboard than any recognizable animal protein.

But the thing about food is that it can't be eaten objectively. Every food is inextricably linked to memories. For me, baked beans conjures up images of sitting around a crackling campfire and eating them straight out of the can, the smell of burning wood hanging in the air, infusing each bite with a marvelously smoky flavor.

Even if you've never tasted a food before, certain expectations are set by things you have heard, the atmosphere in which you taste it, or even your mood that day. Indeed, our likes and dislikes are often less about objective measures and more about our experiences. This also explains why our opinions of food can change based on good or bad experiences.

For my version of baked beans, I wanted to recreate childhood memories of sitting by the campfire, while using ingredients that are a better fit for my adult palette. These beans have a sweet, smoky sauce with bold, meaty flavor that's kept in check by the last minute addition of apple cider vinegar. Plenty of big chunks of bacon cut from a slab ensure that you're never hunting for the meat, and the satiny beans give way to a smooth creamy interior.

Whether you serve it alongside cornbread and barbecue, or as part of a fry-up, these baked beans will change your opinion of this classic staple, whether your past experiences have been good or bad. These beans would also make a wonderfully nostalgic pairing with my Jalapeño Cheddar Rolls, another re-creation of a childhood favorite.

📖 Recipe

Baked Beans

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 3 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Total Time 3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Yield 4 small portions

Units

Ingredients 

  • 210 grams dried navy beans (about 1 cup)
  • 100 grams slab bacon (cut into ⅓-inch cubes)
  • 150 grams onion (1 small onion, finely minced)
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 75 grams dark brown sugar (about ⅓ cup)
  • 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
  • ⅔ cup tomato juice
  • 1 ⅓ cups water
  • 5 whole cloves
  • salt (to taste)
  • ground black pepper (to taste)
  • 1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (to taste)

Instructions

  • Thoroughly wash the beans and add them to a bowl along with enough water to cover by at least 2 inches. Cover and let the beans rehydrate overnight.
  • The next day, add the bacon to a dutch oven in a single layer and fry over medium heat until it has browned on one side and then flip the pieces over and brown the other side. You don't need to crisp the bacon.
  • Add the onions and sauté until tender and brown.
  • Add the bourbon, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
  • Drain the soaked beans and add them in along with the brown sugar, mustard, tomato juice, water and cloves.
  • Bring the mixture to a simmer and then turn down the heat to low, cover and cook for 3 hours. Stir the beans periodically and add some water if the mixture gets too thick.
  • When the beans are very tender, salt and pepper to taste and then add the cider vinegar.
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  1. Marc Matsumoto says

    June 06, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Hi Kathy, you should be able to do it in the pressure cooker, but without trying I can't tell you what changes to make. Because there's a lot of sugar, I'd be concerned about it burning if the water gets too low, so you may want to use the pressure cooker to speed up cooking, but then drop the pressure and remove the lid and reduce the liquid if it's too thin.

    Reply
  2. Kathy says

    June 06, 2014 at 10:11 am

    This looks great, can it be done in a pressure cooker? How would you adjust the recipe (reduce water)? thanks.

    Reply
  3. CookingJar HappyAccidents says

    March 11, 2014 at 7:12 pm

    I used to 'dress up' my baked beans with thyme, hot sauce and some onions. Great recipe for made-from-scratch baked beans though. And look at dat egg yolk.

    Reply
  4. KB says

    March 11, 2014 at 12:09 am

    I like how you think, KD!

    Reply
  5. kathleenditommaso says

    March 09, 2014 at 5:14 am

    I love it. And here's where I'll take to the next Hawaii level: Rice, your loco moco beef pattie + your baked beans + eggs on top!! Oh so ono!! Wait: Ono Loco Matsumoto Baked Beans! Right?

    Reply
Marc Matsumoto

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