Homemade Baked Beans are a sweet and smoky potluck or picnic favorite!
These baked beans are rich and hearty, simmered in a thick brown sugar and ketchup sauce with smoky bacon, onions, peppers. They are a must-have comfort food classic!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: These beans are the perfect combination of sweet, tangy, and slightly smoky.
- Skill Level: No bean rinsing or soaking, this recipe is made with simple pantry ingredients to get the best homemade taste.
- Time-Saving Tip: These baked beans taste even better the next day. So, cook them up to two days ahead; this lets the flavors blend even more.
- Tools: I prefer a Dutch oven for this recipe, but any casserole dish or oven-safe dish will work as long as it has a lid (or use tin foil to cover it).
- Serving Suggestions: Baked beans are the classic side dish to country-style ribs , crunchy fried chicken, or juicy burgers. Keep them warm in a crockpot and let your crowd help themselves.
Ingredient Tips for Baked Beans
- Beans: Use your favorite baked beans that already have a sauce. Or, you can use unflavored canned beans too, such as navy beans, kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, or a combination for a signature recipe!
- Onions and Peppers: Sautéed onions and green peppers sweeten as they cook. Thinly sliced carrots will also add natural sweetness to baked beans.
- Sweet & Savory Sauce: Brown sugar and molasses add a deep, caramel flavor to the recipe. Honey or maple syrup can be swapped out for the molasses. Tangy apple cider vinegar, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce balance out the sweetness. If you don’t have these on hand, you can swap in Dijon mustard, yellow mustard, or white vinegar.
Favorite Variations
- If you’re using unflavored canned beans, don’t drain them. The liquid they come in will help thicken the sauce.
- Customize baked beans by adding in sliced hot dogs, summer sausage, diced ham, or tossing in a leftover ham bone to infuse the dish with even more smoky flavor.
- For a bigger tomato flavor, stir in an 8-oz can of tomato sauce or a can of Rotel tomatoes with added green chilis for a little heat!
- Green chilis and sliced jalapenos can be offered on the side for those who like it spicy!
Storing Leftovers
Keep leftover baked beans in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Enjoy them cold or reheat them in the microwave. They’re delish served on toast for breakfast or scooped over a baked potato for an easy workday lunch.
Freeze cooled baked beans in zippered bags for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or reheat from frozen on low heat in a slow cooker.
Perfect Pairings for Baked Beans
Did you make this Baked Beans Recipe? Leave a rating and comment below!
Equipment
- 4qt Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon chopped and cooked crispy
- 1 medium red onion finely diced
- ½ green bell pepper finely diced
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar * dark or light
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
- 2 (28 ounce each) can baked beans or pork and beans
Optional Garnish
- 2 green onions sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set the rack to the middle position.
- In a Dutch oven or deep ovenproof skillet, over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside, reserving 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the Dutch oven.
- Add the red onion and green bell pepper to the Dutch oven and cook until softened, stirring frequently.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and dry mustard to make the sauce.
- Add the beans and sauce to the the onion and green bell pepper. Stir well to combine.
- Cover the Dutch oven and bake covered for 90 minutes. Stir in the bacon, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnish, and cover. Bake 20 to 30 minutes more or until the sauce has cooked down to the desired consistency.
- Remove from the oven, uncover, and let the beans rest for 5 minutes to thicken the sauce. Garnish with reserved bacon and green onions if using. Serve.
Video
Notes
- For sweeter beans, add extra brown sugar – up to ⅓ cup.
- If you don’t have a Dutch oven, prepare the bacon, onions, & green peppers in a large skillet. Then mix with beans and other ingredients and transfer to a 3 qt. or 9 x 13-inch baking dish and cover with foil when baking.
- For the Slow Cooker: Prepare the recipe as directed, but cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Stir as needed.
- For the Stovetop: Prepare the recipe as directed in a large pot and simmer until desired consistency is reached, about 35 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water if needed.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Freeze beans in a zippered bag for up to 6 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
The sauce is lusciously layered with the piquant flavors of vinegar, molasses, and the sweetness of brown sugar and ketchup. The crown jewel of the recipe is bacon; its fat used to saute the onions and peppers gives deep flavor penetration. Soft white beans are coddled in this sweet tangy sauce. This is the best baked beans recipe. And it’s easy to make or make ahead and freeze for later.
I’m confused. Cook time at the top and in the comments calls for 3 hours but only 2 hours total bake time in the instructions. You also say you bake uncovered in the comments but instructions say to bake covered. Please clarify, I want to make these for the first time for Christmas. Thank you!
Hi Kim, the recipe has been updated since 2020 to ensure consistent delicious results. The current recipe instructions are the correct version. I hope that helps!
Are the canned beans supposed to be drained first?
The beans should not be drained.
For my first try ever to make baked beans our family loved these. I didn’t have any bacon so I subbed JDean crumbled turkey sausage. Next time I hope to use your recipe using exact ingredients… however we were very pleased with the results!!!! Thank you.
Glad you and your family enjoyed the beans, Marsha.
I made these for a birthday party. There were very few leftovers and everyone commented on how great they were.
Your bean dish looks fantastic. Can t wait to try it. Thanks a million. Heather
We hope you enjoy it, Heather! Thanks for trying our recipe.
Holly, You’re the best when it comes to making delicious, easy to prepare dishes !
So sweet of you, Paul! Thank you.
This was totally a hit, we had this baked beans for pot luck at church everybody loved it.
So glad this recipe was a hit, Eddie!
I loved it, froze the left overs in small size servings so I can defrost only what I need & not waste any.
Thanks, I have looked everywhere, for a good Baked Beans recipe.
Lise
So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi confused what kind of baked beans at the store lol and they all are seasoned. What are you all buying?
Any should work just fine Debbie! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Excellent easy recipe to make and so good.
have these in the oven now, but to cover or not to cover? I’m used to old fashioned baked beans, cooked very low, and covered. Any other time I’ve made “cheater” beans, it’s been in a crock pot, so obviously covered. This pan I have uncovered, but I’m watching carefully, just in case. I could see not covering them to reduce the sauce from the canned beans.
We bake them uncovered Emma. Enjoy!
Very delicious recipe. You may want to try using half the brown sugar. This is my go to recipe for baked beans.
That sounds delicious Charlene! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
These are delicious! I made them in my crock pot and added a can of black beans and will use less brown sugar next time. Will definitely make these over and over again.
If you are looking for a sugar “rush” this is the recipe for you. Or you can just eat sugar right out of the bag! It is worth reading the comments first, to any recipe, in order to see the “tweeks”. I used 1/2 the sugar called for, and it was still ALL to sweet! Such a disappointment. Keep looking for that baked bean recipe that won’t put you in diabetic shock!
Making these for a second time …they are awesome!
My question: why do you wait to add the bacon to the beans? Why not just add them to begin with?
Thanks!
If the bacon is added in the beginning, I don’t think it would end up being crispy, Debra!
Spend with Pennies how would the bacon get crispy when you put it in the pot raw?
Hi Jo, if added at the beginning the bacon will become overcooked since it is already cooked until crispy.
Loved it but a little too sweet. I will make it again but with only half the brown sugar.
Is cooking the baked beans for 3 hours correct.
Thanks
Hi Sherry, we do bake these beans for 3 hours. In step 10 and 11 you will see we bake for 2 hours, add in the bacon, then bake for another hour or so until it reaches out desired consistency.
WHY ?? cannot PRINT copy recipes.
You will find the print button on the recipe card Judith. You can also hit Ctrl F (or command F on Mac) and type “Print Recipe” and it will take you to the print button.
Baked beans do you use can been for that recipes
Yes we did Lorraine! Canned beans makes this recipe so fast to prep!