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The molasses-spiked flavor and wonderful texture of these old fashioned Baked Beans from Scratch is a real treat. A great potluck choice!
Although I have a couple of very good recipes for baked beans that call for the canned variety, there’s nothing like a great big pot of baked beans from scratch. It’s the way my mom used to do it and that distinctive slow-cooked, molasses spiked taste takes me straight back to my family dinner table. There’s a little more labor involved and definitely more time is required but the effort is so worth it.
When I made this batch, I doubled the recipe and used my vacuum sealer to seal up individual packets of the leftovers. It is incredibly convenient to be able to grab those packets straight from the freezer to add to our dinner menu at the last minute. Just run them under warm water for a few minutes, snip open the packets, and finish warming them in the microwave.
I think they are almost even better on the reheat.
How to Make Baked Beans From Scratch
There are several varieties of dried beans that I like to use when I make beans from scratch. The beans you see above are great northern beans but I’ve also had great success with navy or pink beans.
Start by rinsing the beans with cool water and picking out any pebbles or debris (if any). Transfer the beans to a large Dutch oven and cover with cold water by about 2″. Cover the pot and let it sit overnight. The next day, drain the beans and cover with the same amount of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and let the beans simmer for 1 hour.
I’ve included two methods for prepping the beans on the printable recipe below. I’m describing the old school, overnight method here but if you want to make and serve them the same day, you’ll want to opt for the quick soak method.
Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid.
To the drained beans, add chopped onion, ketchup, molasses, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and one cup of the cooking liquid; reserving the rest. For the precise measurements, see recipe below.
If you happen to have a ham bone on hand, it goes in now. This recipe does not require a ham bone. Most of the time that I make these, I substitute cooked, crumbled bacon but when I bake a ham for the holidays I use it as an excuse to make a batch of baked beans the following day.
Kitchen Tip
To keep your the ham bone from your holiday ham nice and fresh until you are ready to use it, wrap the ham bone with meat attached tightly with plastic wrap and then with heavy duty foil or, even better, vacuum seal it. Pop it in the freezer and next time you’re ready to cook some beans, just thaw it out and you’re ready to go.
Tuck that ham bone (if using) down into the beans and add a bay leaf.
Cook, covered, in a 300 degree oven for a long, long time. I did these for about 4-1/2 hours. They are ready when the beans are very tender and the sauce has thickened to your liking. You should check them periodically while they cook and add additional cooking liquid if necessary to be sure they have a nice, saucy consistency.
Remove the pot from the oven and transfer the ham bone to a cutting board. Much of the meat will have come off the bone and be left behind in the beans, which is precisely what we want. Pull of the remaining meat and cut it up into small bite-sized pieces. If there are any larger pieces in the beans, you can remove those and chop them as well.
Transfer the chopped ham back to the beans and you are ready to serve.
Trust me, anyone who has been in or near your house while these are cooking will be waiting anxiously to eat them. Beans from scratch cooking in the oven make your house smell incredible.
Baked Beans from Scratch
Ingredients
- 1 pound package dry great northern, navy, or pink beans
- Lots of water
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt plus additional if desired
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper plus additional if desired
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 meaty ham bone omit if using bacon
- 4 slices thick-sliced bacon cooked and crumbled (omit for ham bone)
Instructions
Overnight Soak Method:
- Rinse and pick through beans removing any small pebbles or debris. Transfer beans to a large pot and pour in enough water to cover by about 2". Cover the pot and let the beans soak overnight.
- The next day, drain the beans and cover with the same amount of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and let simmer for 1 hour. Drain beans, reserving liquid.
Quick Soak Method:
- Rinse beans; place in a large pot and add enough water to cover by about 2". Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse. Return beans to pot and add same amount of fresh water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 1 hour or until beans are tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid.
To Cook The Soaked Beans:
- In a large oven safe pot, Dutch oven or baking dish, combine soaked beans, 1 cup cooking liquid, onion, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, salt, mustard, pepper, bay leaf, and bacon (only add bacon if not using ham bone). Mix well. If using ham bone, tuck it into the beans. Cover and bake at 300 degrees for 4-1/2 to 5 hours or until beans are very tender and sauce has thickened to desired consistency. Stir occasionally and add more of the reserved cooking liquid if needed during cooking time.
- At end of cooking time remove and discard bay leaf. Remove ham bone (if using) to a cutting board and pull off any good meat with a fork and return it to the beans. Discard bone and fatty meat. Taste beans and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Nutrition
If you are looking for a quicker method with a delicious result, you’ll want to check out my favorite recipes for baked beans made with canned beans.
Ryan’s Favorite Beans – substantial, beefy, and delicious. A long running family favorite.
Kielbasa Baked Beans – Delicious as a hearty side dish or spoon them over rice for a delicious meal!
Spicy Baked Beans – baked beans with a kick! These beans have just the right amount of sweetness and a great smokey flavor.
Bob D Harms says
Thanks Valerie I mess with everything I cook it seems trying to get the right blend. Beans from scratch is a favorite, and your recipe is perfect. I have my moms two handled bean pot. Miss her, my wife and I enjoy cooking and being retired we have time for these moments. I just tasted them and they are on their way to perfect thanks
Valerie says
I’m so glad the recipe worked well for you! Happy to know that you’re putting that bean pot to good use 🙂
Joe says
Just tried the baked beans recipe and it was great. I jacked it up a bit. I added blended maple syrup,bourbon,red pepper flakes and basil.
matt says
Truth be told on second thought you ARE right about longer cooking for the beans. I found mine too hard after my agenda so put the pot back in for almost two more hours at 300 and end result much more baked bean friendly…
Lindsay says
I use navy bean, I have made these twice and today for a third time . I soak over night and simmer for an hour and bake for 7 hours checking and adding liquid. I like them soft not mushy . Never had them mushy even when reheated. I freeze them too. I make double batches each time. I Love this’s recipe. I do not add the ketchup. Im not a fan of tomato flavor in my beans.
matt says
I would implore anyone to NOT cook the beans (particularly the smaller navy beans) for that hour before going in the oven for 4+ hours. Same concept as not pre-cooking pasta for baking; just cook it in the sauce. Part of the enjoyment eating beans (or most anything) is shape and texture, and with an overcooking recipe like this and you end up with a glob of refried beans on your fork v. distinct beans. An alternative is to pre-soak (2 cups) by putting the beans in a bowl of water then microwave for 5 minutes and let sit for an hour. Then do about half hour pre-bake simmer stovetop and before bake for max 2 hours. Guarantee no one is going to complain and the aroma will still waft around the house. Best of all, the beans will still have a little pop left to the bite, same as slightly al dente pasta. For mush just buy a can of baked beans!
Valerie says
I have to disagree with you on this, Matt. The most common problem my readers (and I think most others) have had when cooking beans from scratch is that they don’t get tender enough, as you can see from many of the comments on this post. These are age-old methods used by generations and generations of home cooks to ensure a tender (not mushy) result. You can easily gauge how softened the beans are towards the end of the cooking process and remove them from the oven when they are to your liking.
Brian says
I just made these beans today, using navy beans, and after soaking overnight and cooking for the initial 1 hour, the beans were completely soft, and close to overcooked! I was so shocked! So as far as my limited experience goes, I have to agree with Matt. Next time I’m going to skip that initial 1 hour cooking.
Garry says
Awesome recipe. I modified it slightly by soaking beans overnight, giving them a quick boil in chicken broth in morning then adding the beans and broth to the cooked bacon in the dutch oven and cooking for 6 hrs. Found the first time they were a little runny on the sauce so just took some sauce out and threw some of the beans in a blender , pureed them and added the puree back in to thicken the sauce.
Erin McIntire says
I have found that waiting til the end to add any tomato flavoring like ketchup or bbq cuts the cooking time seriously in half. Something about the tomato keeps the beans from cooking as quickly. Great recipe!
Linda Shanley says
Way way too sweet. Sorry I put all the brown sugar and molasses in. Waste of 2 lbs of beans.
Valerie says
Sorry to hear this, Linda. This is the level of sweetness we like here but it’s easy to scale it down to suit your taste.
Monia says
Was wondering if you use a previously baked ham bone? since you said you used holiday ham…
I wanted to use a raw bone, will that work?
Thanks!
Valerie says
I’ve always used a ham bone from a fully-cooked ham.
selina patty says
Great recipe! I add some pork ribs ( in place of ham bone) extra onion and some corn bread stuffing on top ? it’s a meal on it own?
Debbie says
I cooked a Ham on Christmas Eve and decided to make homemade bake beans with the ham bone and the scraps of ham that was left but could not find the recipe that my Mother In Law use to make so googled homemade baked beans and found your recipe. Made the beans and my husband said they were just as good as mom use to make. THEY WERE AWESOME!!! Thank you for the recipe. Mom would have been very impressed with me. Recipe is now in my cook book marked the best homemade beans ever.
Valerie says
So happy to hear this, Debbie! These beans definitely take me back to the beans my mom used to make as well. Those are the best memories 🙂
Janice says
I find my beans are a wee bit sweet.How can I remedy that?
Valerie says
You can easily control the sweetness by reducing the amount of brown sugar.
Larraine says
In the interest of economy, I use a pressure cooker for anything which tells me to put something in the oven for 5 hours. Do you fee that this deters from the end result?
Valerie says
Hi Larraine. I think pressure cooking is the best possible method for cooking beans but not everyone owns a pressure cooker. This recipe was written and tested specifically for a conventional oven. You might like to take a look at my Instant Pot Mexican Pinto Beans.
Janice Smith says
Soaked my beans for two days! You could jack up a car with them.
Patricia says
That usually means they are too old. Old dried beans never soften, no matter what you do. It’s better to not hold them very long in the pantry because you don’t know how old they are when you buy them. I found this out the hard way! They also can get weevils if kept a long time. Buy in a busy market where you expect product turnover or you can order Camillia beans online and have them shipped to you. I’m from Louisiana, grew up eating them and IMO these are the best dried beans out there especially for the price.
LINDA says
Sorry to disagree about the beans being old, but I bought my beans the day before baking. I live at 9000 feet and my beans have never softened. This is my 3rd attempt at high elevation to make them. I even boiled the beans for 45 minutes after soaking them and they have now baked all night at 200 degrees, this morning upped the temp to 300 degrees and it is now 5 p.m. and they are still harder than I like. Any suggestions?
Sandra says
Did you notice that the recipe is printed calling for 11 pounds of baked beans, so if you double your recipe you are cooking 22 pounds of baked beans.
I hope the novice is not reading the recipe and taking it literally, they will be eating beans for a long time!
Thank you for the recipe, I am making them today and can’t wait to eat them, there is nothing like homemade baked beans!
Valerie says
Well now, that would be a whole lotta beans now wouldn’t it? My recipes were all just recently converted to a new format and it didn’t pick up the parenthesis in what used to read 1 (1 pound) package. Thanks for the catch, Sandra! I’ve edited the recipe and it should be clearer now for everyone 🙂
brenda fails says
i have a question about the baked beans molasses is too expensive how would it be to substitute with maple syrup
Valerie says
Hi Brenda. Although pure maple syrup can work as a substitute for molasses in some recipes, I feel molasses is a necessary component in any good baked bean recipe so I wouldn’t recommend it. If you do choose to make this sub for any recipe you want to be sure you’re using pure maple syrup, not the less expensive maple flavored pancake syrup. I believe pure maple syrup would actually cost you more than molasses.
Tom says
Just checked mollases and maple syrup prices on Amazon and frankly the prices are all over the place for both products.
Crockett Dumas says
Thank U
Amber says
Can this be cooked in a slow cooker?
Valerie says
Yes, Amber, a slow cooker would work just fine. Follow the recipe as directed but instead of a Dutch oven, combine the ingredients in the insert of a large (6 quart) slow cooker. Cook them on LOW for about 8 hours or as long as needed for the beans to get nice and tender. Whichever method you follow, be sure to check the beans periodically and add additional liquid as needed.
Jenni says
The baked beans I remember were thick and sweet. I can’t find a recipe that even comes close! So thick they don’t fall off the spoon! And a dark reddish brown color. All of the recipes I find look like baked beans in a can and this one is no exception. Any suggestions where I can find a recipe like the one I want?
Valerie says
Hi, Jenni. The longer you cook the beans, the thicker the consistency but I’m betting these beans that you remember also had a healthy dose of molasses which adds that thickened, sticky, consistency. Do you happen to know if they were cooked from scratch or if they called for canned beans?
Sandy says
My mom made the thick red baked beans. Her recipe uses brown sugar, catsup and tomato juice. So good.
Valerie says
Mom’s recipes are ALWAYS the best!
Cathryn Potvin says
Here’s the recipe for thicker beans that my husband loves:
OVEN BAKED BEANS: In a 6 qt. crock pot will hold 3 lb of dry beans that are cooked, yield 16c soft beans. Cook 7 c of dry beans in 3 qts of water til tender. Drain. Combine all ing. (except bacon) in 6 qt croc pot. Add no more than 1 qt. water, initially. Cook on high 2 hr, then low for 6-8+hr Stir every few hrs. One hr before done add 2 lb of crisp bacon.
7 c (3 lb) dry beans
2 med. onions diced
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c dark molasses
2 Tbsp. salt
1/4 c. ketchup, 2 lb bacon, crisp
Lynna says
Ahhh…homecooked from scratch. It can always bring up good memories when you use your parent`s recipes. 🙂 Growing up in an Asian household, baked beans were never introduced to me. Thankfully, I`ve tried them by now and I do enjoy them!