The rich, molasses-spiked flavor and tender texture of these old-fashioned Baked Beans from Scratch make them a true comfort food classic. They’re a perfect make-ahead dish for potlucks, barbecues, or any gathering.
I love a good canned bean recipe, but there’s nothing like a great big pot of baked beans from scratch. It’s the way my mom used to make them and that distinctive slow-cooked, molasses flavor 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. 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.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Beans: When making baked beans from scratch, it’s important to choose a variety that will hold its shape and absorb the rich, savory sauce. Any one of the following will work well—just pick your favorite:
- Navy Beans: The most popular choice for classic baked beans. These small beans hold their shape well and become tender and creamy after a long cook time.
- Great Northern Beans: Slightly larger than navy beans with a similar creamy texture. These are the beans pictured in this post.
- Pink Beans: A lesser-known but excellent option. They’re similar to pinto beans in flavor and texture and work beautifully in this recipe.
- Brown sugar: Light or dark brown sugar will work, but dark brown sugar adds a deeper molasses flavor if you want a richer result.
- Molasses: Use regular unsulphured molasses (like Grandma’s Original). Avoid blackstrap molasses—it’s too bitter for baked beans.
- Dijon mustard: Adds a subtle tang and helps balance the sweetness.
- Apple cider vinegar: A touch of acidity brightens the flavor and rounds everything out.
- Ham bone or bacon: Use one or the other—not both. A meaty ham bone adds smoky depth and richness. If you don’t have one, crumbled cooked bacon is a great substitute.
How to Make Baked Beans From Scratch
- Soak and simmer the beans. Use the overnight or quick soak method (see below for details), then simmer until the beans are just tender. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
- Combine ingredients. Add the beans back to the pot along with the onion, ketchup, molasses, Dijon, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of the reserved liquid. Tuck in a ham bone (if using) and add a bay leaf.
- Bake low and slow. Cover and bake at 300 degrees F for 4½ to 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Add more reserved liquid during baking if the mixture looks dry.
- Finish and serve. Discard the bay leaf. If using a ham bone, remove it, shred any meat, and stir it back into the beans. Discard the bone and any excess fat. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Overnight Soak: Rinse and sort the beans, then cover them with water in a large Dutch oven (about 2 inches above the beans). Cover and let them soak overnight. The next day, drain, add fresh water, and simmer for about an hour until just tender. Don’t forget to reserve the cooking liquid!
Quick Soak: Short on time? Rinse and sort the beans, bring them to a boil in a pot of water, then let them simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them sit for an hour. Drain, refill with fresh water, and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes until they start to soften. Again, reserve the liquid—it adds great flavor later on.
Tips for the Best Homemade Baked Beans
Reserve the cooking liquid: Reserving the water that the beans cooked in is a tip that I learned from my mom. The starchy water creates sauce with the best texture and flavor. Be careful not to add too much to avoid ending up with soupy baked beans. The sauce should be thick and cling to the beans.
Sweetness: How sweet or not sweet you like your beans is a very personal matter. Adjust the amount of sugar called for in the recipe to suit your taste. Then, taste and adjust the seasonings as needed before serving. You may need to add more salt, sweetness, or an extra splash of vinegar to suit your preferences.
Ham bone: 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.
Substitutions: If you don’t have a leftover ham bone, you can substitute a ham hock purchased at the grocery store. Or omit it altogether and use cooked, crumbled bacon or a chopped ham steak for a meaty bite.
Stir occasionally: Stir the baked beans occasionally during cooking to prevent sticking and ensure even cooking.
Rest before serving: Allow the baked beans to rest for a few minutes before serving, as this will help the flavors to settle and meld even further and the sauce will continue to thicken slightly.
Storage and Reheating Tips
- Refrigerate: Transfer the cooled beans to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days.
- Freeze: When I made this batch, I doubled the recipe and used my vacuum sealer to seal up individual packets of the leftovers. No vacuum sealer? Just transfer them to any freezer-safe container, like plastic storage bags, and freeze them for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Baked beans reheat well from the fridge or freezer. If frozen, let them thaw in the fridge overnight or run under warm water to loosen the container. Then, warm gently in a pot on the stove or in the microwave, adding a splash of water if needed to loosen the sauce.
More Bean Recipes You’ll Love
To learn how to pressure cook your beans to perfection, check out my recipe for Instant Pot Baked Beans and Instant Pot Mexican Pinto Beans.
My Calico Beans and Spicy Baked Beans are quick and easy canned bean recipes that I turn to over and over again for summer potlucks. Kielbasa Baked Beans are a hearty side dish or spoon them over rice for a delicious meal!
Sign up for my free newsletter for all the latest recipes and join me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for more cooking inspiration!
Baked Beans from Scratch
Ingredients
- 1 pound package dry great northern, navy, or pink beans
- Lots of water
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed (see notes below)
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt, plus additional if desired
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional if desired
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 meaty ham bone, omit if using bacon (see notes below)
- 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-inches. 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 and sort through the beans, place them in a large pot, and add enough water to cover them by about 2-inches. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let the beans stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans and return them to the pot. Add the same amount of fresh water and bring it to a boil once more. Then, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes, or until the beans are beginning to get tender. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
To Cook The Soaked Beans
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a large oven safe pot, Dutch oven or baking dish, combine the soaked beans, 1 cup cooking liquid, onion, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, 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 for 4 ½ to 5 hours or until the beans are very tender and sauce has thickened to desired consistency. Stir occasionally and add more of the reserved cooking liquid if needed during the cooking time.
- At end of cooking time remove and discard bay leaf. Transfer the ham bone (if using) to a cutting board and pull off any good meat with a fork and return it to the beans. Discard the bone and fatty meat. Taste beans adjust seasonings, if needed.
Notes
- Refrigerate: Transfer the cooled beans to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days.
- Freeze: When I made this batch, I doubled the recipe and used my vacuum sealer to seal up individual packets of the leftovers. No vacuum sealer? Just transfer them to any freezer-safe container, like plastic storage bags, and freeze them for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Baked beans reheat well from the fridge or freezer. If frozen, let them thaw in the fridge overnight or run under warm water to loosen the container. Then, warm gently in a pot on the stove or in the microwave, adding a splash of water if needed to loosen the sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Ideas
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!
I’ve always used a ham bone from a fully-cooked ham.
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?
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.
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 🙂
I find my beans are a wee bit sweet.How can I remedy that?
You can easily control the sweetness by reducing the amount of brown sugar.
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?
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.
Soaked my beans for two days! You could jack up a car with them.
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.
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?
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!
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 🙂
i have a question about the baked beans molasses is too expensive how would it be to substitute with maple syrup
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.
Just checked mollases and maple syrup prices on Amazon and frankly the prices are all over the place for both products.
Thank U
Can this be cooked in a slow cooker?
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.
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?
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?
My mom made the thick red baked beans. Her recipe uses brown sugar, catsup and tomato juice. So good.
Mom’s recipes are ALWAYS the best!
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
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!