All American Baked Beans Recipes

BOSTON BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Soak beans overnight in cold water. Simmer the beans in the same water until tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the liquid.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Arrange the beans in a 2 quart bean pot or casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.
• In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
• Bake for 3 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until beans are tender. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.

OLD FASHIONED BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Place the dried beans in a pot of water covered by a few inches of water and let soak overnight. Drain the beans, place them back in the pot with fresh water and bring to a boil. Simmer for one hour, then drain, reserving the liquid. See NOTE.
• In a Dutch oven or other oven-proof pot fry the bacon until crispy then add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.Stir in the tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and bay leaf.Add 1 1/2 cups of the reserved bean water and the beans.Bring everything to a simmer for a minute or two to heat it up. In the meantime preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Transfer the Dutch oven with the lid on to the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 2 to 3 hours or until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened, removing the lid during the last 20-30 minutes to help the sauce thicken. NOTE: If at any point during the cooking process too much liquid evaporates and the beans get dry, add a little more of the reserved bean water. The beans themselves can vary from batch to batch and you may end up either needing to add more liquid if the beans are too dry or you may need to bake the beans longer with the lid off if there is too much liquid. Adjust as needed.Add more salt the pepper to taste.Serve immediately or let cool completely and refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
• SLOW COOKER METHOD: Follow steps 1 and 2 and then pour everything into the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours or until the beans are tender. Open the lid for the last 30 minutes or longer until the sauce has thickened. If the beans are too thick at any point and too much liquid has evaporated, stir in a little extra water.

ALL-AMERICAN BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Rinse and pick through beans; soak them overnight in large pot of water.
• Place the beans in a colander and rinse well under cold running water. Transfer beans to a heavy saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Drain, reserving the liquid.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees farenheit.
• Heat a 2-quart ovenproof casserole or dutch oven over medium heat; saute the bacon until it is slightly crisp and fat is rendered, 5 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, and cook until wilted, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Add the brown sugar and stir over medium-low heat until dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ketchup, syrup, molasses, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Add the drained beans and mix well.
• Cover casserole and transfer to oven. Bake, stirring occasionally (making sure you scrap the bottom of the casserole), for 2/12 hours.
• Add 3/4 cup of the reserved bean liquid, recover, and bake 30 minutes. Then remove the cover and bake until the sauce is thick and syrupy, another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once. Serve hot.

MOLASSES BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine molasses, ketchup, and mustard. Add beans, and season with salt and pepper; mix to combine.
• Transfer to a 2- to 3-quart covered baking dish. Scatter onion over beans; then lay bacon slices on top, in a single layer, covering onion as completely as possible.
• Cover dish and bake, 30 minutes. Uncover; cook until bacon is crispy, 30 to 40 minutes more. Let sit 5 minutes; mix well before serving.

ALL AMERICAN MOLASSES BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Place beans in a large bowl and cover with water by at least 3 inches.
• Soak overnight.
• Drain.
• In a large heavy saucepan, combine beans and bay leaves.
• Add enough water to cover by 3 inches.
• Bring to a boil and continue boiling gently for about 45 minutes or until beans are tender.
• Drain beans reserving 4 cups of the cooking liquid.
• Preheat oven to 350^F.
• In a large oven proof pot with a lid, combine the onion, salt pork, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, dry mustard and pepper.
• Stir in the beans and 3 cups of the cooking liquid.
• Cover the pot tightly with foil and then the lid.
• Bake until the beans are very tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 2+1/2 hours.
• Add more liquid as necessary.
• Season with salt and pepper.