Annies Award Winning Baked Beans Recipes

WORLD'S BEST BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Fry up the bacon and crumble in pieces. Cut up the green pepper and onion and cook in the bacon grease until soft. Combine all ingredients together. Let simmer in pan on low for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fry up the bacon and crumble in pieces. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and discard some grease. Add the green pepper and onion and fry until tender.
• Combine bacon, green pepper, and onion, pork and beans, ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake covered for 1 hour. You can also simmer in a large pot on the stove for 1 hour.

THE BEST BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Cook bacon in a skillet until crispy and drain on a paper towel. Reserve some of the bacon grease.
• Finely dice the bacon. Reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350°F, set the rack to the lower-middle position.
• In the same skillet, heat reserved bacon grease on medium-high heat.
• Add the diced red onion and green pepper, sauté until softened.
• In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard and whisk together.
• Stir in the beans, onions, and green peppers.
• Pour into a 9x13" baking dish. Bake for 2 hours, then stir in the chopped bacon.
• Bake another hour or more until the sauce has cooked down, and has reached desired consistency.
• Let the beans stand for 5 minutes to thicken sauce.
• Garnish with reserved bacon and green onions. Serve.

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.

CHEF JOHN'S BOSTON BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Soak navy beans overnight in a large bowl with enough water by several inches. Drain and place beans into a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with 6 cups water, baking soda, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and boil for 10 minutes. Drain, saving bean-cooking liquid.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Transfer beans into clean Dutch oven and stir bacon, onion, molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, and black pepper into beans. Pour enough of the hot reserved bean liquid in to cover beans; stir.
• Cover Dutch oven and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Check liquid level and add more of the reserved bean liquid to bring liquid up to cover beans. Return to oven and continue baking until beans are tender and almost all the liquid has been absorbed, about 1 hour.
• Raise oven heat to 350; bake beans uncovered in oven until top develops a flavorful crust, 20 to 30 more minutes.

THE ULTIMATE BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Special equipment: 4 individual crocks
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put the molasses, ketchup, mustard, and chiles in a blender and puree. Scrape that into a big bowl, add the beans and season with salt and black pepper, and gently toss so that the beans are coated with the molasses mixture. Divide the mixture evenly amongst individual crocks. Top each crock with a piece of pancetta, sprig of rosemary and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Bake in the oven until the bacon is browned and fat is rendered, about 25 minutes.