Baked Beans For Two Recipes

EASY BAKED BEANS FOR 1 OR 2

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together in small oven-safe dish.
• Bake uncovered at 350 for 15 minutes, give or take a few minutes depending on whether you like your beans soupy or thick.

HOMEMADE BAKED BEANS FROM DRIED BEANS

Steps:

• Soak beans in a large bowl over-night, covering with about 2 inches of cold water.
• In the morning, drain soaked beans and place in a large pot. Cover with several inches of water and bring just to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to somewhere between medium and medium-low or whatever level maintains a gentle simmer. Cook beans for 50-60 minutes, or until beans are tender (but not mushy). Taste test to be sure they are tender before you stop cooking. Drain beans and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Preheat oven to 275F. Start 1 1/2 cups water to boil.
• In a large oven-safe casserole dish with a lid (or alternately, to be covered with aluminum foil), scatter 1/2 of the onion and 1/2 of the bacon over the bottom of the dish. Add 1/2 of the cooked beans. Scatter the remaining onion and bacon, then top with the remaining cooked beans.
• In a 4-cup measuring cup or similar sized bowl, stir together the sauce ingredients well. Add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water and stir. Pour over beans and mix gently with a fork. If necessary, add a bit more hot water so that the liquid just barely covers the beans. Cover the pot with a lid or doubled up aluminum foil and place in preheated 275F oven.
• Beans will cook in the oven for a total of 6 hours, but should be checked at intervals to ensure there is enough liquid in the pot.
• Cook beans for 4 hours, then remove from oven and gently stir with a fork. There should still be enough liquid in the pot to just barely cover the beans, but if not, add more as needed.
• Return pot to the oven, covered, checking beans every 30 minutes for the last 2 hours of cooking, first stirring, then adding a bit more water to the pot, if needed. You want to have some puddles of liquid showing on the top of the beans, but you don't want to add too much water to the pot.
• After 6 hours of cooking, remove from oven and stir gently with a fork. Let stand, uncovered for 5 minutes or covered for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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.

EASY BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. Transfer to a greased 3-qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until bubbly.

BAKED BEANS FOR TWO

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in an ungreased 1-quart baking dish.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

SIMPLE BAKED BEANS II

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Add the onion and saute until tender. Drain excess oil, if desired. Stir in the beans, brown sugar, ketchup and mustard. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bubbly.

BAKED BEANS FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the navy beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Or, bring the beans and water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse before using.
• Place the beans in a large saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Stir the ketchup, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and chili powder together in a small bowl; set aside.
• Once the beans have simmered for 1 hour, drain, and reserve the cooking liquid. Pour the beans into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and stir in the chopped onion and the molasses sauce. Stir in enough of the reserved cooking liquid so the sauce covers the beans by 1/4 inch.
• Cover, and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C), and cook 6 hours longer. Stir the beans after they have cooked for 3 hours. Once the beans are tender and the sauce has reduced and is sticky, remove from the oven, stir, recover, and allow to stand 15 minutes before serving.