Old Fashioned Molasses and Bacon Baked Beans
Old Fashioned Molasses and Bacon Baked Beans. This easy recipe has all the flavour of grandma's baked beans. Once they are in the oven, all you need is plenty of patience to let these slow cook to perfection.
Baked beans is another family favourite in our household and we have several go-to recipes depending on what else is on the menu.
Search baked beans on this website and you'll see several recipes from spicy Maple Chipotle to Baked Beans with Apple Sausage.
Today's recipe is the one we use most often though and is pretty close to how I first made them over 30 years ago.
The only real difference is that I like to use smoked paprika for added smokey flavour to the beans these days. But you can easily substitute regular paprika if you can't find smoked.
Be careful to use fancy molasses or light molasses in this recipe, other types like blackstrap or cooking molasses can be too strongly flavoured.
This batch is also quite big and would serve a dozen people or more. However, we always make this large a batch to freeze them in 16 -20 ounce plastic containers.
Then for weeks later we can enjoy them for lunch or with a great brunch. If you don't want to make that much, the recipe is easily halved.
We love these beans served with our favourite Apple Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwiches.
The pulled pork and the beans are slow cooked for a similar amount of time. So, we often have both in the oven at the same time and are guaranteed leftovers for a couple of days, so it's a great weekend cooking project.
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Old Fashioned Molasses and Bacon Baked Beans
Old Fashioned Molasses and Bacon Baked Beans. This easy recipe has all the flavour of grandma's baked beans. Once they are in the oven, all you need is plenty of patience to let these slow cook to perfection.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb dry white beans, or navy beansInstructions
- 1 lb sliced smoked bacon, cut in small pieces
- 4 cloves cloves minced garlic
- 2 large red onions chopped
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup light or fancy molasses
- ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- one 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes, pureed
- one 28 ounce can tomato sauce
- 4 tablespoon dijon mustard
Instructions
- Begin by soaking in water overnight or up to 48 hours.
- In a large skillet slowly fry the bacon. Completely render the fat out of the bacon, leaving it crispy.
- Pour off the majority of the fat from the pan. Set the bacon aside.
- Return the pan to the stove over medium heat and add the onions and garlic.
- Cook until the onions and garlic are softened, then add the water.
- Let the water come to the boil to deglaze the pan.
- Add to a large covered roaster (Turkey roasting size) along with the crisp bacon, the soaked beans (which have been drained) and add all of the remaining ingredients.
- Stir all together well, cover and place in a 325 degree F oven for 4-5 hours or longer, stirring occasionally. The beans should be fully cooked and tender and the sauce should thicken. (see NOTE Regarding cooking time.)
- I almost always add a little extra boiling water at a few points during the cooking time if the sauce thickens too quickly before the beans are fully cooked, usually about 1 to 1 ½ cups at a time. This is not a problem at all and is to be expected.
Notes
The cooking time seems to vary a great deal depending upon the type of white bean you are using. I have seen some that can take up to 8 hours to fully cook in a slow oven. The best approach is to consider this an all day recipe that you start in the morning for dinner. Baked beans are even better when cooked a day ahead, which is how I mostly cook them.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 307Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 28mgSodium 1184mgCarbohydrates 39gFiber 6gSugar 22gProtein 16g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Hi Barry,
I just got a new Le Creuset bean pot and can't wait to try this recipe!! I was just wondering if any other beans would work for this recipe? Like red kidney beans or black beans? I only ask because those are the two I use the most and always have on hand! I don't mind picking up other kinds, just curious really! Thanks!!!
Traditionally you need white beans.
Hi Barry, I usually just boil the beans for an hour prior to cooking instead of soaking overnight. Do you know if this changes their texture at all? I'm excited to try your take on another Newfoundland recipe (I use your snowball recipe because it's better than my Nan's...shh!)! Of course the most important thing to know about baked beans is that all you need with them is homemade bread...yum!
hi Berry. I have made this recipe a few times and I love love it. I'm looking forward to serving my entire family this weekend for the first time. They will be shocked I made this. I don't like to cook but I want your book. Where can I purchase it
Thanks. Online at Amazon is probably the easiest way to purchase.
Could they be cooked in a crockpot?
Yes.
Would any adjustments need to be made if these were done in a slow cooker? Thanks!
Time would probably be longer.
I hate to ask this question as the recipe seems perfect the way it is....but....I don't use dried beans ever therefore, could you use canned baked beans with all the accompanying flavors and eliminate the water and tomatoes?
Why don't you use dry beans? Definitely better. I wouldn't recommend using cooked beans. This is a very large batch of beans, so it would be difficult to adapt to taste similar to the real thing. The slow cooking is really what intensifies the flavour.
I've always soaked the beans and then cooked for an hour before going in the oven. Reserve the bean water then to use if they are dry. Prevents any hard beans.
Liked the smoked paprika.
Hi Barry, have you ever put brown sugar in this recipe? I made it today but found it needed some sweetness.
Certainly never had that comment before. Add some if you like though.
Made this for a family supper and turned out great. I made a ham a few days ago using your recipe so I added that to the baked beans instead of bacon. And homebread bread just came out of the oven! Perfect Sunday night meal ☺️
I did like you said and soaked in water overnight, besides my skin getting all wrinkly and weird it didn't seem to make a difference to the recipe.
ha ha just kidding! Im about to start the recipe now.
LOL!