Well, lookee here!
This pot o glory is the new-to-me wonder known as HOMEMADE BAKED BEANS. They are saucy, semi-creamy, brown sugar sweet + smoky bacon salty, and deliciously comforting. Just five basic ingredients at work here: bacon, onions, navy beans, molasses, and mustard.
And then of course, there’s the brown sugar because it’s the right thing to do when it comes to a baked beans recipe – annnnd because Bjork and I recently finished our third 60-day sugar free commitment which left me feeling extra brown-sugar generous with myself this weekend.
I need to explain one thing real quick: this little baked beans recipe action is happening on this here blog the day after the fourth of July weekend. When, in fact, it would have made more sense to post a baked beans recipe sometime before the fourth of July weekend.
How to even explain this?
I totally was not planning to post this recipe, which is why the timing is a little bit off. *excuses* But let’s be real: this really just comes down to who I am as a person: LATE.
On Saturday, with no blog post in mind, I made the beans and fell so in love with them that the food blogger within couldn’t help but be brought to life. I snapped a few pictures of the goodness in my pretty red pot before hopping in the car to drive back to our hometown for a little family fourth of July shindig.
And shindig it was! We had lots of holiday weekend food, Minnesota-style, involving (in addition to the beans) dad’s grilled hamburgers, artichoke pasta salad, sour cream and cheddar Lay’s for which my love knows no bounds , broccoli salad, watermelon slices, Grandma’s jello salad, and homemade lemonade.
Rather than go on and on and on and on about a super easy, house-smells-delicious homemade brown sugar baked beans recipe (I could, I assure you), I’m just going to blast you with a few pictures of my family’s celebration from this holiday weekend.
Because what are Mondays good for if not mindlessly looking at friends’ pictures online instead of doing real work? I only say it because I know it.
The good news bad news situation here is that the amount of baked beans I made was completely perfect for our group of eleven people. Good news meaning I actually sort of guesstimated the right amount of food for once in my life. Bad news meaning no leftovers. Are you silently shaming me for wanting leftover brown sugar baked beans in my fridge right now? UGH don’t answer.
Here’s to summer barbecues and get-togethers and grill outs involving homemade brown sugar baked beans! Cause it feels good (and smells good and tastes good) to make real food from scratch. Also, in the process of baking these, your house will get infused with the scents of brown sugar and bacon amazingness. So, like, duh.
Oh, and the pile of cheddar & sour cream Lay’s that I’ve hoarded to go with my real food, made-from-scratch baked beans? NEVERMIND THAT YOU GUYS. Srsly. Nothing to see here.
Happy summering!
One last note: you will need a pretty heavy duty pot for this recipe because we will be switching from the stovetop to the oven, and you guys, I need you to know that this red Lodge Dutch Oven that you’re see in the pictures is just EVERYTHING to my cooking life. I use it all the time and I feel like such a pioneer woman when I use it because it’s rustic and red and gives off the best soul food vibes.
I don’t have a ton of cookware (a mishmash of 6 pots/pans, to be exact), but this one is a MUST for me. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something in the heavy oven proof pot department!
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Homemade Baked Beans
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Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes -
Yield: 10-12 servings
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Pin RecipeDescription
Homemade Brown Sugar Baked Beans! They are saucy, semi-creamy, brown sugar sweet + smoky bacon salty, and deliciously comforting. Five basic ingredients!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces bacon, cut into pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 15-ounce cans navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon stone ground mustard
- a generous pinch of black pepper
- 1 cup hot water (more as needed)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Cook the bacon in a large, oven-proof pot over medium high heat. When the bacon is browned (about 10 minutes), remove from heat.
- Add the onions and the beans on top of the bacon in the pot. Whisk the molasses, mustard, and pepper together and pour over everything. Add the hot water (I actually didn’t measure my water – I just poured water from the kettle until I started to see it under the beans).
- Bake for 30 minutes, stir, and bake for another 20-30 minutes. Continue this process until the beans are sticky and thick and deep golden brown (for me, it was about 1 1/2 hours total time in oven). Add water to adjust consistency as needed. Remove from the oven and stir in the brown sugar and salt to taste.
Notes
I didn’t drain the grease out of the pan after frying the bacon, but you definitely could get rid of SOME of it if you’re more health conscious than I was on this particular fourth of July holiday weekend. However, make sure to leave at least a little bit because the fat helps to bind the sauce together and make the whole thing sticky/saucy/wonderful.
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Prep Time: 15 mins
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Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
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Category: Side Dish
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Cuisine: American
Keywords: baked beans, bacon baked beans, sugar baked beans
Disclaimer: this post contains an affiliate link for that pretty red Lodge Dutch Oven. If you don’t want to buy it on Amazon, look for it at Target (that’s where I got mine). I ♡ it BIG TIME.
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