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DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
When was the last time you walked into a PTO meeting with four mason jars of baked beans in your purse? Well, that’s exactly what I did last week, dropping jars of beans into the laps of unsuspecting friends and neighbors on my way out the door. This is one of the many reasons I will always and forever love my job—never let them know your next move.
Why, might you ask, would I pull such a weird move? Well, it’s Springtime… and that means it is time for yard parties, barbecues and potlucks. In preparation, I went on an unhinged baked beans deep dive in search of the very best recipe. I tried the five most popular versions on Allrecipes and found the best one.
What Separates Good from Great Baked Beans?
Baked beans have roots in indigenous history and cuisine. Some Native American tribes—especially those in New England—cooked beans with maple syrup and sometimes meat. American colonists then adapted them further, resulting in the dish that we all know so well. The best baked beans are deeply flavorful, balancing sweet, savory and tangy flavors together in a craveable dish.
This is achieved with ingredients like molasses, ketchup, onions, brown sugar and bacon. The key here is to use these ingredients in proportions that result in a truly balanced flavor—and to avoid making bean candy.
Meet the Contestants
- Boston Baked Beans, submitted by AJRHODES3
- Easy Baked Beans, submitted by Brandi
- Baked Beans, submitted by Jackie
- Slow Cooker Homemade Bean, submitted by TLEFURGEY
- 4-Bean Baked Beans, submitted by scubaLQ
How I Judged
I used three criteria to weigh our contestants:
- Flavor: I looked for a balance of sweet, savory and tangy. This is trickier than you might think, given the loads of sugars and syrups that are generally combined for this dish.
- Texture: I favored recipes with tender, but not mushy beans. This is generally achieved with proper handling and cooking. If you are starting with raw beans, they should be soaked overnight. If you are starting with canned beans, the cooking time must be reduced to avoid sponginess or weeping.
- Ease of Use: I gravitated towards recipes with clear, stress-free instructions that resulted in beautiful, hassle-free beans. That being said, great baked beans tend to take a lot of time. Given this fact, recipes that minimized hands-on cooking time scored high in this category.
The Results
These simple 5-ingredient beans are cooked in the slow cooker.
Diana Rattray
Best Basic Recipe
- Easy Baked Beans, by Brandi
- Average Rating: 4.6 stars
- Rave Review: “We have been making these for 11 years. It is our go to recipe.”-ProPlate3728
Brandi’s recipe calls for combining 2 cans of baked beans with pork, molasses, brown sugar, onions, ketchup, mustard, and chopped bacon together in a greased casserole dish. Just like that, into the oven it goes for about 3 hours, or until thickened. Some might call this a cheater recipe, as canned beans serve as the base, but the results were shockingly similar to the recipes I tested that started with dried beans. The texture is a bit mushier than a dried beans recipe would be, but the flavor is spot on.
Best for Baked Bean-Related Emergencies (Fastest)
- The Recipe: Baked Beans, by Jackie
- Average Rating: 4.7 stars
- Rave Review: “Love this and so simple. A Great cheater recipe that no one won’t even know is not homemade”-GlitzyThyme4234
Maxing out at 1 hour and 10 minutes, this recipe is the quickest of the five. Jackie calls for 2 cans of baked beans with pork to be combined with brown sugar, molasses, onion, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and red wine vinegar in a baking dish. This mixture gets topped with two slices of bacon and popped into the oven for an hour. It couldn’t get any easier, and the results are good. This is the recipe to use when you need baked beans in a hurry.
Most Weeknight-Friendly
- Slow Cooker Homemade Beans, by TLEFURGEY
- Average Rating: 4.5 stars
- Rave Review: “I absolutely love this recipe! I make a double and freeze it in family portions. Once we use up the last frozen batch , i make another! Thank you for sharing your baked bean recipe! On a side note. I soak the beans overnight, and boil for 40 minutes before putting everything together in the crockpot. They turn out perfect everytime!”-ProNori5369
There is nothing better than coming home after a long day at work and having dinner ready for you in the crockpot. This recipe uses this fabulous appliance to achieve a pretty great alternative to traditional baked beans. The author calls for adding dried navy beans, soaked overnight, with onion, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, bacon, dry mustard, salt and water right into the crockpot. This gets covered and cooked on low for 8 to 10 hours. I love the ease of a slow-cooker and the simplicity of the recipe. The flavor and texture were really nice, and the beans were absolutely beautiful.
Most Festive/Best for a Potluck
- 4-Bean Baked Beans, by scubaLQ
- Average Rating: 4.5 stars
- Rave Review: “Wow! Easy to make and a great for a summer side to almost anything.”-Dan Campbell
This is such a fun divergence from the traditional navy bean-based recipe. It calls for combining one can each of pork-n-beans, kidney beans, lima beans and butter beans in a casserole dish. The sauce is composed of bacon, garlic, onion, molasses, ketchup, vinegar and dry mustard, which gets simmered together and then poured over the beans. The dish goes into the oven for an hour and forty five minutes. This is a relatively quick recipe that bakes up nicely and is visually interesting. The variety of beans adds pops of color and textural variety, adding interest and an element of fun.
Best All Around
Boston Baked Beans, by AJRHODES3
Average Rating: 4.6 stars
Rave Review: “I Love this recipe, I've never made homemade baked beans before and this turned out wonderful, I'll definitely make them again.”-DreamyPeas8736
This recipe calls for dried navy beans to be soaked overnight. Soaked beans are then boiled in their soaking water, drained, and layered with bacon and onions. A simple sauce of ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and dry mustard comes together quickly on the stove, gets poured over the beans and then gets baked for between 3 and 6 hours. The results are fantastic. The beans are snappy, the sauce is perfectly balanced, and the resulting dish is baked bean nirvana. This is the recipe I’ll be making again, even if it requires a bit of forethought and extra time. It’s just that good.
Related
How to Cook Dried Beans
How to Cook Tastier Canned Beans Without Spending a Dime
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