Name: Boston Baked Beans
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cup Navy Beans, cooked and drained; 3 Smoked Bacon, strips, chopped; 1 Onion, small, finely chopped; 3 tbsp Molasses, for deep sweetness; 2 tbsp Brown Sugar, packed; 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup, for body and tang; 1 tsp Dijon Mustard, or mild mustard; 1 tsp Vinegar, to balance sweetness; ½ tsp Salt, adjust to taste; ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper, freshly ground if possible; ½ cup Water, as needed for baking

2 hr 15 mintotal

35 min hands-on1 hr 40 min hands-off

Prep 15 min · Cook 2 hr

Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Mild

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Method

Heat the oven to 160°C and keep a small deep baking dish ready.
Cook the bacon in a pan until lightly browned, then add the onion and cook until soft.
Stir in the molasses, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, vinegar, salt, black pepper, and water.
Fold in the cooked navy beans, transfer everything to the baking dish, and cover loosely.
Bake until the sauce is thick, glossy, and absorbed into the beans, stirring once halfway through.

How to tell it's done

The beans should be tender, glossy, and coated in a thick sweet-savory sauce.

Getting it right

Tip

Bake low and slow so the beans absorb the molasses sauce without drying out.

What to serve it with

Serve with grilled meats, cornbread, hot dogs, or a barbecue plate.

Common mistakes

The beans are still firm after hours in the oven.: Molasses and other acids stop beans softening. Cook them until genuinely tender before they meet the sauce, as the recipe assumes — beans that go in hard will stay hard however long they bake.
The sauce is thin and watery.: Bake uncovered for the last stretch. The loose cover is there to stop the top drying; taking it off at the end is what reduces the sauce to a glaze.

Substitutions

Navy Beans — White Chickpeas can be used in a pinch, but the texture will be firmer and less traditional.
Smoked Bacon — Skip bacon for a vegetarian-style version, but the smoky pork flavor will be missing.

Storing and reheating

Keeps five days in the fridge and improves for the first two or three — these are better reheated than fresh. They freeze for three months. Loosen with a little water when reheating, since the sauce sets solid when cold.

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Ingredients