This sweet and savory homemade Baked Beans Recipe is infinitely better than buying it from a can and still so easy! It’s the perfect easy side dish for potlucks, BBQs, and also to accompany a beef, chicken, or pork dinner all year round.
Easy Homemade Baked Beans Recipe
This Baked Beans recipe is sweet and savory with rich molasses and real bacon. And while making homemade baked beans from scratch requires a few extra steps instead of just buying it premade from a can, the end result is absolutely worth it and still so easy!
Enjoy this classic baked beans recipe with your favorite grilled or smoked meats at your next potluck or any family dinner year round, too. They pair well with so many things like hot dogs, ribs, chicken, brisket, and ham.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s what you’ll need to make these easy baked beans from scratch.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Navy beans – 4 cans, rinsed and drained.
- Bacon – I like to use thick-cut bacon. Either plain or maple flavored.
- Onion – Provides wonderful aromatics, flavor and texture.
- Ketchup – Adds a bit of acidity and rich tomato flavor.
- Molasses – Adds rich flavor and sweetness to the beans.
- Apple cider vinegar – Adds a bit of acidity to balance the other ingredients.
- Brown sugar – For a bit more sweetness.
- Worcestershire sauce – For depth of flavor.
- Seasonings – Salt, pepper, and dry mustard powder season the dish.
What Kinds of Beans Are Used in Baked Beans?
Navy beans are most commonly used in baked beans, including popular canned versions like Bush’s Baked Beans. Pink beans and Northern White Beans can also be used. I’ve substituted Northern White Beans in this recipe before and while good, they are not as tender as navy beans.
Recipe Variations
Here are a few easy oven baked beans variations.
- Include some bell pepper. Diced green or red bell pepper can be added into the mixture.
- Make the beans sweeter. If you’d like your beans sweeter after they’re cooked, you can add in 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup or more brown sugar.
- Spice it up. If you’d like them spicy, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, or red pepper flakes. Smoked chipotle powder would also be great.
- Vegetarian baked beans. Simply omit the bacon. You may need to increase the salt by up to an additional teaspoon since the bacon contains a good amount of sodium.
How to Make Baked Beans
Here’s how to make baked beans in the oven, in just a few steps.
(Scroll to the bottom for our easy printable recipe with the complete directions, and don’t miss the video below.)
- Add ingredients to casserole dish. Add the beans, bacon, and onion to a greased 9×13 casserole dish.
- Make the sauce. Combine ketchup, molasses, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, dry mustard, and pepper in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Pour sauce over the beans, stir gently.
- Cover and bake. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and transfer to a 325F preheated oven. Bake for about 2 hours, stirring every 1/2 hour or so until desired consistency is reached.
- Stir and serve. Remove from the oven, give it a gentle stir and then let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Can I Use Dry Beans?
Yes, if you wanted to make this baked beans recipe with dry navy beans, you can do so. You’ll need 1 & 1/3 pounds dry navy beans. Rinse the beans under hot water to remove any dirt, then place them in a container with fresh water that covers the beans by at least 1-inch. Seal tightly with a lid and soak for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
Drain the soaked beans and add them to a large pot. Cover beans by 1 inch with fresh cold water. Bring to a rapid boil, then reduce to a gentle bubble. Simmer for 1 hour. Drain cooked beans well. Follow the rest of the recipe as directed.
Alternatively, you can speed up the process by cooking the soaked beans in an Instant Pot as we did with our Instant Pot Baked Beans.
Video: Homemade Baked Beans
Serving Suggestions
What goes with baked beans? BBQ baked beans pair well with pretty much any smoked or grilled meat or BBQ entree. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Baby Back Ribs
- Beef Brisket
- Glazed Ham
- Grilled Flank Steak
- Pulled Pork
- Crockpot BBQ Chicken
- Turkey Burgers
- Grilled Hot Dogs
Proper Storage
- Fridge. Oven baked beans can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Store in an airtight container.
- Reheat. Reheat on the stovetop until heated through or pop individual servings in the microwave.
- Freeze. Prepare as directed, allow them to cool completely, then transfer the beans to a freezer-safe airtight container or freezer-safe bag, leaving 1-2 inches of extra space for expansion. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight. If you’re reheating a large amount, reheat in a baking dish covered with foil at 300F for 45 minutes or until warmed through. Alternatively, you can reheat in the microwave in a heat-safe dish fitted with a heat-safe lid for 5 minutes, stirring in 60 second intervals.
More Bean Recipes:
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Homemade Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 4 cans (15 ounces each) navy beans , drained
- 6 sloces bacon , diced
- 1 medium yellow onion , diced
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Add the beans, bacon, and onion to a greased 9×13 casserole dish or 3 quart dutch oven.
- Combine ketchup, molasses, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, dry mustard, and pepper in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil.
- Pour sauce over the beans, stir gently. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for about 2 hours, stirring every 1/2 hour or so until desired consistency is reached.(NOTE: The longer you cook the beans, the thicker they'll get. They will also thicken as they cool.)
- Remove from the oven, stir then let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Great recipe! Wana bulk it up with a kick to boot?? Add fried chopped ground beef & Rotel tomatoes (add to your liking of spice level) I promise you will LOVE these added. Our baked beans are ALWAYS a hot. Also, we go the easier route & get the cans of Bushes Baked Beans subbing the pinto beans, but add our BBQ sauce.
Looks so good, my mouth is watering.
Baked beans have never really enticed me, but made this recipe at the request of my husband. He loved it so much that I made them again 3 days later!
I crave baked beans and these look so good
Used bottled mustard because that’s what I had on hand and added a few extra sliced of bacon because why not! So good!
I used dried beans that I made in my pressure cooker and then proceeded with the recipe. We loved it.
Love bbq beans! I might try this in the slow cooker for an hour or two!
Our family’s church cookbook – it has all my mother’s, grandmother’s, aunt, and cousins favorite recipes in it!
First time making baked beans and these were a huge success!
Enjoyed with skillet pork chops and we didn’t want to stop eating. Love love love.
Good in any season!
Thumbs up from everyone over here – thanks for sharing! So tasty.
We licked our plates clean!!
thats different
looks yummy
I added just a bit of sriracha but otherwise no changes. So so good.
oh , dinner come true
Great recipe, no changes needed!
I have 5 boys (!!) and they all loved this dish and so did my husband. Nothing left!
Looks SO good. Can’t wait to try this!
The recipe looks so delicious.
I’ve made so many baked beans recipes over the years and this is definitely in my top 2!
These beans look amazing!
I’ve made this recipe twice – once as written with the canned beans and once with raw beans that I soaked overnight and cooked prior. Honestly? There wasn’t enough of a difference in flavor or texture for me to do that again. The canned beans were just fine and this recipe itself is excellent.
This is such a comfort side dish. Taste and texture was perfect – so much better than anything from a can!
We like out beans with a little kick, so I added a bit of Tabasco but otherwise made as written and loved them. This is a great dish.
These beans look faaaaabulous Amy! YUM!
Got my kids to eat some and that’s say a lot. 10 stars. LOL.
I was pinched for time and only cooked them for 90 minutes. They were a looser but that was to be expected. We still loved them so much – fantastic flavor!
Can I make this with raw beans?
My new go-to baked beans recipe!
Served this with some oven baked ribs. They were perfect.
Love this recipe.
Didn’t have dried mustard so used bottled spicy brown. Came out great!
Omg these beans…YUMMY!!
I’m going to try this with soaking raw beans. I don’t like canned.
This was an awesome dish for our rainy/snowy Monday!! Thanks!
I want these beans!! Dang!
I did a mix of navy beans and pinto beans. Came out great!
Served these beans with pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw. Yummy!!
So easy and tons of great flavor. We loved it!
Thank you for sharing this recipe – can’t wait to try it!
I have a few standard baked beans recipes that are my go-tos. This has now been added to the list. SO GOOD.
DELISH!
My boys LOVED this recipe. Will definitely make again.
Can’t wait to try this!
I wanted to eat the entire pot!!
Love your recipes.
This is my families new fav beans recipe!
Just delicious. No changes needed.
Awesome!
Thank you for sharing this baked beans recipe – my husband said “don’t lose it!” HA.
GREAT recipe. Even my bean-hating kids ate some. Lol.
This dish was a big hit with my family – thank you!
Such great flavor and so simple to make. We loved it.
Love this recipe!