1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Home Cooking

Judy Mills's From-Scratch Baked Beans Recipe

User Rating4.2 out of 5 (6 Reviews)  Write a Review

From Peace, Love, and Barbecue (Rodale), About.com Guest

Making baked beans from scratch is not difficult, but it will take some time. Be sure to plan ahead as you'll need to soak the dried beans overnight.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound dried great northern beans
  • 4 to 6 slices bacon
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons Magic Dust spice mix (see link below for recipe)

Preparation:

Place the beans in a large saucepan and cover with salted water by 2 to 3 inches. Soak the beans overnight.

The next day, drain and rinse the beans. Return the beans to the saucepan and cover with fresh water by about 4 inches. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until the beans are tender but not bursting open.

While the beans are cooking, mix the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, chili powder, and Magic Dust together in a large bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon. Drain the bacon on paper towels, crumble it, and set aside. Add the onion and garlic to the bacon drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. The onion should still be a little crunchy.

Drain the beans, reserving 2 cups of the bean water. Pour the beans and bean water into the bowl with the sauce. Add the bacon and onion and stir to combine well. Pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until bubbly.

Baked beans will keep, refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Click for Magic Dust spice mix recipe.

Recipe from: Peace, Love, and Barbecue by Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe (Rodale)
Copyright 2005 by Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe. Reprinted with express written permission.

5 out of 5 5 out of 5
Best baked beans everOctober 26, 2009By vmauery
"I was looking for a good baked beans recipe that didn't call for pork 'n' beans. I mean, come on, not all beans come prepared in cans. Mine sure don't. I was excited to see this recipe get such good reviews. The ingredient list was pretty simple (until I looked at the magic dust recipe), but all in all, it wasn't too bad. Since I didn't want a whole heap of magic dust laying around, I cut the recipe in 24 (you can do the math, it wasn't that hard); that left me with about 2T, which is what this recipe called for. I don't know where the 1-star review is coming from. If you don't like this recipe then you don't like baked beans. This is the best baked beans recipe ever. Sweet, a touch of sour and salty and a wide range of other flavors. So complex and delicious. My mouth wanted more, but I knew I could not eat another bite and not regret it. :)"

Explore Home Cooking

About.com Special Features

Holiday Central

What to eat, where to go, fun things to do and how to save money on the perfect gifts. More >

All-Star Football Food

Try these gameday recipes that are sure to please any fan. More >

  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Home Cooking
  4. Recipes
  5. Condiment Recipes
  6. Mustard Recipes
  7. Judy Mills's From-Scratch Baked Beans Recipe

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.