Have you ever wondered how to make amazing Southern baked beans from scratch? It's easier than you might think. Our recipe is made from scratch and is sweet, smoky, and savory.
Not sure what else to serve for your next BBQ? Copycat Chick-fil-A Mac and cheese and coleslaw are two of our favorite southern dishes!!
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Ingredients
Most of these ingredients for our Southern baked beans are pantry items that are easy to find at a large grocery store. Let's talk about the key ingredients.
- Beans: We used rinsed canned navy beans for convenience.
- Sweeteners: We used three kinds of sweeteners: molasses, brown sugar, and maple syrup, but you can also use honey and agave.
- Meat: We used fully cooked bacon because we love the flavor bacon adds, but cooked hamburger or cooked sausage could be substituted.
- Liquids: We used ketchup, BBQ sauce, prepared mustard, liquid smoke, and Worcestershire sauce for additional flavoring.
- Acids: We used apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.
How to Make
- Gather all the ingredients. Dump the cans and rinse, chop the onions, mince the garlic, cut the bacon, and measure out the liquids. Cook the cut up bacon over medium heat in a large cast-iron skillet.
- Add 2 tablespoons of grease to the skillet, then sauté the chopped onion until well cooked. Add the minced garlic and saute for one minute or until fragrant.
3. Rinse the canned navy beans in a colander under cold water. Rinsing helps reduce the sodium and gas. Add them to the Dutch oven and stir well to mix with the onion and garlic.
4. Add the cooked bacon, BBQ sauce, ketchup, and the prepared mustard. Next add the Worcestershire sauce and the secret southern ingredient: liquid smoke. Stir everything together.
5. Add the sweeteners (maple syrup, brown sugar and molasses), then stir to combine.
6. Add the salt and black pepper and stir. If you are making the southern stovetop version, cover with a lid and simmer for 1 to 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent the bottom from sticking.
7. If you are making the oven version, pour everything into a 9x13-inch baking pan. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 300 F.
8. Stir the beans, then serve warm in the pan or place in a serving dish and garnish with extra bacon and chopped green onion.
Recipe FAQs
In the U.S., canned navy beans are traditionally used, but feel free to use a mix of beans of different textures, flavors, and sizes. Consider using Great Northern, Pinto, butter, and kidney.
In the U.S., baked beans are served with BBQ, so think grilled and smoked meats like ribs, chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs. They are also served in the South as a side dish at Thanksgiving and Christmas potlucks alongside smoked turkey or baked ham.
If you love a pulled pork sandwich or game day eats, baked beans taste fantastic served alongside it.
In the classic recipe yes they are baked in the oven. But they can easily be made on the stove, crockpot, or even pressure cooker. These other methods work great if you don't have space in the oven, don't want to turn on the oven or want an easier method of cooking.
It depends on if you like your baked beans soupy, saucy, or with a thick rich sauce. Many cooks don't drain them because they want the extra liquid. If you are going for a soupy baked bean, you'll want to keep the liquid. If you like this dish with a saucy consistency, you can drain half the cans. For our recipe, we drain all the liquid, as we like the sauce to be thick. Draining and rinsing will also reduce the sodium and gas in the beans.
Store
Make ahead: They actually taste better the second day. Make them ahead, let them fully cool, cover the pan with foil and store them in the fridge. If you are planning on placing the half-cooked strips of bacon on top, it's best to do that the same day you are serving.
Freeze: Allow them to cool, then spoon them into freezer-friendly containers or freezer zip-top bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat as desired.
Reheat: Take them out of the fridge 45 minutes before reheating in the oven so they can warm up to room temperature. To reheat the pan, bake covered for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 F or you can reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat until heated through.
Expert Tips
- Want to save time? Use canned navy beans. Make sure to rinse them well to help with gas and to reduce the sodium.
- Want to double this? Go ahead and make a big batch. It freezes well.
- Need to make this ahead? They actually taste better the second day.
- Want this to be vegetarian? Omit the bacon, use olive oil, and caramelize the onions.
- Need your sauce to thicken because it's too soupy? Bake it in a shallow pan to help thicken the sauce.
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Recipe
Southern Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound applewood smoked bacon, cut in 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons melted bacon fat
- 3 ½ cups yellow onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 7 15.5- ounce cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 ¼ cups ketchup
- 1 ¼ cups BBQ sauce, Heinz's Kansas City Sweet and Smoky
- ½ cup prepared yellow mustard
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup molasses
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Oven Method
- Cook the cut up bacon in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat until it's crisp, frequently stirring with a wooden spoon. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Pour out all the grease into a small bowl and keep in the fridge. Reserve some of the bacon pieces for a garnish.
- Add two tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat back to the skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. Saute the onion for 8 minutes over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Drain all 7 cans of navy beans in a large metal colander. Rinse well under cold water.
- Place the onion mixture into a Dutch oven or large bowl. Add the rinsed navy beans and stir well to combine.
- Add the cooked bacon and the ingredients for the sauce (ketchup, BBQ sauce, prepared mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke) to the Dutch oven and mix that in really well.
- Next, mix in the sweeteners (brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup) until it is well mixed.
- Finish up with the spices (salt and black pepper). Stir again so everything is mixed in well.
- Transfer them to two 9x13-inch baking pans and cover with foil.
- Bake at 300 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beans are soft and the sauce has thickened. Taste and season, if necessary.
Stovetop Method
- Follow steps 1 to 7 from above.
- Place the lid on the Dutch oven and simmer for one hour. Stir every 15 minutes to prevent the bottom from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Next, taste it and season if necessary. Simmer again on the lowest heat for 2 hours with the lid on, stirring every 15 minutes.
Crockpot Method
- Follow steps 1 to 3 from above.
- Place all the ingredients into a large crock pot. Stir with a large metal spoon until well mixed.
- Place the lid on. Cook on low for 8 hours covered or 4 hours on high.
- Taste. Season if necessary.
Notes
- Want to save time? Use canned navy beans. Make sure to rinse them well to help with gas and to reduce the sodium.
- Want to double this? Go ahead and make a big batch. It freezes well.
- Need to make this ahead? They actually taste better the second day.
- Want this to be vegetarian? Omit the bacon, use olive oil, and caramelize the onions.
- Need your sauce to thicken because it's too soupy? Bake it in a shallow pan to help thicken the sauce.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on September 30, 2017.
Alex
I like the smokiness and the sweetness of the baked beans. The bacon adds flavor to the dark brown beans.
Emma
So glad that you enjoyed them, Alex!
Beth
These baked beans look and smell good. The onions taste yummy with the beans, and the bacon is divine! Overall, these beans aren't too sweet.
Emma
Thank you, Beth!