Baked Beans: scratch!

Dried beans baked slow in a homemade sauce - Not a can in sight!
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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Tired of “homemade” bean recipes that are just dressed-up canned beans? This is an easy, traditional recipe for Homemade Baked Beans from scratch, but without having to scroll down forever just to look at it.

These baked beans (scratch) blend Navy beans with catsup, brown sugar, and molasses, before baking for the afternoon, or simmering overnight in the Crockpot. 

I’ll bet you can’t wait to scroll through 10,000 years of bean history. Not. Let’s get right to the recipe (a more compact, printable version appears below):

Table of Contents

Homemade Baked Beans Recipe: Ingredients

  • 1 lb. dried Navy beans
  • 1T. chopped onion
  • 1/2c. catsup
  • 1/2c. brown sugar 
  • 1t. mustard
  • 1T. molasses 
  • 1 1/2t. salt
  • 4 slices bacon (cooked)

How to Make Homemade Baked Beans

  1. Boil beans in water for 1/2 hour. 
  2. Shut off heat, cover, and let stand for 2 hours. 
  3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees, unless you’re using a Crockpot. 
  4. Rinse beans well. 
  5. Add the rest of the ingredients to a well-greased beanpot, Pyrex bowl, or Crockpot. 
  6. Stir in about a cup of hot water. 
  7. Bake for 3 hours. In the Crockpot, cook on LOW for 12-16 hours, adding water as needed. 

Homemade Baked Beans Printable Recipe

Print Recipe

Baked Beans: scratch

These baked beans (scratch) blend Navy beans with catsup, brown sugar, and molasses, before baking for the afternoon, or simmering overnight in the Crockpot. 
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 10 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American, British
Keyword: baked beans recipe from scratch, baked beans scratch, homemade baked beans, homemade baked beans with bacon, old fashioned baked beans
Servings: 12
Calories: 240kcal
Cost: $4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. dried Navy beans
  • 1 T. chopped onion
  • ½ c. catsup
  • ½ c. brown sugar
  • 1 t. mustard
  • 1 T. molasses )
  • 1½ t. salt
  • 4 slices bacon (cooked)

Instructions

  • Boil beans in water for 1/2 hour.
  •  Shut off heat, cover, and let stand for 2 hours. 
  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees, unless you’re using a Crockpot. 
  • Rinse beans well. 
  • Add the rest of the ingredients to a well-greased beanpot, Pyrex bowl, or Crockpot. 
  • Stir in about a cup of hot water. 
  • Bake for 3 hours. In the Crockpot, cook on LOW for 12-16 hours, adding water as needed. 

Homemade Baked Beans Tips for Success

  • Navy beans are the traditional and best, but this recipe works with any small, white bean.
  • I love this traditional beanpot, made in Ohio (view here). Besides making the creamiest, tastiest beans, I use it for oatmeal, and apple desserts. 
  • Instead of Steps 1 and 2, you may soak the beans overnight in cold water. Then, proceed from Step 3.
  • Don’t skip Step 4; it makes them more digestible. 
  • If using the Crockpot, it can be tricky to get the right texture. If your beans look too soupy 2 hours before the end of the cooking time, remove the lid and move the heat up to HIGH. 
  • Overly soupy beans can be rescued by transferring to a soup pot and reducing (boiling out some of the liquid) on the stovetop.
So many beans! Here are some tasteful choices

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By Gail McGaffigan

Gail was raised in a traditional, one-income family. She and her family have been living happily on one income since 2004.