Difficulty: Intermediate
I call these lazy baked beans, because they are not true baked beans. I get some help from the store and take a few short cuts, but the whole dish is baked after it is assembled. Let me tell you something, these are the best freaking baked beans I have ever eaten!
Most of the time I’m happy to just open a can of store bought baked beans and heat them up on the stove. There’s nothing wrong with that. Most people eat them that way. Sometimes you just need to elevate the baked bean. This recipe takes them from an after thought of a side dish to practically the main event.
Recently my dad was smoking ribs for dinner and being a major rib fan my parents invited us over for dinner. I said we would bring the sides. I decided to bring corn on the cob, corn bread and real deal baked beans. I did a bit of research to get some inspiration and then set about creating my own baked beans recipe. They smelled amazing when cooking and then my six year old son was the first to taste them. He said the baked beans were “extremely good”. That was high praise! One by one all of the adults tried the beans and we were in agreement, these beans were good.
Try this recipe for your next summer picnic or pot luck. Your guests will rave and will certainly go back for seconds. This has the potential to become your most requested dish. Get to cookin’ so you can get to eatin’.
Lazy Baked Beans
1 28 oz. Can Baked Beans (I used original flavor)
2 15.5 oz Cans White Beans (Great Northern, Navy or Cannellini)
2/3 Cup Ketchup
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Grape Jelly or Jam
1 tsp Dry Mustard
1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
¼ tsp Garlic Powder
¼ tsp Black Pepper
1 Baseball sized Onion, chopped
5-6 Slices Thick Cut Bacon
1 TBSP Olive Oil
Preheat oven to 350°F. Sauté onion over medium heat until tender, but without any color.
Combine all other ingredients except the beans and mix well.
Drain and rinse the white beans. Add all the beans and onions to the sauce mixture and stir to combine.
Mix gently to avoid breaking beans. Pour into a greased 9×13” baking pan. Cut raw bacon into 1” pieces and sprinkle over the beans.
Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until bacon is cooked through. Turn on broiler at the end of the cooking time and place pan under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp edges of bacon. Watch closely to prevent burning. Serves 10-12.
fresh from the broiler
To make this a main dish mix in pulled pork after cooking. Serve with corn bread on the side.