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New England Baked Beans

These baked beans are flavor-packed and wonderfully sweet. While some recipes call for 12 hours of total cooking time, this approach cuts down the cooking time to about 4 hours.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz salt pork, or pancetta (medium dice)
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 white onion (small dice)
  • 3 cups dried navy beans (soaked in water overnight with 2 Tbsp salt)
  • 1 Tbsp dried mustard powder
  • 3 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • ¾ cup dark molasses
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 3 Tbsp ketchup
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)

Instructions 

  • After the beans have soaked overnight in salted water, drain and rinse them.
  • Place a dutch oven on the stovetop and melt 1 Tbsp butter.
  • Add the salt pork and diced white onion and stir to combine.
  • Add the rinsed navy beans, dried mustard powder, and freshly-ground black pepper.
  • Add enough water to cover by ½”
  • Reduce heat to a simmer and add the lid.
  • Cook at a gentle simmer for roughly 90-120 minutes
  • Until the beans are almost tender and cooked through, but not mushy.
  • When the beans are almost entirely cooked through, add the remaining ingredients to the Dutch oven
  • Stir gently to combine.
  • Cook in the oven at 250F in a Dutch oven with a lid for an additional 2 hours
  • Stirring gently every 30 minutes.
  • If the beans get too dry while they finish cooking in the oven, add a few ounces of boiling water.
  • Remove beans from the oven when the liquid is almost gone and the beans are completely tender.
  • Taste and adjust salt & pepper for seasoning.

Notes

Baked beans taste great re-heated, and are a welcome side-dish at any outdoor gathering or BBQ.
If you add the molasses to the cooking process too early, the beans will take significantly longer to cook.