Boston Baked Beans are typically slow-baked for hours. The secret to shortening the cooking time is using baking soda to quick soak and cook the beans. That means that no overnight soaking is necessary! The total cooking time is reduced to 1 1/2 hours. That is much quicker!
Baked beans as a side dish, is a favorite side dish whenever we grill. I usually buy my favorite commercial brand– Bush’s Baked Beans. Until now, I’ve never attempted to make my own Boston Baked Beans. Baked beans uses brown sugar for a sweet and savory flavor. Boston Baked Beans uses molasses, which is less sweet.
I bought a bean pot for the sole purpose of making Boston Baked Beans for the first time. It took several hours to accomplish! Could I make Boston Baked beans, from scratch, in less time? Yes, indeed!
My husband was making pulled pork, on the Weber. I planned to make a Carolina Red Slaw and I liked the idea of having baked beans as a side dish. For ingredients, begin with a one-pound bag of Navy Beans, picked through and rinsed.
Adding 1 Tablespoon of baking soda cut the cooking time of the beans in half! Better yet, there was no pre-soaking the beans! Bring the beans to a boil in a Dutch oven, and then briskly simmer on medium-high for 20 minutes; then drain. Meanwhile…
…and measure out the remaining ingredients; preheat the oven to 350F.
Cook the salt pork over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Next, add chopped onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups of water, the beans, brown sugar, 1/4 cup molasses, Worcestershire, 1 tablespoon mustard, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper– then bring to a boil. Transfer to a Dutch oven, covered; then to the oven. Cook until beans were nearly tender, about 1 1/2 hours. They smelled so good, while they were baking. I was anxious to try them…
Whoops! The water had pretty much evaporated. I should have heeded the recipe note to increase the water by an extra cup, since I used a heavy cast-iron Dutch oven. I added a bit more water and then gave the beans a stir– problem solved. It was time to taste.
TASTING NOTE #1: The beans were perfectly cooked, thank goodness. Being used to Bush’s Baked Beans, the flavor seemed more savory than I was used to. I wasn’t sure if it was the Worcestershire sauce, or too much Dijon mustard. Personally, I was sorely tempted to add tomato paste. But, the article said, “Although many recipes call for tomato products, native New Englander’s assured us that they had no place in an authentic Boston baked bean recipe.” I reconsidered what to do, as I much prefer a sweeter version of baked beans. Hey, I’m from California!
I decided to add an extra 1/4 cup of brown sugar and some honey. Yes, honey! I’m sorry if this offends anyone from Boston, but this did the trick for me.
My suggestion is that you can either adapt this recipe if you like a less savory version of Boston Baked Beans. Just to be a bit rebellious, I might go ahead and add some tomato paste, next time. I can’t help it, but I love the tang of some concentrated tomato. Just don’t tell anyone you know, who lives on the East Coast! I’ll just rename them “California Baked Beans”, okay?
How to Make Quicker Boston Baked Beans
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans about 2 cups, picked over and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 6 ounces salt pork rind removed and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1 onion chopped fine
- 3 cups water
- 5 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring 3 quarts water, beans, and baking soda to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer briskly for 20 minutes. Drain beans in colander. Rinse beans and pot.
- Cook salt pork in now-empty pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in water*, beans, sugar, 1/4 cup molasses, Worcestershire, 1 tablespoon mustard, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and bring to boil. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook until beans are nearly tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove lid and continue to bake until beans are completely tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon molasses and remaining 1 teaspoon mustard.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (Beans can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.)
- TASTING NOTES: I have a personal preference for more sweet, than savory, when I eat Boston Baked Beans. I added about 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup brown sugar to the baked beans. That did it for me!
Notes
These baked beans definitely seem like the perfect accompaniment to that pulled pork! And honestly, I've never had New England Baked Beans that weren't sweet….so I'm not sure who Cook's Illustrated was quoting. So go ahead and add your tomato paste and brown sugar!
This screams summer bbq and potluck gatherings. Love baked beans, grew-up eating them. Love your version.
Cheers.
Velva
Baked beans are a summertime favorite in my house too. I'm with you Debby, I like mine on the sweet side and always add a bit of tomato paste too. Gosh, this sounds so good. I'm ready for some BBQ.
Back in the day we used to have baked beans in Calgary during Stampede for their pancake breakfast. I
Your recipe is wonderfully timely. Summer barbecues are looming and these would be a perfect accompaniment. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Lovely. I find too many commercial canned baked beans to be too sweet, so your mustardy-worcestershirey (that was a hard adjective to type and say) beans sound right up my alley . I need an invitation to your house for a barbecue, cause I want some pulled pork too!