These Easy Baked Beans are budget friendly, have a short ingredient list (all of which are easy to find), and requires minimal hands on time to make.
Where do you get your recipes? Do you mostly turn to the internet (after all, I assume you’re reading this for a reason), or do you have a healthy collection of cookbooks?
I use a variety of sources for my recipes. Of course, many of my old favorites are documented right here on this blog. I have a fairly modest collection of cookbooks, and I am constantly borrowing more from the library. I also have a sizable digital collection of recipes saved up on Pinterest.
Then I have this binder. It’s a pink binder full of plastic page protectors into which I have inserted paper copies of old recipes. These pages have titles like “Important Recipes” or they may be pages torn out of decades old magazines, or they may be the original hand-written recipes passed from friends or family members throughout the years.
The recipe for these Easy Baked Beans comes from a photocopied page in said binder titled “Camping Recipes”. The page includes several of my Grandma’s old recipes, many of which are familiar to me. The recipe was originally called “Cowboy Beans”, and looked a little different than this version.
Though the ingredient list is short and basic, I found that the amount of sugar needed to be cut way down. I also adjusted the amount of ingredients to reduce the yield of the recipe to fit the needs of my smallish family. If you need this recipe to feed a crowd, or want lots of leftovers, simply double it.
Also, feel free to change up the types of beans you use. Though the original recipe uses green lima beans, my daughter hates them, so I sometimes just use another type (black, pinto or white beans are all fine options).
Do you have any favorite vintage recipes?
Easy Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 4 ounces bacon, chopped (see notes)
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 15 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can green lima beans, drained and rinsed
- 14 ounce can pork and beans
Instructions
- Move oven rack to lower middle position. Heat oven to 300°F.
- Brown bacon until fat begins to render, but before crisp (about 3-4 minutes) in a large oven-safe dutch oven over medium high heat. If using regular pork bacon, drain rendered fat, leaving about 1 Tablespoon of fat in the pot. Add onion, and cook until soft (another 4-5 minutes), reducing heat if it begins to brown too quickly.
- Add ketchup, vinegar, and brown sugar, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in all of the beans and continue heating until heated through (about 4-5 minutes).
- Transfer saucepan to oven and cook for 2 hours.
Slow cooker instructions
- Follow the above instruction through the end of step 2. Transfer bacon and onions to the dish of a slow cooker, and stir in ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and all the beans. Cook on low heat for about 6 hours (NOTE: If you have a large slow cooker (eg. 6 quart), you will need to double the recipe or it will scorch).
Notes
Nutrition
Easy Baked Beans Nutrition Notes:
To lower the sodium in these baked beans, choose reduced sodium or no salt added canned beans if available. You can also use reduced sodium bacon.
No Comments