I come from a long lineage of people who love baked beans. And if I may say so, I also come from a long line of great cooks who have perfected the art of making slow cooked, baked beans in a crock over a low fire, or buried in hot embers, or in a first class oven, or pretty much anywhere there’s a source of heat and a big Dutch oven. I have that recipe, but today, I’m sharing one that I can make in less than 5 minutes. While I love the process of soaking my beans overnight, making a homemade sauce for the beans, and slow baking them all day in the oven, I unfortunately find myself usually too short on time (even on the weekends, sadly enough), to refer back to this time honoured recipe. So a quickie it is, at least for now. I am happy to say that this recipe’s short cuts have no impact on quality or flavour. I’ve made these beans dozens of times and served them to all of Meat and Tater Man’s relatives, and I can say that they are a hit.
Doesn’t everything good in life start with some love & onions? Ahhh, bacon. I love you.
I serve this with barbecue, with ribs, with chicken, and for lunch the next day. The recipe doubles easily. This is adapted from Jamie Purviance’s recipe for barbecued beans, from one of my most frequently consulted books on barbecue, Weber’s Big Book of Grilling. Feel free to substitute 4 cans (14 oz each) of baked beans in tomato sauce for the 3 cans (19 oz each) of kidney beans. If you do, then don’t rinse them; just drain the tomato sauce from the beans in a colander for a few minutes before putting them in your dutch oven with the other ingredients. Also, before you go any further, make sure you use real maple syrup for these beans, none of that fake pancake syrup stuff.
Here are all of the ingredients, getting acquainted over a low flame.
In case you’re checking out the recipe below and fretting about all that maple syrup, let me stop you right here. You may think that all this maple syrup will make the beans taste syrupy, or too maple-y. They don’t. The other ingredients really help balance out all of the flavours in a most appropriate, palate pleasing kind of way. Magic, I tell you.
Here are them beauties, fresh out of the oven.
I love maple syrup – the taste of it, when it’s poured over snow to make maple taffy at the local sugar shack, or when poured over any of my breakfast carbs (yes, cereal too…you have to try that!) BUT. And here’s the big but: I don’t like artificially maple flavoured foods. There is a cookie company (I can’t quite recall which one) that made maple leaf shaped (and flavoured) cookies that my mom used to buy when I was a child. Just opening that package of cookies nearly made me hurl every time. Don’t know why. Just the way it is. So when I saw the amount of maple syrup called for in this recipe, I paused for a moment. What if I pulled off another maple leaf cookie episode with these beans? Then, I figured Meat and Tater Man was likely going to eat it anyways, since it’s beans and sugar. Two of his favourite things. Besides meat. And potatoes. Of course. So I tried them. I’ve never gone back. I now share these with you.
Serve these to the ones you love. They will thank you. And beg for the recipe.
Did I mention these are perfect for a potluck?
People love this side dish. I love that I can make it in a few minutes, because this recipe calls for canned beans, instead of the traditional way of soaking dried beans. Both methods have their merits, but this one is praised for its flavour, and ease of preparation. Depending on how fatty your bacon is, you may not need the spoonful of oil to cook your onions. You can start browning the onions with the bacon, and if the pan gets a bit dry, you can add the oil to prevent the onions from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne powder
- 3 cans (19 oz each) white kidney beans, drained and rinsed well
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon, onion and olive oil over medium heat, until the onion has softened, and the bacon is cooked, about 10-12 minutes.
- Add the maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, chili powder, and cayenne and stir to combine well. Bring to a boil, and add the beans.
- Let simmer over low heat for an hour, or bake in a preheated 300F oven for up to two hours.
Leave a Reply