Slow Cooker Baked Beans – comfort food classic made easy in the slow cooker with dried beans (no cans!). Use a leftover ham bone or bacon for best flavor. This recipe is a family favorite!
We love serving these beans with grilled chicken, pulled pork and a side of coleslaw.
I can now officially say that I used every last bit of our Christmas ham. We enjoyed a hefty part of it for our holiday dinner, the leftovers got chopped and mixed in to make this delicious chowder and I even froze some for a breakfast casserole this weekend. The ham bone had a lot of meat on it and I knew I would use it to make something fantastic. What better dish than baked beans! In a slow cooker, because they are the best cooked slow.
If you are looking for real comfort food to warm up your soul – these baked beans are soft, rich in flavor thanks to the sweet and tangy sauce with chunks of meat or bacon. Pure comfort food!
Ingredients:
- great Northern beans
- ham bone with meat OR thick-cut bacon
- onion
- brown sugar
- molasses
- tomato sauce
- ketchup
- BBQ sauce
- water
- salt, pepper
What if I don’t have a ham bone?
If you don’t have a ham bone, no worries! You can use bacon slices (the thick cut would be great!) or leftover pork roast chunks would work great too! I haven’t tried it with raw meat so I can’t say how would that affect the final dish. You need enough liquid for the beans to soak up but not too much because we are not making soup here.
How to make baked beans in a slow cooker?
- Start by soaking beans (most packages have directions).
- Add all ingredients to slow cooker, set timer to 4 hours (on HIGH setting) or 6 hours (on LOW setting).
- Stir beans and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Remove bone, take off the meat and stir it into beans.
What beans are best to make this dish?
For this recipe, I used one pound of dry great northern beans that were soaked. You can do that two ways (most packages have the instructions on them): overnight soak or quick soak. I have used both methods and had great results each time. To rapid soak the beans, simply place them in a large pot with enough water. Bring to boil and let cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let sit for 1 hr. Drain the beans and use in this recipe.
More slow cooker recipes:
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Comfort food classic made easy in the slow cooker with dried beans (no cans!). Use a leftover ham bone or bacon for best flavor. This recipe is a family favorite!
- 1 lb dry great northern or navy beans
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2.5 cups water
- 2 lbs meaty ham bone
- Soak beans according to package directions.
- In a slow cooker, place beans, chopped onion, brown sugar, molasses, tomato sauce, ketchup, BBQ sauce, salt and pepper. Stir well. Add water and stir again.
- Add ham bone or bacon and stir.
- Set slow cooker on low and cook for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours.
- When done, stir the mixture and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes with lid slightly open.
- To freeze, cool beans completely, then place in Ziploc bags.
The prep time does not include soaking the beans.
This post was originally published on December 30th, 2015 and updated on May 21st, 2019.
Scott says
The recipe is delicious. I used sausage as my meat and that works well too.
The only problem, like some others have noted, is the cook times listed. The first time I cooked with the instructions it took all day on low and weren’t ready in time. This time, I started it on high. 7 hours later on high = perfect!
Nicole says
SO delicious. I only had bacon, so used that with the fat trimmed off. This is a sweet recipe, which I didn’t mind; I might play with less sugar and molasses next time though.
I used great northern beans, soaked overnight, and after 5 hours on high they were still very crunchy. The review saying she cooked it 12 hours probably would have been my experience too. Short on time, I threw it in the Instant Pot to finish and that worked great, because the crock pot had caramelized the sugars by 5 hours in, and the IP finished the rest.
I want to try again, but if I start it in the Instant Pot, the flavors won’t caramelize the same way. Any advice, or do you have an Instant Pot baked bean recipe you like? Thanks for this tasty and simple recipe anyway!
Cheryl says
What if I don’t have molasses ? Any suggestions for a substitute ?
Anna says
Hi Cheryl! You can use more BBQ sauce or brown sugar.
janet says
this recipe is perfect, exactly what I was looking for. Used navy beans, and a leftover ham bone. Used tomato paste instead of sauce, added a little extra water. It probably cooked for 12 hours and was absolutely perfect!
Anna says
That’s wonderful, Janet! Thank you so much!
Carter says
Is it tomato paste or sauce, it’s unclear to me?
Pam Kohart says
I am going to try them this way because I like the idea of ham with beans. But when I was growing up, my mom always used thick cut bacon and lots of sweet onion chopped. That’s what I do now when my family requests this dish for cookouts and such. But I have learned to double the amount of bacon. Why? Because there are always the people who walk by the dish on the table and pick the pieces of bacon out they see at the top! My daughter is the guilty party in our family. Instead of giving her the dickens, I just put extra bacon in it, and everyone is happy! Sounds like a great recipe!
Patricia Ward says
I don’t have tomato paste. Can I use canned tomatoes?
Anna says
Hi Patricia! I don’t think that will work. Use ketchup instead. Hope this helps!
[email protected] says
Hi Meleah! That’s strange. Six hours should be enough to cook the beans. Are you using ham? Were the beans older? How does the mixture look?
Angela says
Hi,
The same thing is happening to me . I started it out on low and when I realized they weren’t going to be done I put it on high. I am not overly upset, the plan was to freeze most of it. Still looking forward to tasting them. I did check the date on the package of beans just in case and that was fine. They soaked at least 8 hours ( I don’t remember exactly when I started soaking them)
Lorena says
I too had very undercooked beans. I had them on low for 4hrs then high for another 4hrs, back to low another 4hrs and now at the 12 hr Mark they are still crunchy. I will leave overnight on low and see. I soaked my beans overnight initially, did not cook them. I would also recommend some dry mustard powder. But that’s my taste.
Lorena in Ontario.
Christen says
if you add a little baking soda to your soaking water next time, it’ll ensure your beans get soft.
Jackie says
Hi Anna
Can I use smoked ham hocks in this recipe.
[email protected] says
Hi Jackie! I haven’t used ham hocks but I do think it should be just fine. Definitely let me know how it goes! Thank you!
Nutmeg Nanny says
LOVE the look of these baked beans. I love when they are packed full of smoked meats. I load my beans up with bacon…yum!
Cathy Trochelman says
These are the best looking baked beans EVER!!!
Katerina says
MMMM! I can almost smell this amazingness! Sounds so wonderful!
Sharon says
Great use for the ham bone! I always make mine with salt pork but I’ll have to try it this way the next time I’ve got a bone to use 🙂
Des says
Love that you can make these in the slow cooker! They look wonderful and comforting!
Michelle says
Using a ham bone gives recipes so much flavor! I’m looking forward to trying this!
Kristyn says
These look perfect! Such great comfort food, I’ll have to try them out!