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.
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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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Slow Cooker Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry great northern or navy beans
- 1 medium onion chopped
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2.5 cups water
- 2 lbs meaty ham bone
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on December 30th, 2015 and updated on May 21st, 2019.
Jane says
I made this recipe twice now and both times I followed the directions to a T, and both times, the beans came out somewhat hard. Both times, I soaked the beans overnight, for about 12 hours. Then this time, I cooked them on hi for 6 hours and they were still somewhat hard. Great flavor but a bit hard. After dinner, I put them back on for another two hours and they are better. So in the end, I recommend 8 hours on hi.