Baked Beans don’t have to be boring and from a can, Baked Beans in the Slow Cooker takes a classic recipe to a whole new level! The rich aroma, savory flavors, touch of sweetness and simplicity of using a crock pot make them irresistible. Perfect for all your summer cookouts!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
- Effortless Cooking: Just toss all your ingredients in a slow cooker and let it do the work for you! Especially if you’re making these during the summer, it’s so convenient to not have to stand over a hot stovetop!
- Versatile: Perfect as a side dish for barbecues, potlucks, or even as a main course just like my Summer Pasta Salad recipe!
- Make-Ahead Friendly: Make your baked beans in advance and enjoy later! The flavors only get better with time.
- Full of Flavor: These baked beans are the perfect balance of sweet and saucy. My kids could eat beans for every meal. They’re obsessed. If yours are too, try these Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans or Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas.
- Vegetarian: This baked beans recipe is a hearty, delicious vegetarian option that everyone will love!
The Ingredients
- Small onion: You’ll sauté the onions before adding them to the slow cooker. They provide a savory base flavor for the beans.
- Small white beans: The main ingredient! We use dried beans for this recipe and cook them low and slow. Any white or Great Northern bean variety will work fabulously in this.
- Tomato paste: Instead of ketchup we use tomato paste to add that delicious tomatoey, tangy flavor.
- Maple syrup: This adds a touch of natural, rich sweetness to the beans without being overly sweet.
- Molasses: This ingredients adds a slightly smoky, complex sweetness.
- Dijon mustard: Adds more tanginess with a little spicy note.
- Vegetable broth and water: Cooking the beans in vegetable broth and water adds more flavor to the cooking liquid.
Variations and Substitutions
- For a meatier option: Cook 4 pieces of chopped bacon with the onions for a meaty, smokier version of this recipe. You could also add cut up hot dogs in the last few minutes to cook through.
- Sweeteners: Swap maple syrup for light brown sugar or coconut sugar if you need.
- More Heat: Add a pinch of cayenne pepper or a small diced jalapeño pepper (at your own risk!).
- Chicken Broth: If you don’t need this recipe to be vegetarian, you can use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth.
How to Make Baked Beans in the Slow Cooker
Step 1: Heat the olive oil in a saute pan, add the onions and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes.
Step 2: Transfer the onions to a crock pot, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
Step 3: Cook on low for 8-10 hours or 6-8 hours on high or until the beans are tender.
Storing Tips
- Refrigerate: You can store leftover baked beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: To freeze baked beans, place cooled beans in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Reheat: Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. Add a splash of water or broth if they need to be loosened up a bit.
Serving Suggestions
Looking for delicious ideas to serve with your next big batch of baked beans? Here are some of my favorites:
- Summer BBQs: Baked beans are the perfect side dish for summer BBQs. Serve them with juicy burgers, marinated chicken, DIY hot dogs, or southern-style pork tenderloin for a classic pairing.
- Baked Potato Topping: Add baked beans on top of a baked potato with some shredded cheese for an English-inspired “jacket potato.”
- Cornbread: Baked beans and basic cornbread are a match made in heaven, offering a comforting and hearty meal.
FAQs
Yes! This baked beans recipe can be made in a pressure cooker really easily. Here’s how: lock the lid of your pressure cooker and cook for 60 minutes at high pressure. Once the cook time is finished, allow the pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes. Then, release the remaining pressure, remove the lid and serve.
Absolutely! Store them in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Baked Beans tend to fly under the radar a bit at a potluck or barbecue, but this crockpot baked beans recipe will be the star of the show wherever you take it. If you make these, let me know what you think by leaving a rating and comment below!
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Baked Beans in the Slow Cooker
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 pound small dried white beans
- 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 32-ounce box vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a saute pan, add the onions and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes.
- Transfer the onions to a crock pot, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours or 6-8 hours on high or until the beans are tender. See notes for pressure cooker instructions.
The beans soak up so much liquid so without testing the recipe with canned beans I don’t feel I can give you an accurate recipe. You would be using less liquid since the canned beans are already cooked. 16 ounces of dried beans is about 4 cups of beans once they are cooked.
Hi Catherine, I am a big fan of weelicious.. like other reviews I have made slow cooker baked beans several times and had to throw them out because they never softened. I want to make these for a party and don’t want to risk them being not done. Can you tell me about how many cans of white beans would be the equivalent of a 16 oz bad of dried, and would I follow the rest of the recipe the same? Thanks!!
Yep, either of those will work!
I made your Mexican bean and corn soup last week and used the vegetable broth for it so I don’t have any on hand. Will chicken or beef broth work?
Yes, but the beans will be less flavorful!
Can vegetable broth be replaced with plain boiling water?
Will black beans work for this recipe?
Also, I have found that if you cook baked beans too long the sugars will cause the beans to start hardening up again, not crunchy but dry and too firm. Checking on them every couple hours can save that problem.
Jack, when you cook the baked beans for 8 hours before adding other ingredients is it on low? I have had problems in the past with hard beans, I will try your method. Thanks
Whenever I make any baked beans in the crockpot, I always cook them most of the way before making them “baked beans.” For example, right now I have a batch of great northern beans in the slow cooker, just water, salt, and pepper. They’ll cook about 8 hours until they are just a little crunchy, almost done, then I’ll drain them (keep the water/sauce in case they start to dry out later) and add all of the other ingredients. Then I cook them until the sauce thickens and the beans are the right texture. could be anywhere from 3-6 more hours. just depends on the batch of beans. if they start to get too dry before the beans soften, add some of the water you drained out before. Also, white beans take longer to cook than say, pinto beans. So if you don’t want to spend as much time, try pintos instead. They still taste good and will save a few hours.
I have found that when I try to cook beans from hard in stuff such as making baked beans in the crock pot, they never cook for whatever reason – the sugar, not enough water, etc. Likely it is because there is not enough water as when I cook hard beans in a crock pot I have to fill it most of the way with water to get them to cook properly. So I cook my beans ahead of time and then slash the time it takes for the recipe to cook in the crock pot.