Southern Baked Beans
These Southern Baked Beans are the best homemade baked beans you will ever make! An easy, delicious side dish for any cookout or BBQ!
A DELICIOUS HOMEMADE BAKED BEANS RECIPE
I worked on this baked bean recipe for a few years before first publishing it in 2011. It is still my absolute favorite way to make baked beans. Everyone asks me to bring this to the cookout! I love a good thick, flavorful sauce with a good smoky bacon flavor. These Southern Baked Beans are pretty simple to make and I promise everyone will be asking you for the recipe after they try them!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ’S)
You bet! Just make them and store them covered in the fridge up to 3 days in advance. Reheat them in the oven before serving.
The longer these beans are cooked, the thicker they continue to get after the aluminum foil is removed, so if you prefer thicker, richer beans, just continue to cook until it reaches your desired thickness.
To bulk them out and make them last even longer, add some cooked ground beef, ground pork, or ground turkey. Or go old school and add sone sliced hot dogs or kielbasa. To add some heat, try adding some sliced jalapeños.
Yep! Check out my recipe for Crock Pot Baked Beans.
Yes, once they’ve cooled transfer them to a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Leftover beans should cool down to room temp before placing them in a container and refrigerating them for up to 5 days.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- bacon – it’s important you fry this up fresh and not use precooked bacon. We need that bacon grease for flavor.
- onion – if you don’t like onions, just leave it out.
- canned pork & beans – you need 48 ounces total. Sometimes you can find the larger 16 ounce cans and sometimes stores only carry the smaller 8 ounce ones. So as long as you get a total of 48 ounces, you are good.
- mustard – you are not going to taste this as a separate flavor. It just adds depth of flavor.
- maple syrup – use the real stuff or the corn syrup stuff, they both work just fine here.
- ketchup – it’s always got to be Heinz for me but use your favorite.
- molasses– this is the ingredient that really gives these beans the extra depth of fantastic flavor.
- brown sugar – you can use light or dark brown, I prefer the light.
HOW TO MAKE SOUTHERN BAKED BEANS:
In a large frying pan, fry bacon until crispy, drain on a paper towel then crumble the bacon. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the bacon grease in the pan. Finely chop the onions and saute them over medium heat in the bacon drippings until onion is clear. If your bacon didn’t produce enough grease, just add a little oil to your pan if necessary.
Add in all the remaining ingredients into the pan (including cooked and crumbled bacon) and stir.
Pour bean mixture into an ungreased 9×13-inch baking dish and bake covered (with aluminum foil) for about an hour (until brown and bubbly).
If you like your beans to be a little less sauce-y, take the aluminum foil off and bake for about another 20-30 minutes (stirring the beans occasionally.) The longer it cooks, the thicker it gets. So if you want them thicker, just let them continue to cook for longer. Stir again before serving.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Crock Pot Baked Beans
- Sausage Baked Beans
- Beanie Weenie Casserole
- Calico Baked Beans
- Root Beer Baked Beans
- Beef and Bean Cowboy Casserole
- Crock Pot Beans and Ham
- Appalachian Soup Beans
- Red Beans and Rice
- Black Eyed Peas Recipe
- Best Grilled Ribs
- Grilled Chicken Marinade
- Grilled BBQ Chicken
- Grilled Steak Marinade
Originally published: February 2011
Updated photos & republished: March 2024
Southern Baked Beans
Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon
- 1 medium onion
- 3 (16 ounce) cans pork and beans, undrained or 8 (6 ounce) cans
- 3 Tablespoons mustard (yellow or dijon)
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- ⅔ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup molasses
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large frying pan, fry ½ pound bacon until crispy, drain on a paper towel then crumble the bacon. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the bacon grease in the pan
- Finely chop 1 medium onion and sauté over medium heat in the bacon drippings until onion is clear. If your bacon didn't produce enough grease, just add a little oil to your pan if necessary.
- Then add in 3 (16 ounce) cans pork and beans, undrained,3 Tablespoons mustard,¾ cup maple syrup,2/3 cup ketchup,1/3 cup molasses,1/4 cup brown sugar and salt and pepper, to taste and crumbled bacon and stir.
- Pour bean mixture into an ungreased 9×13-inch baking dish and bake covered (with aluminum foil) for about an hour (until brown and bubbly).
- If you like your beans to be a little less sauce-y, take the aluminum foil off and bake for about another 20-30 minutes (stirring the beans occasionally.) The longer it cooks, the thicker it gets. So if you want them thicker, just let them continue to cook for longer.
- Stir again before serving.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Oh goodness! I love baked beans. My aunt makes great baked beans but wont share her recipe. Maybe these will impress her 🙂
Those beans are wonderful!!!Perfect for a picnic – and pretty soon it'll be warm enough -)
I put mustard in my baked (vegetarian :D) beans too!
Hi Brandie,
When we start getting our Baked Bean recipes out I know that spring and summer is not far off. Your Virginia Baked Beans look so delicious. T
Whoa! These are AMAZING!!
Brandie these are lookin mighty scrumptious girl! Mmmm
this recipe is similar to the baked beans that my Mom used to make. Even though we're in the Midwest, we grill in the winter. We last grilled last Sat. night. You just have to keep the path shoveled to the grill:)
Those beans look fantastic! You had me at "Virginia"…I'm a daughter of the Commonwealth too, now far away in San Francisco. Cheers!
I am so ready for some good baked beans. These look amazing, Brandie! Thanks for sharing your recipe. Come on summer!
Yum! Now I am in the mood for a cook out!
Oh! don't do this! It's still cold winter and these baked beans just make me yearn for summer all the more! Yum!
Wonderful baked beans! I love grilling too, as you said it keeps kitchen neat and clean! And it is so leovely to spend some time outside with the family. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Brandie-So happy to see your recipe for the baked beans. It brings back such good memories of them. I used to make this years ago, but did not know the proper equivalent. Thanks for sharing your oh, so yummy reipe!
I loooooove baked beans! I could eat them just like they are. A big huge bowl with a few jalapenos on top. Yum, this recipe looks so good.
I love baked beans and these look so delicious!Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you!
Is there really anyone who doesn't like bacon? I can't imagine baked beans without them! This looks like one great mix of sweet, spicy, and smoky. Into the file! (It's warmer, rue; I can't wait for spring.)
I love the looks of the beans, just looking at them makes me feel all sunny inside…can't wait for Spring!
Great recipe! My son is a huge fan of baked beans. I know he would love them and the bacon in it is such a good idea!
I am longing for spring as well! today it was like 45 and it was wonderful hahaha these look great and I cant wait to start cooking some summer food!
Brandie, my hubby would LOVE these!!! I will have to whip him up a batch soon~thanks for sharing your perfected recipe 🙂 Happy Valentine's Day, my friend!
These sound and look delicious! The first bit of warm weather and we are both out grilling! Can't wait to try this recipe!
Those look great! Our family loves beans too, must try these for our next cook out! Yum… Happy Valentines Day!
My family love beans, and did amazing job!!! Yummy!
I agree. It's not Spring…YET but it's starting to feel like it. I love these baked beans. They are one of my favorite sides.