I know there are many choices of beans that a person can buy if they want to serve baked beans for a picnic or a potluck. Let me tell you this: after you’ve made this recipe, you won’t want to be just opening up a can of beans anymore.
I got this recipe from my friend and neighbor Joyce who concocted it with a friend a few years back. Â They were providing baked beans for a fundraiser for church and wanted to do more than just heat up a can of beans. Â (We Mennonite folk are known for our homemade goodness, after all!) Â So they dumped and sauteed, seasoned and stirred, mixed and tasted, and added until they got it right. Â Since then, everybody knows that if you’re having baked beans at a pot luck, you ask Joyce to bring them.
Pick up your favorite brand of pork and beans and you’ll be off to a start. Â You’ll also need an onion, pepper, bacon, brown sugar, molasses, and ketchup (did I say it would be calorie free?!). Â When you’re having a picnic, you don’t worry about calories anyhow.
This is a wonderful recipe if you’re serving a crowd of people. You can mix up several gallons a day ahead and heat them in a slow cooker.
Homemade Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 gallon pork and beans
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 cup green pepper finely chopped
- 2/3 cup molasses
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 strips bacon fried and crumbled
Instructions
- Fry bacon and drain; then crumble pieces
- Saute onion and pepper in bacon grease OR in margarine
- Mix together all other ingredients
- Add onion, pepper and bacon
- Put into 4 quart casserole dish
- Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes