Three-Bean Baked Beans

There’s nothing like a big ole pot of beans cooking on a chilly day. We had more snow last night, and snow just makes me want to cook and bake even more than usual.

I have a recipe for traditional baked beans that I make in my Nana’s very old bean pot. You soak the beans over night and then cook them all day, and they are delicious, but sometimes you just want some good beans and you want ‘em fast. This recipe fits the bill perfectly. Again I turn to Elise at Simply Recipes. She hasn’t let me down yet. I have been making these beans for over a year now and they never fail me. My husband put a big ole pork butt on the smoker early this morning and I whipped up some pasta salad, so beans will be the perfect accompaniment…….along with scrumptious Magic Cookie Bars for dessert.

I do two things differently when I make this recipe. I add an additional can of kidney beans and I add about a ½ cup packed brown sugar. You can leave these step out if you like.

Three-Bean Baked Beans
5 bacon slices
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup (or more) water
1 bay leaf
1 15- to 16-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
1 15- to 16-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook bacon in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium heat until crisp. Using tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain. Crumble bacon and reserve.


Add onion to drippings in pot and sauté until almost tender, about 5 minutes.
Add dry mustard and thyme and stir 1 minute. Mix in ketchup, vinegar, molasses, 1/3 cup water, bay leaf and all beans. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover pot and bake bean mixture 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if mixture seems dry. Mix bacon into beans. Bake 15 minutes longer. Discard bay leaf. Mix in hot pepper sauce and serve.