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Savory Bacon Baked Beans Recipe Easy Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Delight

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A slow cooker baked beans recipe featuring smoky bacon and balanced brown sugar sweetness, perfect for cozy dinners or potlucks. This dish delivers tender beans in a rich, flavorful sauce with minimal hands-on time.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups dried Great Northern beans (or 4 cups cooked/canned, rinsed and drained)
  • 6 strips bacon, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (dark brown sugar preferred)
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: pinch of smoked paprika or cayenne pepper

Instructions

  1. If using dried beans, rinse and soak overnight in cold water. Drain before cooking. For quick soak, boil beans for 2 minutes, then cover and soak for 1 hour.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped bacon and cook until crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the skillet.
  3. In the reserved bacon fat, sauté diced onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
  4. Add soaked and drained beans, cooked bacon, sautéed onion and garlic to the slow cooker. Pour in ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, and chicken broth. Stir gently to combine.
  5. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours until beans are tender but not mushy and sauce is thickened and glossy.
  6. Near the end of cooking, taste and adjust seasoning with more salt, pepper, or vinegar if needed.
  7. Let the beans sit with the lid off for 10-15 minutes before serving to thicken the sauce and allow flavors to settle.

Notes

Soaking dried beans overnight improves texture and reduces cooking time. Render bacon fat first to sauté onions and garlic for deeper flavor. Cook on low for best results to avoid mushy beans. Adjust sweetness and acidity near the end of cooking. If sauce is too thin, thicken with cornstarch slurry. Leftovers store well refrigerated up to 4 days or frozen up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Keywords: baked beans, slow cooker, bacon, brown sugar, comfort food, easy recipe, potluck, savory beans

Find it online: https://forkifyfun.com/savory-bacon-baked-beans-recipe-easy-slow-cooker-brown-sugar-delight/