Beans are a perfect slow cooker meal. These Slow Cooker Baked Beans are Boston style baked beans.
Baked Beans: Maple Syrup Vs Molasses?
Meaning that I used molasses, instead of our Canadian version which uses maple syrup. If you don't have molasses, use maple syrup, but please be sure to use only real maple syrup. Artificially flavoured pancake syrups will not work with this. (Or, to me, in any recipe). These beans will shine with either molasses or maple syrup, but will be slightly different with each.
You Don't Need a Ham Bone To Make Perfect Baked Beans
If you have a ham bone left over from a feast, this is a great way to use it, or you can leave it out for a vegetarian bean dish. If you don't have a ham bone and want the pork, you can use bacon, or ham, finely chopped. But, these beans are just as delicious as a vegetarian meal.
The Slow Cooker is the Perfect Way To Cook Beans
Slow cookers are the best invention ever for people who want to cook from scratch, but don't have time. Coming home from work to a meal already made, and a house that smells like you cooked all day? Yes, please! I like to put the slow cooker to work every chance I can.
These slow cooker baked beans are a perfect meal just by themselves, and, they make a great side dish, too. They are potluck stars and kids love them. I've heard that if you add baking soda to your bean pot, the beans will be less gassy. I can't tell you for sure that it works, but I do it anyway. If you make this, maybe you'll know whether the baking soda trick works. If it doesn't, these beans are worth it.
Eat Lots of Beans, They Are A Prime Source Of Nutrition
Beans are a quality source of healthy, animal free protein and we should all pay more attention to them in our diet. I love that these slow cooked beans are an amazing dish to come home to., thanks to the slow cooker. Once you make these simple, delicious baked beans, you'll never eat them from a can again, if you ever did.
This recipe makes a lot of beans, so it's perfect for feeding a crowd, potlucks, or leftovers to reheat for lunches. You can also freeze them. And here's a great resource for bean cooking: How to Cook Beans
Do you want some more slow cooker stars? Then check out Slow Cooker Cabbage & Apples, or have breakfast ready when you wake up with Overnight Oatmeal. Come home to a delicious meal like Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili, or celebrate St Patrick's Day with Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage.
How to Make Slow Cooker Baked Beans
Recipe
Slow Cooker Baked Beans- Boston Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 2 pounds navy beans, rinsed, picked through, and soaked in water in the fridge overnight
- 1 ham bone (optional) with bits of meat still on; even better
- 1 cup fancy molasses
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 teaspoon dry mustard
- 3 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large onion diced
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into the slow cooker, add enough water just to cover and combine well.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- 30 minutes before serving, remove the cover to allow the beans to thicken.
- Remove and discard ham bone, if using.
Notes
Nutrition
Witty Weasel
Coleen, Hi !
Help !
I've tried soaking dried white beans in cold water to soften them overnight, on the counter or in the fridge, even for 24 hours and they still stay hard as rocks. What am I doing wrong ?
Colleen
Hi there. After soaking, your beans won't be soft. Soaking softens the outer seed coat, allowing the cooking water to penetrate. If, after cooking, your beans are still hard, they may be old beans, which will not soften. Or you could be using hard water to soak them. Try adding a couple of tablespoons of salt to the soaking water, and use a longer cooking time. I am inserting a link in the recipe that you might find helpful called How To Cook Beans. I hope this helps! Good luck with your beans!
Dara
Should you use dried navy beans in this recipe or canned?
Thank you!
Colleen
Hi Dara, thanks for contacting us! Because this is a slow cooker recipe, it's important to use dried ones here. 🙂 Cheers!
Dina
Colleen, I love the sweetness of baked beans and this recipe looks delicious. It's time to pull out the slow cooker.