Best Southern Baked Beans Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to soft baked beans? ›

soak them about 20 hours. Depending on how much water they soak up you may add more halfway through - if you set them soaking in the early evening, check them in the morning. drain, rinse, and then boil for about two hours, checking to see if they are soft.

Use starches to thicken beans

Simply add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 cup of water or to the liquid from the baked beans (scoop it out into a separate bowl and let it cool first) and mix. Once the starch is thoroughly incorporated, pour the slurry into the baked beans dish and stir.

These beans can often take much longer to soften while soaking and cooking, up to twice the time! Baking soda can help significantly since it increases the pH of the water, disintegrating that pectin and allowing beans to soften quicker.

Onion: a diced onion adds savory spice to the baked bean mixture. Brown sugar: brown sugar adds sweetness and depth of flavor thanks to the molasses inside. Steak sauce and yellow mustard: steak sauce and mustard add savory flavor and tang to balance out the sweetness of the pineapple and brown sugar.

I like to sprinkle in some taco seasoning, but you could add whatever spices you like — garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder are all good calls. Then, you mash the beans up directly in the pan and add just a little bit of vinegar at the end to really make the beans sing.

Not adding aromatics

If you cook beans in just water, you could be missing out on an opportunity for flavor development. Almost all food can benefit from adding aromatics during the cooking process. Cooking dried beans with just salt and water is fine, but they are going to taste rather plain.

Many recipes use ketchup or tomato paste to help thicken the broth into that signature shiny, syrupy sauce, but I've never been a fan of that method. Instead, we par-cook the beans with aromatic vegetables until just tender, then use that starchy, flavorful bean broth as the base for our sauce.

What can I add to baked beans to prevent gas? ›

The one tried and true method she taught me to reduce the gassy effect of beans, is this: add a tiny amount of baking soda to the pot half an hour or so before you're ready to serve them to “release” the gasses from them. Be set to stir down the violent reaction. This works no matter how you've seasoned them.

Baked beans are a source of protein and are high in fibre, so are not a bad choice, especially on wholegrain toast or a jacket potato. But they do contain salt and sugar. Too much salt over time can contribute to high blood pressure, while sugar adds energy (calories) without any other nutritional value.

If your beans are still too watery after prolonged cooking and mashing, consider adding a thickener like cornstarch, all-purpose flour, or arrowroot. To do this, first, make a slurry of equal parts thickener and water, then slowly add it to your refried beans. They should thicken considerably.

The longer you cook the beans, the thicker they'll get. Keep in mind that as they cool, they'll thicken too.

You don't say how long you cooked them for, but if they're still tough, they most likely weren't cooked long enough. The older beans are, the longer they take to become tender.

The addition of baking soda to the cooking water does two things: It adds sodium ions that weaken the pectin as explained above, and more importantly, an alkaline environment causes the pectin molecules to break down into smaller molecules that greatly weakens the pectin causing the beans to soften much more rapidly.

Use the power of baking soda to get dried beans to soften up faster. Rinse and sort your beans. Place them in pot and cover with water, sprinkle on a tablespoon or so of baking soda and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes.

Before cooking, all dried beans need to be rehydrated by soaking. The 10- to 12-hour overnight soak is the easy and always effective method, but you can quick-soak beans by bringing them to the boil for one minute, then covering the pan and letting them sit for one hour.