This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our affiliate policy.
Homemade Slow Cooker Baked Beans are a tasty and inexpensive dinner menu addition. Skip canned baked beans and try this DIY side dish that’s infused with bacon.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Navy beans: Baked Beans are traditionally made with navy beans, but you can use small white beans or super-size with great northern beans. To soak beans overnight, add 4 quarts water to a large bowl and add 1 pound of rinsed beans. Soak at least 8 hours. To quick-soak beans, add 1 pound of rinsed beans to a large saucepan and cover with 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
- Molasses: This robust, sweet syrup accentuates the sweetness of the brown sugar (brown sugar is a mixture of cane sugar and molasses). I love the flavor that results from using brown sugar and molasses in a 2:1 ratio.
Step-by-step instructions
- Drain soaked beans well. In small bowl, whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, and molasses.
- In the bottom of a slow cooker, add beans, water, bacon, celery, onion, and bay leaf. Add sauce and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours or LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or until beans are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Slow Cooker Baked Beans recipe makes 12 generous side dish servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Baked beans can be made up to 3 days in advance. Reheat over the stove until an internal thermometer reaches 165 degrees.
- Oven-baked beans: Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. In the bottom of a Dutch oven or large saucepan, add all ingredients except salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cover and and bake, stirring every hour, until the beans are tender, about 4 to 5 hours.
- Ham bone: Instead of bacon, add a meaty ham bone and 1 cup chopped leftover ham to your slow cooker. Remove the ham bone before serving.
- Fun flavors: For a different flavor, add 4 cloves minced garlic or 1 tablespoon brown mustard to the slow cooker. Or, substitute half of the ketchup for your favorite barbecue sauce.
Favorite barbecue entrees
Grilling and Smoker Recipes
Barbecue Chicken
Grilling and Smoker Recipes
Best Bacon Cheeseburger
Pork, Ham, and Lamb Recipes
Best Barbecue Ribs
Grilling and Smoker Recipes
Wisconsin Beer Brats
Join Us
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Sign up for our weekly newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for our latest recipes! Tag all your glorious creations #culinaryhill so we can eat vicariously through you.
Slow Cooker Baked Beans
Homemade Slow Cooker Baked Beans are a tasty and inexpensive dinner menu addition. Skip canned baked beans and try this DIY side dish that's infused with bacon.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans picked over and soaked overnight (see note 1)
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons molasses (see note 2)
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 pound bacon chopped
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Drain beans well. In small bowl, whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, and molasses. In the bottom of a slow cooker, add beans, water, bacon, celery, onion, and bay leaf. Add sauce and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours or LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or until beans are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Navy beans: Baked Beans are traditionally made with navy beans, but you can use small white beans or super-size with great northern beans. To soak beans overnight, add 4 quarts water to a large bowl and add 1 pound of rinsed beans. Soak at least 8 hours. To quick-soak beans, add 1 pound of rinsed beans to a large saucepan and cover with 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
- Molasses: This robust, sweet syrup accentuates the sweetness of the brown sugar (brown sugar is a mixture of cane sugar and molasses). I love the flavor that results from using brown sugar and molasses in a 2:1 ratio.
- Yield: This Slow Cooker Baked Beans recipe makes 12 generous side dish servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Baked beans can be made up to 3 days in advance. Reheat over the stove until an internal thermometer reaches 165 degrees.
- Oven-baked beans: Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. In the bottom of a Dutch oven or large saucepan, add all ingredients except salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cover and and bake, stirring every hour, until the beans are tender, about 4 to 5 hours.
- Ham bone: Instead of bacon, add a meaty ham bone and 1 cup chopped leftover ham to your slow cooker. Remove the ham bone before serving.
- Fun flavors: For a different flavor, add 4 cloves minced garlic or 1 tablespoon brown mustard to the slow cooker. Or, substitute half of the ketchup for your favorite barbecue sauce.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 273kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 15gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 521mgPotassium: 702mgFiber: 10gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 148IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 80mgIron: 3mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Ok, so I had to use all northern beans and I didn’t have a few ingredients but simple, scratch baked bean recipes are surprisingly hard to find! That said, I used this as inspiration and they’re absolutely delicious (even without the bay leaf, molasses, and mixed beans!). Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Hi Kels, thank you so much for writing! I’m so happy you were able to use this recipe as a jumping-off point for some delicious beans! You’re so welcome. Take care! – Meggan
Very good recipe! The molasses, brown sugar and ketchup work well together. I felt the recipe needed more so I doubled those three ingredients. I precooked my beans so only used 1 cup of water and thickness was perfect. Brought it to a party and everyone loved it. I had doubled the recipe and had half left so added 1# bacon, 14 oz Kielbasa and 1# ground beef to the remaining (single recipe) beans. Wow, not sure what to call this but the flavor is amazing. Have tried bean recipe after bean recipe and couldn’t get it right. This one is great! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Anita! Adding more bacon, Kielbasa and ground beef sounds delicious. Thank you for trusting my recipe! – Meggan
I have made this recipe several times. Always a crowd pleaser. I even made it vegetarian and omitted the bacon and it was still delicious. Will never eat canned baked beans again!!! EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT RECIPE, my family asks for this every bbq!
Thank you Suba! So glad you all loved it. – Meggan
Hi Meggan,
I hope this question hasn’t already been answered but… Can you freeze the baked beans? I’m going to soak my beans tonight. The recipe sounds delicious, I can’t wait to try it ❤️ Thank you.
Hi Lori, I haven’t frozen these myself, but I don’t see why they won’t. I would make sure to freeze it in an airtight container and make sure to leave some headspace for expansion. Enjoy! – Meggan
Hi Meggan, I decided to add home made beans to my cooking list for Christmas. So I’m going to prepare these beans before time. I’m sure they freeze well too!
I have soaked the beans for 91\2hrs and also doubled the recipe. It’s in the crock-pot right now going on the 5th hour, and it smells delicious. I made the recipe exactly to the T, except I added double smoked Bacon instead of the regular bacon. I’ll surely let you know later how they were.
Wow Francine, I can’t wait to hear how they turn out! I bet your kitchen smells delicious. – Meggan
Please help not sure how I manged it but my homemade baked beans come out too soupy and they have already been cooking in slow cooker for over 12hrs on low and I followed everything step?
Hi Kathy! I’m so sorry about your soupy baked beans! I wonder if you may have accidentally included the bean’s soaking liquid in the pot, possibly? I would simmer uncovered until some of the excess liquid evaporates. Sorry again – Meggan
Can smoked turkey he used instead of bacan or a ham bone?
Thanks.
Hi Stephanie, that sounds delicious, I don’t see why not! I haven’t tried that myself, though, so if you do would you let me know how it turned out? I hope you enjoy it! – Meggan
i read that sugar and calcium prevent beans from getting soft. Hence Baked Beans So get your beans too the correct texture prior to baking. Then add the other ingredients That is why the beans retain their texture when baking..the sugar and calcium( molasses) keep them that way.
Could you also do this with canned beans? How would you change the recipe?
Hi Stefanie! You could make these with canned beans and it wouldn’t take very long at all. I would say you’d need 2 or 3 hours on HIGH (just long enough to cook all the other ingredients) or 3 to 4 hours on low. Obviously the beans would already be cooked. You could actually make it on the stove top in probably 30 minutes. Good luck and if you have anymore questions just let me know! Thanks.