Old fashioned baked beans with pork

These baked beans are equally good served as a side at a family barbeque, or over some toast in the morning. This recipe calls for bacon, but it can be made just as easily with canned pork, or no meat at all!

• 1 lb (453 grams) dried great northern, navy, or pinto beans, or 2 540 mL cans
  
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
  
• 6 ounces (around 6 slices) of bacon (optional)
  
  
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
  
  
• 1/2 cup plain tomato sauce or ketchup
  
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
  
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
  

1. If using dried beans:
   
   Pour into a large container and cover in cool water. Leave overnight, or around 8 hours to soak.
   
   Drain and rinse beans, and then place in large pot. Cover with water, and then bring to boil. Simmer for 1 hour and drain, saving the liquid from the beans.
   
   If using canned beans:
   
   Drain and rinse beans before using.
   
   
2. Preheat over to 325F
   
   
3. Fry bacon in a large pot or pan until browned. Add the onions and cook 5-7 minutes, until they are soft and traslucent. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, another minute or so.
   
   
4. Stir in tomato sauce, brown sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper, and bay leaf (if using). Add the beans, along with 1 1/2 cups of the reserved bean liquid (or plain water, if using canned beans). Heat to a simmer, and cook for a minute or two.
   
   
5. Pour beans into a large casserole dish, and cover with aluminum foil. Make sure there is enough liquid to cover the beans in the dish; if needed, add more of the reserved bean liquid, so that the sauce covers the beans by about 1/4 inch.
   
   
6. Bake for 2-3 hours, until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened. Remove the aluminum foil for the last 20-30 minutes, to help the sauce thicken. If the beans seem to be drying out as they bake, just add a little more bean liquid to the pan. If the sauce seems to runny, just allow the beans to bake a little longer with the lid off.
   
   
7. Once the beans are soft and the sauce is your desired consistency, remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before serving.

• Dried beans that are old sometimes don't soften as they cook. If your beans are still hard after being simmered on the stove for an hour, try adding a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to the pot and letting them boil a little longer. Don't add too much more than that though, or you'll end up with mushy beans!

• You can make this recipe with canned pork instead of bacon. Just cook the onions and garlic in oil instead of bacon fat, and add a can of pork afterwards, along with the tomato sauce, beans, and other spices.
  
  
• You can make this recipe vegetarian by eliminating the pork all together, though you may want to increase the amount of seasoning added to boost the flavour.
  
  
• The seasonings in this recipe can be adjusted to your taste. Molasses, apple cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and cloves are all commonly added to baked beans, if you would like to experiment!
  
  
• This recipe can also be made in the slow cooker. Just pour your beans into a slow cooker instead of a casserole dish, and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours, or HIGH for 3-4, until the beans are tender. Remove lid for the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, to help thicken the sauce.

• Cover and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days
  
  
• Cool completely and put in airtight freezer containers or bags. Freeze for up to 6 months.

Recipe adapted from Gleaners Food Bank

Food is Too Expensive! was funded by the City of Saskatoon through our Healthy Yards partnership, the Cyril Capling Trust Fund of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Department of Plant Sciences. Focus group research to inform this work was collected by CHEP. Thank you all for helping us make healthy food more accessible!