The problem with most Boston Baked Beans recipes is the carbs. We’ve cut the carbs way back on this one, but still, if you want a more authentic flavor, add the molasses. The original recipe called for brown sugar, which is just sugar with molasses already in it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry navy beans, soaked overnight
- ½ pound uncooked bacon strips
- 1 medium onion, diced
- ½ cup ketchup (the link is to our low carb ketchup)
- 3 tablespoons molasses (optional, 48g of additional carbs)
- ½ cup BochaSweet (if not using molasses, ¼ cup if you are)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons salt (you might need more)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
Directions
Wash your beans! And DO NOT add any salt until the beans are done. Cover with 2 to 3 inches of water above the beans and soak them overnight.
Stove Top Version
Transfer soaked navy beans and soaking water to a saucepan. You might have to add a bit more water. They should be covered for cooking.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until nearly tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
Instapot Version
Transfer the cleaned and soaked beans into your Instapot (although it would have been smarter to soak them in the Instapot). Add enough water so that the beans are covered by three inches of water. Set the Instapot on “Beans” and make sure the timer is for 20 minutes on high pressure.
When cooled, your beans will be perfect so be carful when transferring them to the casserole pot. They’re soft and can crush easily. Save some of the water for baking, since the baking can dry out this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Arrange 1/2 of the beans in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish. Place 1/2 of the bacon strips over the beans and sprinkle 1/2 of the onions over top. Then make one more layer exactly like the first.
Combine ketchup, [molasses], Bochasweet, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and dry mustard in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil.
Chef Secret
What makes Boston Baked Beans so delicious is this sauce. And you’ll recall the last time you ate canned Boston Baked Beans, that there was so much delicious sauce! Amiright? So, you can double the sauce recipe (above), and you’ll need less of the cooking water you drained from the pot, but still, you might need some when checking during baking. You don’t want them to dry out.
Pour the sauce over the beans. Pour in just enough reserved cooking liquid to cover the beans. Cover the casserole dish and bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours (if using the stove top method), just ONE hour if you used the Instapot method.
Now is where your attention is needed. If using the stove top method, remove the lid and continue to cook, checking every 1/2 hour or so and adding more cooking liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry, until beans are soft and tender, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 more hours.
If you’ve used the Instapot method, your beans are soft enough. But you might want to bake them a bit longer with the top off (to thicken the sauce). This is totally up the queen/or king of the kitchen.
Serve hot and enjoy!
(Author’s Note: I haven’t had Boston Baked Beans since I was a kid. I just haven’t purchased many canned goods in my adult life. I make things from scratch. So when I found this recipe, I thought: Hmmmmm….I kinda miss that treat. And having been diagnosed with diabetes, I just had to make this with fewer carbs. As diabetics, we don’t want to avoid carbs; we want to eat “healthy” carbs. Fruits and vegetable give us healthy carbs. Every time I see a Balance of Nature® commercial, I put fruits and veggies on my shopping list. We should supplement with actual supplements: Vitamin D3, MK-7, Resveratrol, etc, not highly processed, highly condensed foods. We should eat real foods.)
