Brown Sugar and Bacon Baked Beans

By Sprig Originals ✓ · with credit

Adapted from thechunkychef.com

Sweet, tangy, smoky beans that bake low and slow until the sauce thickens and the bacon on top crisps. It's the pan everyone hovers over at a cookout, and it tastes just as good warm as it does at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 10 slices bacon, diced
• 1 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
• 54 oz canned pork and beans, undrained
• 4 Tbsp ketchup
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tsp dry mustard

Instructions

1. Cook the diced bacon in a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes, just until it has given up some fat but is still soft and pale — you want it only halfway done, since it finishes in the oven. Lift it onto paper towels to drain, then roughly chop into bite-sized pieces once cool enough to handle. Reserve the fat in the pan.
2. Heat the oven to 325°F and set a rack in the lower-middle position. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or another 3-quart baking dish or oven-safe pot.
3. Return about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat to a deep skillet over medium heat (butter works if you're short). Add the onion and green pepper and cook, stirring now and then, for about 5 minutes, until softened.
4. Pour in the pork and beans with all their liquid, then add the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, cider vinegar, and dry mustard. Stir well so the sugar dissolves, and let the mixture bubble gently for a minute.
5. Transfer the beans to the prepared dish and scatter the chopped bacon evenly over the top.
6. Bake, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours. Check at the 2-hour mark: the sauce should be glossy and thickened around the edges with the bacon browned on top. Go longer if you like them thicker and darker.
7. Let the beans rest 5 minutes before serving. They'll keep thickening as they cool, and they're excellent warm or at room temperature.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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