Southern-Style Baked Beans

I love beans. There. Now you know my secret. I can have them every which way and I would never get tired of them. I think because I haven’t tested that theory. Yet.

For our Superbowl meal, I made these Southern-Style Baked Beans (I took out the ‘Quick’ in the title because if they have to cook for two hours, that’s not quick to me.) from The Pioneer Woman’s website. They were tasty and that bacon on the top helped seal in a rather delicious flavor. My mother loved these so I know they are good. If you like beans, go ahead and give these a go for your next get together.

Southern-Style Baked Beans
(Recipe slightly adapted from Pam Anderson)

Ingredients:

4 slices thick cut bacon, halved
1/4 medium red onion, finely diced
1/2 medium green pepper, finely diced
2 – 15 oz cans pork and beans
1/2 c barbecue sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Using a large, deep sauté pan, fry bacon until bacon is partially cooked. You do not want it to brown as it will finish cooking in the oven. Remove the bacon from the pan and pat dry with paper towels to remove the grease.

Add the onions and green peppers to the sauté pan and cook in the remaining bacon grease. Cook for about 5 minutes or until tender.

Add the beans, sugar, vinegar and mustard to the sauté pan and stir together. Bring to a simmer.

Pour the bean mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Top beans with the bacon. Place in the lower-middle rack in the oven. Bake for about two hours until sauce is syrupy. I would check them around 1 1/2 hours to ensure they are not sticking to the pan.

Let beans stand to thicken then serve.