Typically made with salt pork, we’ve used lardons for ease in this Boston Baked Beans recipe. The aim is to just keep the beans covered with liquid, but not swimming, or you won’t form that thick shiny, glaze-like sauce.
Preparation Notes: Plus overnight soaking
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Yields:
6 - 8
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
5 hrs
Total Time:
5 hrs 15 mins
Ingredients
500g
dried haricot beans, soaked overnight in cold water
2
onions
1
carrot, roughly chopped
2
bay leaves
2
garlic cloves, peeled
1Tbsp.
vegetable oil
200g
smoked bacon lardons
125g
black treacle
1Tbsp.
Dijon mustard
1tsp.
cider vinegar, if needed
Directions
Step 1Drain the soaked beans and put into a large pan. Cut 1 onion into quarters and add to pan with the carrot, bay leaves and garlic. Cover well with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat, then simmer for 45min (topping up with water as needed), until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Using a slotted spoon, lift out and discard the onion, carrot and garlic. Reserving the cooking liquid, drain the beans.
Step 2Meanwhile, finely chop the remaining onion. Heat oil in a large casserole dish over medium heat and fry the lardons for 5min until golden and crisp. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5min until onion is softening.
Step 3Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Add drained beans and bay leaves to the casserole dish. Measure the treacle into a large jug and mix in mustard and enough of the reserved cooking water to make it up to 700ml (reserve remaining cooking water). Grind in plenty of pepper and add a few large pinches of salt.
Step 4Stir the treacle mixture into the casserole dish and smooth the beans into an even layer. If needed, add more reserved cooking water to just cover the top of the beans. Bring to a simmer on the hob, then cook in the oven, uncovered, for 4hr. You’ll need to stir every hour or so and top up with reserved cooking water if the top beans aren’t submerged. The beans should be completely tender with a few bursting, and there should be a dark brown crust on the surface (avoid stirring in final 1hr of cooking to let this form). The beans take a long time as the treacle slows down the rate of cooking. If your cooking water runs out, use just-boiled water to top up.
Step 5Remove from oven and stir beans well to allow a thick starchy sauce to form. Check seasoning, adding a splash of cider vinegar, if needed. Serve.
Get ahead: Make up to 3 days ahead. Cool, cover and chill. To serve, reheat gently on the hob, adding just-boiled water, if needed, to loosen. Check seasoning.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
