Saturday Share Recipe - Mom's Baked Beans

My Mom was a great cook. I only wish I had asked her how to make her mac and cheese because mine has never been as good as hers.

I did learn how to make her baked beans though. They were the best I’ve ever had. Maybe it’s because they were made with love because she didn’t use fancy ingredients.

She also didn’t slow bake the beans in the oven in a crock or casserole dish. She cooked everything in an iron skillet on top of the stove—from beginning to end.

My Mom always used Van Camp’s brand. She thought they were superior and had more beans and less liquid than the other brands. 

In today’s world, I sometimes have difficulty finding Van Camp’s Pork and Beans in the local stores. If you also do, you can order from Amazon which is the link I included.

Mom’s Stovetop Baked Beans

Ingredients

4-6 strips of bacon fried crispy

2 28-ounce cans Van Camp’s Pork and Beans

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup diced bell pepper, any color

yellow mustard

brown sugar

Directions

My mother rarely measured anything unless she was baking a cake. I’ve tried to approximate measurements for the mustard and brown sugar because I don’t measure them either.

1. Fry the bacon until it is crispy. Place the fried bacon on paper towels to drain, but keep the rendered fat in the frying pan or skillet. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

2. Saute the onion and bell pepper in the bacon fat until soft, not browned.

3. Dump both cans of pork and beans into the frying pan. Stir to mix well with the sauteed vegetables.

4. Start with 1/2 tablespoon of yellow mustard. Mix well into the beans. By the way, you can use any kind of mustard. Sometimes I use stone-ground dijon, but yellow mustard was what Mom used.

5. Start with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Mix well into the beans.

6. After the beans have simmered a minute or so, taste them. They should be a little sweet with a little tang to them. If too sweet, add a little more mustard, a teaspoon at a time, stir, taste, etc. If too tangy, add a little more brown sugar a little at a time, stir, taste, etc.

7. When you have the seasoning just right, simmer about 5 minutes then turn the heat off.

8. Pour into a serving bowl or leave in the frying pan or skillet for a rustic touch. Sprinkle half of the crumbled bacon over the beans, stir into the beans. Then sprinkle the rest on top and leave it that way to serve.

Makes 8-10 hearty servings.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

From my Mom’s kitchen to my kitchen, and now to yours. Let me know if you try this old-fashioned stovetop baked bean recipe. I hope you’ll like it.

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Joan Reeves aka SlingWords: The Word Slinging Adventures of Joan Reeves

Source: https://slingwords.blogspot.com/2024/09/saturday-share-recipe-moms-baked-beans.html