Baked Beans in a Slow Cooker

This is a recipe that I just made on a whim one day after seeing it on Budget Bytes, because it seemed easy and cheap. To my surprise, it became one of our favorites, with John requesting that I always keep our freezer stocked with these beans! He loves them so much that he sometimes just eats them as a snack. And happily enough, they are plenty easy to make in big batches.

The ingredients:

• 1 pound of navy beans
• 6 oz of bacon (half of a normal pack)
• 1 yellow onion
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of molasses
• 1/4 cup of mustard (I use our favorite - Wasabi mustard)
• black pepper (a few cranks)
• 4 cups of water
• salt

The Steps:

1. Dice onion into 1 inch pieces.
2. Chop bacon into 1 inch pieces.
3. Put onion and bacon in the bottom of slow cooker.
4. Spread navy beans out onto a large pan or sheet to sort through them. Sometimes there are small stones in with the beans that need to be removed. 
5. Put all of the good beans into a colander and rinse off the dust. 
6. Put beans in slow cooker on top of the onion and bacon.
7. In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of molasses, and 1/4 cup of mustard and black pepper.
8. Add 4 cups of water to the mixture and stir until well combined.
9. Pour into slow cooker on top of the beans.
10. Turn slow cooker on high and cook for at least 6 hours. 
11. Sample beans, and add salt to taste. 

The Photos:

Diced onion

Chopped bacon

Onion and bacon in bottom of crockpot.

Sorting through the beans.

Rinsing the beans.

Adding the beans to the crockpot.

1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup of molasses, 1/4 cup of wasabi mustard, and a few cranks of black pepper.

Stir well to combine.

Add 4 cups of water and stir some more. 

Add mixture to beans. Cover with lid and cook on high for at least 6 hours. (It may take 7 or 8 to sufficiently soften the beans.)

 Here's what it looks like when it's ready, before mixing.

Give it a good stir, and a taste test. If the beans are soft enough to easily mush in your mouth, it's ready! At this point, add some salt to taste. I've found that not much is needed.

Eat some of it right away, and then freeze the rest for later! You'll appreciate having this delicious side dish (or snack) on hand. 

When I want to eat it at a future date, I just move it from the freezer to the fridge a few hours before, and then put it in a saucepan on the stove when I'm ready to heat it up and chow it down.

Enjoy!