You may be wondering – why go through the bother of making your own baked beans when canned baked beans are so readily available? Well, I have of three good reasons, right off of the top of my head. 1) They are ridiculously easy to make. It only takes, maybe, 10 minutes prep time, and a couple of hours baking, less if you use a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. 2) You get to control the ingredients going into your recipe, including the sugar and salt. Baked beans do not need a lot of sugar or salt to boost their flavor, a little goes a long ways. This, of course, directly contradicts the ingredient lists on most commercial baked bean cans. 3) FLAVOR. You have no idea what real baked beans taste like if you’ve only ever eaten them out of a can. It’s a game changer.

Ingredients:

• 4-6 Slices of diced Ham or Bacon (optional – leave out for vegetarian version)
• 1/2 Onion – diced
• 1/2 cup diced Green Peppers (I used padrón peppers, but poblanos, jalapeños, or even bell peppers will work depending on your desired level of spice)
• 2 (~15oz) cans Kidney Beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1/4 cup Ketchup
• 1/4 cup Molasses
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 – 1 cup Water (depending on how soupy you want it)
• 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Chipotle Chili Powder
• Salt for seasoning

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients (except the salt) in a pressure cooker or dutch-oven.
2. If you choose to baking them in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 F (~177 C), and bake while covered for two hours, or follow the instructions for cooking beans in your pressure cooker and go from there.
3. Season beans as desired with salt.