Fast and Fancy Pork and Beans

Christine Gallary
Christine GallarySenior Recipe Editor at The Kitchn
I grew up in a Chinese food-loving family, eating my first restaurant meals in Oakland's vibrant Chinatown. My love of food but lack of cooking experience led to me Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where I graduated with a Diplôme de Cuisine in French cooking. After culinary school, I learned how to test and edit recipes in test kitchens at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW, falling in love with the process of rigorously testing recipes to make sure they were foolproof for the home cook. I've worked with thousands of recipes over the past 15 years, including developing recipes for the James Beard-award winning Mister Jiu's in Chinatown cookbook. Living in the delicious diversity of San Francisco, I never get tired of finding new ingredients or cuisines to try. My favorite type is Cantonese home cooking — I'm on a quest to recreate the dishes my grandmother used to make. All the food I test at home is eagerly tasted and enjoyed by my husband, Hayden, and daughter, Sophie, while our little dog, Mochi, looks wistfully on.
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updated Aug 17, 2023
summer
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Pork and beans in a cast iron skillet
Credit: Maria Siriano
With your favorite cut of cured pork, molasses, canned beans, and a secret ingredient, you can be eating creamy beans in a velvety sauce in 30 minutes.

Serves6

Makesabout 1 1/2 quarts

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Credit: Maria Siriano

Pork and beans, the popular companion to barbecued meat at summer cookouts, doesn’t have to come straight out of a can — nor does it mean soaking dried beans and hours of slow cooking time.

With your favorite cut of cured pork, smoky molasses,

canned beans

creamy beans suspended in a smoky, velvety, sweet, and savory sauce with just 30 minutes of stovetop time. This recipe is fast but just a touch fancy — just the way we like it.
Credit: Maria Siriano

The Secret Ingredient to a Velvety Sauce

Traditional baked beans rely on the starch from the beans to thicken the sauce. In this fast-cooking version, however, canned beans are used. The trick here is to not drain the liquid that’s in the can. This thick, flavorful bean liquid is the backbone to the final hearty sauce that we all know and love in pork and beans. While navy beans are the traditional bean of choice, cannellini beans work wonderfully well and can sometimes be easier to find.

Pick Your Pork

A small amount of cured pork is the base of flavor in this pork and beans recipe, but you have lots of options here. Smoked bacon, whether in slab form or in slices, will lend an extra-smoky flavor to the finished dish, but salt pork or pancetta, which are not smoked, will also give porky goodness to the beans. Pick your favorite pork — you can’t go wrong.

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Fast and Fancy Pork and Beans

With your favorite cut of cured pork, molasses, canned beans, and a secret ingredient, you can be eating creamy beans in a velvety sauce in 30 minutes.

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts

Serves 6

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup

    small-dice slab bacon, thick-cut bacon slices, salt pork, or pancetta (about 3 ounces)

  • 1/2

    medium yellow onion, finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup

    tomato sauce

  • 1/3 cup

    molasses

  • 3 tablespoons

    apple cider vinegar

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons

    dry mustard

  • 1 teaspoon

    Worcestershire sauce

  • 1/4 teaspoon

    freshly ground black pepper

  • 3

    (15-ounce) cans navy or cannellini beans (do not drain)

  • Kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Place the bacon in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat begins to render out, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

  2. Add the tomato sauce, molasses, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, and pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Add the beans and all the canning liquid and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the flavors meld and the sauce thickens, 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Filed in:
beans
Canned Goods
dinner
easy
Gluten-Free
Ingredient