Molasses Baked Beans

Name: Molasses Baked Beans
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 37 min
Total time: 57 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Canadian
Ingredients: 2 cups Dried White Navy Beans; 1/2 lb Bacon; 1 medium Onion; 1/2 cup Molasses; 1/4 cup Brown Sugar; 2 tablespoons Cider Vinegar; Ground Mustard; To taste Salt; To taste Pepper

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Vegetarian recipe with Canadian flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 49 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 57 min total

2 cups Dried White Navy Beans
1/2 lb Bacon
1 medium Onion
1/2 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Cider Vinegar
Ground Mustard
To taste Salt
To taste Pepper

Step-by-step instructions

Place the dried beans into a Dutch oven with 6 cups (1.5 L) of water. Soak overnight.
Drain and pour beans back into the pot with enough water to cover the beans by a couple of inches, cook for 30 minutes until they are tender but still firm. Drain beans, making sure to reserve cooking liquid, set aside.
Preheat the oven to 325 °F (160 °C). While the oven is preheating, cook pork over medium-high heat in the Dutch Oven until fat is rendered and pork is beginning to brown, then add the onion cooking until tender.
Add the beans back to the pot, along with molasses, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, ground mustard, salt and pepper and 3 cups (750 mL) of reserved bean water.
Bake uncovered for 3 to 5 hours until the beans are tender, and the sauce has thickened, and the edges of the pot get sticky.
(Note: if beans get dry, add another cup of water.).

Why this works on a weeknight

Molasses Baked Beans lands at about 57 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sheet-Pan Dinners collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Molasses Baked Beans actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍳 Sheet-Pan Dinners Vegetarian Canadian