Boston Baked Beans
These starchy baked beans are enriched with syrups similar to molasses in order to tenderize and sweeten them. An iconic side dish from Boston (also known as Beantown), it started its way to stardom in the 17th century when the Natives taught the early settlers how to bake beans using bear fat.
Later on, people used to fill the pots with dry beans on Saturday and leave them to cook slowly until Sunday so the beans would be tender, falling apart, and melting. The baked beans' key ingredient is molasses, making the dish sweet and rich, but it is not yet clear who added it to the dish.
What is clear, though, is that the molasses industry boomed in the 18th and 19th century in New England as a part of the trade triangle between Africa, West Indies, and the U.S. Coast. The first recipe for Boston baked beans appeared in A. L. Webster's cookbook called The Improved Housewife, adding salt pork and baking soda to the molasses and beans, which is standard today.
The dish is so popular that it can be found in almost any place where hot dogs are served, occasionally splashed with vinegar for those who find the beans just a bit too sweet.
Part of
Baked Bean Sandwich
Baked bean sandwich is a traditional sandwich originating from New England. It consists of two slices of thick and chewy brown bread that are buttered and topped with ... Read more
Recipe variations
19th Century Boston Baked Beans
READY IN 5h 20minThe following is a straightforward 19th-century Boston baked beans recipe, which calls for very little seasoning, just salt pork, sugar, molasses, and salt, with optional mustard. The beans, Navy beans in this case, are first cooked, then layered in a crock pot with other ingredients and baked for 5-6 hours. The recipe is adapted from the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer.
Durgin-Park Boston Baked Beans
READY IN 6h 30minThe following Boston baked beans recipe is more than 150 years old. It is courtesy of Durgin-Park restaurant in Boston, a historic eatery that's been in operation for more than 200 years, now unfortunately permanently closed. The recipe calls for California pea beans or York beans, salted pork, molasses, onion, sugar, mustard, and seasonings. For baking, use either one six-quart or two three-quart baking pots.
Boston Baked Beans Authentic recipe
The following is a straightforward 19th-century Boston baked beans recipe, which calls for very little seasoning, just salt pork, sugar, molasses, and salt, with optional mustard. The beans, Navy beans in this case, are first cooked, then layered in a crock pot with other ingredients and baked for 5-6 hours. The recipe is adapted from the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer.
WHERE TO EAT The best Boston Baked Beans in the world (according to food experts)
