Brown Sugar Maple Baked Beans

I am very upset with myself for never trying homemade baked beans before. My vast experience with them has been the following: open can of baked beans. Dump can into pot. Turn on heat. Cook until beans are warm. Consume. Are you judging me because I’m a food blogger and have only ever eaten canned baked beans?

DON’T JUDGE ME I’M SORRRYYYYY.

Better late than never, though, amIright?

Can I just say that homemade baked beans are so astronomically better than the canned version that I am crying so many tears over my wasted years of non-homeade-baked-bean-ness? Because I am. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Homemade versions of things are always better. Maybe not always…but most of the time. I’m not sure I could make a homemade crescent roll that would beat Mr. Pillsbury over in my refrigerated section.

BUT, I can say with confidence that most of the time, homemade stuff blows canned/boxed/processed food out of the water. And these baked beans exemplify that point BIG time.

And as if you needed more encouragement to make these baked beans and shun the canned beans forever, this recipe is super easy to make. Here are your steps:

• Dice onions, garlic, bell pepper, and bacon, and throw into a large, heavy bottomed pot (Dutch ovens are bae) to cook for a few minutes.
• Add your beans and other flavor bomb ingredients – i.e. ketchup, brown sugar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
• Stir together, and simmer for 45 minutes.
• When you’ve got about 10 minutes left, stir a slurry made with corn starch and water into your beans so your sauce gets nice and thick and coats those beans like a CHAMP.

Proceed to burn all remaining cans of baked beans that lurk in your pantry. GET OUT OF HERE with that. These are too easy not to make every three seconds, and they are the perfect summer side dish. Baked beans are besties with cookouts. Cookouts are besties with summer. Therefore…baked beans are besties with summer. I am also besties with summer right now because it allows me to eat these baked beans every other day when we grill out.

P.S. One more note about these beans…they aren’t actually baked. These are lazy girl baked beans that just simmer on your stove top for a while. Am I cheating by calling them baked beans? WHATEVER JUST LOVE THEM ANYWAY.

Y’all.

I can count on one hand the amount of times in my life that I’ve said “y’all” in my life, but it’s a y’all kind of moment.

Y’all. We have SIX days to pack up our entire house. We are moving on August 1st, but we will be in Mexico from July 22-29, so those days can’t be packing days. I’ve known about this move for about five weeks now, and guess how much packing I have done so far?

That would beee….big fat zero. What is happening? I’m avoiding packing like the PLAGUE. And the days are ticking, ticking, ticking down. I’m the worssstttttttt.  I just want to crawl into my hole of summer break relaxation and pretend that I don’t have to pack up everything I own in six days. And take apart the furniture. And remove everything from every drawer and closet….ugh. Can you tell I just LOVE moving??

Thanks to college and then Army life, Seth and I have moved every. single. year. for the last 6 years. Whyyyyyyyyy.

Okay, pity party over. I promise you I will get some major packing done…I’ll let you know how that goes. Stay tuned, people. It might get ugly. The bright side is that once the dreaded August 1st date comes and goes, we will be in a WAY bigger, WAY nicer, and WAY more fenced in house. Yas.

I will avoid packing by making fifty batches of these baked beans and delivering them to all our family and friends…

*This recipe is gluten free*

Nutrition info is for 1/2 cup servings.

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more summery sides? Check these out:

Herbed Pea and Orzo Salad

Grilled Spring Veggie Pasta Salad

Crunchy Sesame Kale Salad [21 Day Fix]