Sure, they sell cans of pork and beans at the grocery store, but nothing quite matches the deliciousness of homemade. Once you taste homemade pork and beans, you’ll never go back to store-bought. Bring this to your next backyard BBQ, and everyone will be asking for this recipe!

Serve your pork and beans with delicious homemade cornbread for a total comfort food meal.

Why Our Recipe

  • Loaded with both bacon and chunks of country-style pork ribs to really bring on the pork.
  • A simple sauce that’ll tempt everyone to lick their plate clean.
  • Bake it in your fancy enameled cast iron pot, use a casserole dish, or keep the oven off and use your slow cooker.
homemade pork and beans.

The Pork

Our recipe uses chunks of country-style pork ribs. These “ribs” are actually strips of pork that come from the same part of the pig as pork shoulder or pork butt roasts. This is a heavily marbled piece of meat that is ideal for low and slow cooks where it becomes fall-apart tender. The beauty of using country-style pork ribs rather than pork shoulder roasts is that it’s sold in smaller amounts. Making pork and beans using even a small pork butt roast would almost be enough to feed an army! If you can’t find country-style pork ribs, you can use 1 1/2 pounds of a full pork shoulder or butt roast. Dice up the whole roast and divide it up to freeze for later use, or reserve the rest of the roast for a different meal.

Ingredient Notes

  • Country-Style Pork Ribs: pork ribs come from the pork shoulder so if you can’t find country-style pork ribs, you can use part of a pork shoulder or pork butt roast.
  • Thick-Cut Bacon: the thicker the better! The thickness holds up better to the long cook and all the sauce.
  • Onion: use yellow or white and give it a dice.
  • Ketchup: the foundation of the sauce, otherwise you need to use tomato puree and add in all the flavors ketchup already has.
  • Brown Sugar: can be substituted with granulated sugar and add in 1 tablespoon molasses.
  • Mustard: use a good stone ground Dijon mustard, or can substitute with yellow mustard.
  • Garlic Powder: adds flavor, can also use 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic.
  • Pinto Beans: can also use cannellini or navy beans. Just don’t drain them! That bean liquid is full of flavor for your sauce.

Using Dried Beans Instead of Canned

Canned beans are wildly popular because while it’s simple to cook dried beans, it requires a lot of time. Canned beans, particularly low-sodium canned beans, are really nothing more than cooked beans. If you prefer to make your pork and beans from dried beans rather than canned, you’ll need to follow these additional steps before starting this recipe:

  • Pour 2 cups (1 pound) of dried navy beans into a large colander, sorting through and discarding any stones or debris. Rinse thoroughly, then transfer to a large bowl.
  • Cover the beans with water, about 2 to 3 inches above the beans. Remove and discard any floating beans. Allow the beans to soak at room temperature for 8 hours. Once soaked, drain and rinse the beans.
  • After soaking, drain and rinse the beans and transfer them to a large pot. Add in fresh water, about 8 cups, and bring it to a boil over high heat on the stove. Reduce the heat to a medium-low and simmer uncovered until the beans are tender which should take approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Add more water as necessary during the cooking process.
Homemade pork and beans in a square dish.

Baking Options

This recipe calls for the use of an oven-safe pot with lid. For most of our home cooks, this will be that lovely enameled cast iron pot you proudly purchased to grace your kitchen. They are beautiful! If you don’t have one, no problem. You can use a large skillet or regular stovetop pot to cook your meat and then transfer your mixture to a 9×13 pan and then cover it tightly with aluminum foil.

If you want to keep the oven off, this recipe can accommodate that too! Instead of baking, transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

Storage and Reheating Instructions:

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Freeze leftovers in a plastic freezer bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.

Reheat in a skillet on the stovetop over medium-low heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally. Or microwave in 30-second increments until hot, stirring in between each increment for even heating.

More Bean Goodness

Watch the video below where Caytlin will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.

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