My Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce

These baked beans swap in chickpeas instead of the usual navy beans, giving them a firmer, nuttier bite that holds up through hours of slow baking. The sauce is a rich blend of tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, and dry mustard, with bacon adding smoky, salty depth throughout.

Simmering the bacon with the onion, pepper, and celery before baking draws out the fat and builds a savory base without browning anything. That rendered bacon fat flavors the entire pot as it bakes low and slow.

The wide baking window of 2 to 7 hours is the beauty of this recipe. Shorter baking gives you saucy beans with more bite. Longer baking lets the sauce thicken into a sticky glaze and the chickpeas turn creamy all the way through. Either way, they’re good.

Chef Tips

• Soak the chickpeas overnight and cook until fully tender before baking. Under-soaked beans will never soften properly in the oven.
• Check the pot every hour or so during baking. If the sauce gets too thick or starts to dry out, add a splash of water.
• Use light molasses, not blackstrap. Blackstrap is too bitter and will overpower the other flavors.
• These reheat beautifully the next day and taste even better as the flavors continue to meld.

Variations

• Use smoked turkey instead of bacon for a leaner version with the same smoky flavor.
• Add a diced chipotle in adobo to the sauce for a smoky, spicy kick.
• Stir in a splash of apple cider vinegar before serving to brighten the sweetness.