Another American classic: Pork & Beans. These pork and beans are made in a crockpot, which makes it so easy.
Since we’re making ours with chicken stock, this recipe for pork and beans is much more nutrient-dense than what you’d normally get.
Kids love pork and beans. It’s also very economical, just like the Black Bean Soup recipe I posted last week.
Plus it’s easy to make. While it take some planning ahead, this meal is simple enough to make for a weeknight. I start the morning before, adding the dry beans to the crockpot, adding filtered water, set it on warm for an hour or two, then let it soak until the following morning. Then I drain and rinse the beans, add the broth (make sure to use homemade or organic from the store) and other ingredients, bring to a boil, and let it cook all day in the crock pot.
If you want to speed up the process, you can use canned beans. (That’s what I’m making tonight — since I don’t have anything planned.) All you have to do is reduce the cooking time to a couple of hours on medium heat in the crock pot.
Pork and beans go great with a nice slice of buttered sourdough bread (check my resources page if you would like to make your own) or cornbread (make sure to buy organic as non-organic corn is basically all genetically modified). You could always serve with a green salad.
To add some fermented foods to your meal, be sure to top the pork and beans with sauerkraut. Both are great ways to add enzymes to your diet.
Recipe Notes
This recipe is adapted and modified from the Baked Beans recipe in Nourishing Traditions
Other changes were to the condiments – ketchup instead of tomato paste, and I added mustard. My grandmother always used to add mustard to her baked beans — and my grandma made the best baked beans ever!
If you like, you can substitute sausage for the hot dogs.
If you are on the GAPS or SCD diet, you can substitute honey for the sweeteners and use sugar-free or ketchup.
If you don’t have a crock pot, you can just as easily make this recipe in the oven. Instructions for both methods follow.
Things to Do Ahead
1. Soak the beans for 24 hours (32-36 hours ahead of your dinner)
2. Cook the beans (8-12 hours ahead of your dinner)
Crockpot Pork and Beans
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 6-8 (Leftovers will freeze well)
Ingredients
Beans, Great Northern or other small white, dried (4 cups)
Water, filtered
Onion, yellow or white, large (1)
Butter, unsalted, grass-fed (2 TBS) — where to buy butter
Coconut oil, expeller-pressed & refined, or lard or tallow (2 TBS) — where to buy coconut oil
Chicken stock, homemade or organic (1 quart or 32 oz)
Ham hock (1)
Ketchup, without HFCS (1/3 cup)
Mustard (2 TBS)
Vinegar (3 TBS)
Maple syrup (1/4 cup) — where to buy sweeteners
Molasses (1/4 cup) — where to buy sweeteners
Sea salt to taste — where to buy sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Hot dogs, grass-fed (1 package)
Equipment
Crockpot (or stock pot or Dutch oven)
Directions
1. First thing in the morning, put the beans in the crock pot. Pick out any stones. If you don’t have a crock pot, use a stock pot or Dutch oven.
2. Cover with filtered water (about an inch or two higher than the beans).
3. Set the crock pot on warm and let it stay warm for a couple of hours, then turn off the heat. Let it sit for 24 hours. (If using stock pot, turn on the heat and just bring the water up to warm. Then remove from heat, cover and let sit for 24 hours.)
4. The next morning, drain the beans in a colander and rinse well.
5. Chop the onion.
6. In a skillet (or in the stock pot if you are using it), melt the fats and saute the onion.
7. When onion is soft, add beans and chicken stock.
8. Bring to a boil and skim.
9. Transfer to crock pot if using (or, if using stock pot or Dutch oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees).
10. Add the rest of the ingredients except the hot dogs.
11. Set crock pot on high and cook for 6-8 hours, or cook in oven for about 6 hours. If you prefer, you can also set the crock pot on low and cook for 10-12 hours.
12. About an hour or so before serving, slice the hot dogs into coins and stir into the pot. Remove the bone from the ham hock and discard.
Photo credit: Pork and Beans Cocktail Weenies Food Macro November 30, 201010 by stevendepolo, on Flickr
Disclosure: cmp.ly/4 and cmp.ly/5
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Man! I swear you live in my brain, lady! haha! Thanks for all the thoughts on the subject and the recipe! Can’t wait to incorporate it into my menus. You’re such a help!
Sounds delicious. I am on GAPS – do you think you could sub honey for the sweeteners?
@Kathryn
Absolutely! I meant to add that to the post. You can use honey for the sweeteners and use sugar-free ketchup. This recipe is GREAT for GAPS!
Yum. Comfort food that’s tasty, inexpensive and nutrient-rich. Love mustard in my beans too! Thanks for the reminder… it’s been a while since I made these, and I just made broth yesterday, plus I have some Applewood Farms uncured grass-fed beef hotdogs and Hempler’s uncured bacon in the fridge. I think it’s a sign.
Applewood Farms makes grass-fed hotdogs? I was just about to ask!
Yes you can get grass-fed hot dogs at health food stores. You can also buy online and have them shipped.
Their hot dogs are fantastic, but if you are on GAPS you need to be careful because some people react to them.. My son had a problem with the Applewood farms, but was fine with local hot dogs.
We do all our beans in the crockpot now, after soaking overnight, and I was using half water, half chicken stock for awhile. Last time I cooked in 100% chicken stock. Really lovely. We do like to add pork but not ketchup, mustard and sweetener. I just never liked that taste. But pork and beans without the traditional sweetness is still great. Maybe I’ll try your recipe with half the seasonings.
Made this in the crockpot for dinner tonight, and it is SO delicious!!! I didn’t have ham hock, so I just added 4 strips of nitrate-free bacon to the bottom of the crockpot before adding stock and beans, etc. Also used ACV for the vinegar and a pinch of cayenne for the pepper. Such an easy dinner for busy nights, and I feel great about getting more bone broth into my littles. I always thought of pork and beans as BBQ junk food. Never thought to make it like this! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Hey Shelley,
So glad you tried it and enjoyed it!
I love creating recipes that are “comfort food” that kids (and husbands) love.
I am so pleased that you all enjoyed it.
And YES I love it when I can get the broth into the “littles”!
The best part of this recipe is that is has no awful chemical additives to mess with our bodies. So not only is it nutrient dense, it is also way better for you in those terms than anything you could buy or make with the ingredients most of us grew up with. Uncured (nitrate free) is the key with the hot dogs and with not using a store bought bbq sauce or can. I love to pass these on to friends who want to make their usual foods – this makes what we would normally consider to be “junk” food into a wonderfully nutritious meal. Thanks for adding it!!
This recipe is a perfect way to enjoy an old forgotten favorite. I love pork and beans- but stopped enjoying them I realized how bad they were years ago. Adding this to my menu this week and writing my grocery list.
I’m going to make this tomorrow morning, and since I’ve never cooked hot dogs before (!) and am still very new to cooking meat, I have a question about substituting sausage.
I’ll be using some local vegetable-fed pork kielbasa that’s not cooked. Do I need to cook it first before adding it in for the last hour, or will that hour be enough? I’ll be doing it in the oven, since I only have a tiny crockpot. Would love your advice! Thanks!
I make my pork and beans with pork stock – the pigs feet make the stock gel so much when it is cold it is like jello! This is a tasty, cheap and nutritious meal that everyone will love. Good job as always!
pork and beans, my mother in law made this every single Sunday evening for dinner.. my husband would enjoy this meal.
I found grass fed hot dogs at a local store. We got a charge out of the way that sounds! But they were extremely tasty.
This post caught my eye. Really? — nutrient dense pork and beans? I never would have thought.
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