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Bacon Baked Beans

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Bacon Baked Beans

In the episode

Jeremiah handled the pork and beans, starting with bacon to render out the fat, which reignited our long-running off-screen debate: Jeremiah likes chewy bacon, Kevin likes it crunchy. There may also have been a deathclaw lurking outside, drawn in by the smell.

Half the grease got drained, onions sizzled (the sound of love), and in went garlic, jalapeños, mustard, ketchup, honey and a near-mixup between apple cider and cider vinegar. Fun fact we learned: butter beans and lima beans are the same thing. We skipped the brown sugar because the canned beans already had it, then parked the pot next to the mini nuke for 45 minutes.

At the taste test the beans stole the show. They were incredible: sweet, a little spicy, and loaded with bacon. Not quite as good as the Brahmin burgers, but a great side for them.

We've stumbled upon more Pork 'n' Beans cans while wandering the wasteland than we ever thought possible. Seriously, if there were a Pork 'n' Beans Olympics, we'd be gold medalists. Our stash is so massive it's bursting out of an old pre-war refrigerator.

After weeks of eating straight from the can, our taste buds were staging a revolt. So, what do you do when you're stuck underground and scurvy is lurking around the corner? Make them from scratch, of course.

Bacon Baked Beans

Pork 'n' Beans

Smoky, sweet oven-baked beans with crispy bacon, jalapeño, honey and brown sugar. A big upgrade on eating Pork N' Beans straight from the can.

Prep
15 min
Cook
1 hr 10 min
Total
1 hr 25 min
Serves
8

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp canola oil
  • 8 slices bacon
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped, or until your ancestors say stop
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, skip if your canned beans already have brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup apple cider
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp ground mustard
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 8.5-oz can butter beans (lima beans), drained and rinsed
  • 2 16-oz cans pork and beans
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven and cook the bacon until crisp to render the fat. Lift out the bacon and crumble it.

  2. Pour off about half the fat.

  3. Cook the onion in the remaining fat for about 1 minute, then add the garlic and jalapeño and cook about 1 1/2 minutes more.

  4. Stir in the mustard, ginger, ketchup, apple cider, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey and brown sugar (if using).

  5. Add the bacon back, mix, and bring to a simmer.

  6. Gently fold in the drained butter beans and the pork and beans.

  7. Bake uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes, until thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes

Serve with Crispy Pan-Fried Spam for the full wasteland plate.

Adapted from Fallout: The Vault Dweller's Official Cookbook by Victoria Rosenthal (Insight Editions, 2018).