Slow Cooker Boston Baked Beans with Pork

These Boston baked beans are very different from the homemade smoky baked beans elsewhere on JAJ. This is a proper slow cooker meal made with diced pork, three tins of beans, peppers and onions in a rich tomato sauce.

There’s black treacle, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and paprika in the sauce too, so you get that lovely mixture of savoury, smoky and slightly sweet flavours.

The preparation is ridiculously easy. Trim the pork if necessary, chop the peppers and onions, drain the beans and then everything goes into the slow cooker.

Mine cooks for around 6–7 hours on HIGH and makes six generous portions.

You can serve the beans as a main meal, pile them onto a jacket potato or even have them as part of a substantial breakfast. They’re particularly useful for batch cooking because you’re making a decent amount in one go.

If you’re vegetarian or simply want beans without the pork, try my homemade smoky baked beans instead.

What beans should I use for Boston baked beans?

I use a mixture of beans rather than making the whole recipe with one type.

My recipe has two tins of mixed beans and one tin of haricot beans, all drained before they go into the slow cooker.

Haricot beans are the little white beans you’ll recognise from ordinary baked beans, while the mixed beans give you more variety in both texture and appearance.

If you can’t find mixed beans or simply don’t like them, you can use more haricot beans instead. There’s no need to drive around six supermarkets trying to find exactly the same tin as me!

Whatever you use, drain the beans before adding them because the recipe already has plenty of sauce from the passata and other ingredients.

What pork should I use?

I use 900g diced pork, which is why these Boston beans are much more of a main meal than an ordinary baked-bean side dish.

Trim off any obvious large pieces of fat if necessary, then add the pork directly to the slow cooker.

You don’t need to fry it first for my slow cooker method.

Older versions of this recipe concentrated quite heavily on finding the leanest possible pork because I originally wrote it with weight-loss plans in mind. These days I’d simply choose diced pork that suits your budget and preferences and trim it if it needs it.

Why is there black treacle in Boston baked beans?

The recipe uses two tablespoons of black treacle.

It adds sweetness but also has a much deeper, slightly bitter flavour than simply spooning sugar into the sauce. Together with the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, paprika and tomato, it helps give these beans their distinctive rich flavour.

I wouldn’t leave it out the first time you make the recipe because it’s one of the ingredients that makes these different from ordinary beans in tomato sauce.

You don’t need an enormous amount, though. Two tablespoons is enough for the whole six-portion slow cooker recipe.

Can I make Boston beans without a slow cooker?

Yes. The slow cooker is my preferred method, but you can make these on the hob too.

Gently cook the diced pork for around five minutes, then add the onions and peppers and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer everything together for around 30 minutes, making sure the pork is thoroughly cooked before serving.

Keep an eye on the sauce while it’s simmering because you’ll get much more evaporation on the hob than you do in a slow cooker. Add a splash of water if it becomes too thick.

What should I serve with Boston baked beans?

These are filling enough to eat as a main meal on their own because you’ve got plenty of pork and beans in each portion.

They’re also brilliant spooned over a jacket potato. The potato soaks up the sauce and one portion of beans goes a surprisingly long way.

You could serve a smaller portion as part of a cooked breakfast too, although I’d probably save that idea for a lazy weekend rather than getting up at 5am to start the slow cooker!

If you’re particularly hungry, crusty bread is another easy option for mopping up the sauce.

However you serve them, don’t think of these as ordinary baked beans. With 900g pork and three tins of beans in the full recipe, they’re definitely substantial enough to be dinner.

What about Slimming World?

This is another recipe that dates back to when Just Average Jen was much more focused on Slimming World, which is why older versions included advice about using very lean pork and calculating Syns.

Products and plan values change, so I don’t want to keep presenting old calculations as though they’ll necessarily still apply.

If you’re following Slimming World now, check the current values for the pork, black treacle, Worcestershire sauce and any other ingredients you’re using.

Otherwise, simply enjoy this as a homemade slow cooker pork and bean dinner.

Can I freeze Boston baked beans?

Yes, and with six portions in the full recipe this is a really useful one for batch cooking.

Once the beans have cooled appropriately, divide leftovers into individual portions and store them in the fridge or freezer.

Freezing them separately makes it much easier to pull out one portion for a jacket potato or quick dinner rather than defrosting the entire batch.

When reheating, make sure the pork, beans and sauce are thoroughly heated all the way through.

For current guidance on cooling, storing and reheating leftovers safely, check the Food Standards Agency advice.

Other recipes you may enjoy

If you love your slow cooker as much as I love mine then do check out all my healthy slow cooker recipes.

Did you come across this recipe looking for breakfast ideas? Here are lots more healthy breakfast ideas you will love.

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