Apple Pie Baked Beans

Apple pie baked beans aren’t for everybody, but neither are they as strange as they may sound at first blush. Baked beans already lean into the pairing of sweet and savory, with most recipes calling for brown sugar, maple syrup or molasses.

Mashing up two of the great comfort-food classics–baked beans and apple pie–is just another way to do much the same thing. Combining canned baked beans with apple pie filling cuts hours out of the traditional cooking time for a dish such as this, putting it on the table in just a little more than 30 minutes.

Ingredients for Apple Pie Baked Beans

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• Bacon: Bacon’s signature combination of sweet and savory flavors is an ideal starting point for this dish, which is all about the combination of sweet and savory.
• Onion and garlic: The sauteed onion and garlic give the dish a solid savory base, but both of these aromatic ingredients also have a sweetness of their own.
• Baked beans: The canned baked beans change this from an hours-long, slow-cooking recipe to a quick weeknight meal.
• Apple pie filling: Prepared apple pie filling brings sweet and fruity flavors to the finished dish, balancing the savoriness of the onions, garlic and beans.
• Brown sugar: The relatively modest addition of brown sugar adds flavor and complements the sweetness of the apple filling.
• Apple cider vinegar: Cider vinegar adds a tart note to balance the sweetness of the apples and sugar.

Directions

Step 1: Saute the bacon and onion

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In a large saucepan, cook the bacon over medium heat for six to seven minutes or until crisp. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the strips of bacon from the pan, and set them aside to drain on paper towels. Add the onion to the bacon drippings in the saucepan and cook until it’s tender, four to five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.

Step 2: Finish the baked beans

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Stir in the two cans of baked beans, the apple pie filling, cooked bacon, brown sugar, vinegar and salt. Simmer until the mixture thickens and the flavors have melded, roughly 20 to 25 minutes.

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Apple Pie Baked Bean Variations

• Smoke up the flavors: The original recipe has a nice balance of sweet and savory flavors, but you might prefer to tip things in a savory direction. Adding a bit of smokiness is a good way to do that. You might start with double-smoked bacon, for example. Adding barbecue sauce to the beans is another alternative, bringing smoke along with more sweet and savory flavors. Smoked paprika adds smokiness without heat, and chipotle adds smokiness with chile heat. If all else fails, a careful drop or two of liquid smoke will also do the job.
• Experiment with your beans: If you visit the canned goods section of your local supermarket, you’ll see baked beans in a range of sauces. Some are flavored with maple syrup, some with molasses in the New England style and others have a simple tomato sauce. Changing the flavor profile of your beans changes the finished dish, so it’s worth experimenting to see which combinations you prefer. You might find that the maple version enhances the apple flavors, for example.

How to Store Apple Pie Baked Beans

Any leftover beans should be packed into a food-safe storage container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerated as soon as possible after the meal.

Can I make my baked beans ahead of time?

Yes, you can prep the baked beans earlier the same day, or even a day or two ahead of time. Like many other meals, these beans taste better the next day after their flavors have had time to meld and mature.

How long will apple pie baked beans keep?

Baked beans are good for three to four days in the fridge after the initial meal. For longer-term storage, transfer them to a freezer-safe container and press a piece of parchment (or some other barrier) against the beans’ surface to prevent contact with the air. Frozen food stays safe indefinitely, but after three to six months may not taste their best. Their quality will be best within the first one to three months.

Apple Pie Baked Bean Tips

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I’d love to try this with homemade baked beans. Which recipe should I use?

You have lots of options. There’s the classic Boston baked beans with lots of molasses, maple baked beans, smoky baked beans or sweet and spicy baked beans, to name just a few. As with the various flavors of canned beans, you’ll probably find a combination you’re especially fond of if you try a few recipes with different flavor profiles.

How can I make this without canned apple pie filling?

The simplest way is to add 2 to 3 cups of peeled, sliced or chopped cooking apples to the saucepan along with the onion. Cook the mixture until the apples and onion are both tender, then add some cinnamon and any other spices you like in your apple pie. Finish the recipe as written, and you’ll arrive at a similar flavor profile. Alternatively, you could whip up a batch of homemade apple pie filling and use that.

Can I make this with other fruit?

You can, absolutely. If you’d like to stick with prepared fillings, peach or cherry pie filling are both good options. You can also add a chosen fruit to the beans, par-cooking it if necessary. We even have a pineapple baked beans recipe here on the site, so let your imagination run wild!