A mildly sweet Canadian variation on the traditional Italian biscuit.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 7 |
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry great Northern beans
- ½ pound cooked ham, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 cups water, or as needed to cover
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse beans; transfer to a large stockpot. Cover with cold water and let stand overnight or at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse beans.
- Return beans to stockpot; add ham, onion, sugar, parsley, and cayenne pepper. Pour in enough water to cover and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer until beans are tender, adding more water if needed, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 300 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 18 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 11 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 424 mg |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Most flavorful beans I’ve ever tasted!
I loved it. I used red pepper flakes sparingly. Super tasty. We used a crock pot and soked beans overnight, then out other ingredients in the morning. Go to work, and bam, dinner is ready. Corn bread is also necessary to make this a 10.
I have never had beans and ham before. This recipe was so delicious and so easy. I followed it to the letter although I may have put a tad less pepper than it called for. I highly recommend it. I am enclosing a picture of it cooking down, but I could not resist tasting before it was finished. I may have added a bit too much water therefore, I’m letting it cut down further.
I make this every year after Thanksgiving for the past many years. Love it with cornbread. I think I cut brown sugar in half and add heat. I’m a Texas boy. I also use honey baked ham and bone when cooking. The best ham and beans ever. Thank you. People keep asking me to make every year. Do it only once a year and they come running
Great, but added extras. I rendered the fat off a pork loin in a pot seasoned with a mirepoix ( 1 cup chopped sweet onions, carrots, celery). Strained and set aside. SImmered beans in low sodium chicken stock, a cup of brown sugar, and added 3 cups of the rendered liquid. I placed small chunks of the loin in the beans about halfway through the bean simmer and later sliced carrots. Adding the extra sugar made it appealing to those with a sweeter tooth.
I love the recipe , after reading some reviews i decided to change somethings. Being from California i added a can of Ortega peppers and half the sugar and a little more garlic and it was amazing
excellent in fact i plan to make it tomorrow. even my wife likes it
Real good!!! Best ham and beans that I’ve ever had.
This is my go to recipe for ham and beans.
I read the comments and reduced the sugar by half, it was still too sweet. I even used chicken broth and added more at the end, but the sweetness persisted. If you are looking for good old fashioned soup beans this isn’t the recipe for that.
I must say, an excellent recipe. I used 5 bay leaves, 1 tbsp Liquid Smoke, 1/2 tsp Baking Soda and some Olive Oil. I skipped on the Cayenne. Excellent flavor. The brown sugar really ties everything in. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone.
I used chicken stock instead of water. Adds a little more flavor. Used less brown sugar and less Cheyenne pepper. Very good recipe
Way too sweet! The brown sugar is overpowering to the point it is not edible. I think everything else would be fine on its own.
Well except for the brown sugar, cayenne and parsley it’s pretty much the recipe that’s printed on the bag of beans. Or possibly was printed on the beans bag. I think it’s pretty good no matter what you choose to put in it besides the basic 3 or 4 ingredients.
This is an easy, wholesome and generally nutritious recipe. I instinctively cut back on the brown sugar and I’m glad I did. It is missing a flavor note, to be honest. I’m wondering if it needs a couple teaspoons of garlic, but it’s missing something. This can be made for about $4 which is a bonus.
I think the recipe would of be fine, if there was no sugar added. The sugar ruined it.
An alternative to soaking overnight and a tip to prevent gas: Bring beans to a boil. Toss in a teaspoon of baking soda (it will fizz up!) stir & turn off for an hour. The baking soda gets rid of “gasiness” beans create. Drain the water & replace with fresh water or broth. Do NOT use cold water or your beans will split.
Simple recipe that can be tweaked any way you want to make it your own. I add way more ham and about 25% of the brown sugar to make it perfect for my taste.
Turned out fantastic! I followed the suggestion of the other reviews and cut the brown sugar in half. I did use more ham than the recipe called for (I was using up leftover Christmas ham that I had froze). I also added 2 chicken bullion cubes. I did not soak my beans overnight, I used my instant pot to do a soak right before cooking. This will be our go to ham and beans recipe!
Very tasty! I doubled the recipe, omitted the cayenne since I’m the only one in my family that likes spicy things. I used a ham bone leftover from Thanksgiving too. I cooked it for almost 5 hrs. I like to add a half cup or so of barley the last half hour to thicken it up a bit. I’ll be making my ham and beans like this from here on out.
Excellent meal! It also pairs well serving it over rice.