Seven Bean Baked Beans

Featuring Bulk Food Inc. Natural Seven Bean Soup Starter Blend consists of lima, cranberry, blackeye, red kidney, great northern, black turtle and pinto beans. These delicious beans create a soup mix that is versatile enough to craft to your own tastes. The time investment of using dried beans pays in this recipe, which produces some of the best barbecue beans you'll ever have—a slowly reduced sauce packs a deep and complex barbecue flavor while tender and creamy beans round it out.

Ingredients

• Water
• 1 pound Natural Seven Bean Soup Starter Blend, picked over and rinsed
• 8 ounces sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1 ½ cups finely minced yellow onion (about 1 large onion)
• 2 tablespoons finely diced seeded jalapeño (about 1 medium pepper)
• 1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 medium cloves)
• 2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Natural Rib Rub
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce

Instructions

1. In a large container, whisk together 2 quarts water and salt until salt has dissolved. Add Natural Seven Bean Soup Starter Blend, cover, and let stand overnight at room temperature. Drain and rinse beans.
2. Place a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until fat has rendered and bacon has crisped, 7-10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving as much fat in dutch oven as possible.
3. Add onion to dutch oven and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens and begins to brown around the edges, about 7 minutes. Stir in green pepper, jalapeño, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 3 cups of water, chicken stock, reserved bacon, and beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 300°F while beans are simmering.
4. Stir in ketchup, brown sugar, honey, molasses, mustard, vinegar, barbecue rub, and hot sauce. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook beans for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and cook until beans are tender throughout and sauce has thickened, about 1 hour longer. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Season with salt. Serve immediately with your favorite outdoor grilled meal.