Beef and Boston Baked Beans

This beef and boston baked beans recipe combines tender beef, smoky baked beans, and a rich, tangy sauce. Hearty and flavourful comfort food that's perfect for cosy dinners or as a crowd-pleasing dish at gatherings!

It's a recipe that was inspired by one that appeared in the February 2021 BBC Good Food magazine.   I had been wanting to make a boston baked beans recipe for a while, so when I saw this one with slow cooked beef shin, I decided this was the one I wanted to make.  

I've adapted the recipe by using tins of cannellini beans instead of dried ones, which saves soaking them overnight.   We've always got tins of different types of beans in our store cupboard!   I was intrigued as to how it would turn out, as I would have expected chopped tomatoes or passata to be one of the ingredients, however, there only is 2 tbsp of tomato purée.   The end result is absolutely delicious – the beans are so tender, just like traditional baked beans, and so is the beef shin.   The flavour is a mix of sweet and savoury, balanced perfectly!

I make the full recipe (for the 2 of us)…so there's plenty to have for dinner one night with baked potatoes and coleslaw, along with leftovers to have for lunch on toast. Or, you can easily freeze leftovers for another day.

This beef and boston baked beans dish is a definite winner for us, that will most definitely be made again…and again!

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How to make these Beef and Boston Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1.2 litre cold water
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 500g beef shin, cut into 4cm chunks
• 120g smoked lardons (see Tips)
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges
• 2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 100g treacle
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp mustard powder
• pinch of ground cloves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 2. Put the beans and bay leaf into a medium saucepan and pour in the water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes (you may need to top up the water slightly as they cook).
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole or ovenproof saucepan over a high heat. Fry the beef for 5 minutes over a high heat until evenly browned (you’ll need to do this in a couple of batches). Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon. Add the lardons and onion to the pan, and cook over a medium to high heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the onions are turning golden and the lardons are starting to crisp.
3. Stir the beef back into the pan. Add the beans along with the cooking liquid, and stir in the garlic, treacle, tomato purée, mustard powder, a pinch of ground cloves, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Cover and bring to a simmer, then transfer to the oven for 2 hours 30 minutes. Remove the lid, stir and return to the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes until the meat is tender and the sauce rich.  Serve with baked potatoes, cornbread or crusty bread, and coleslaw.