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This oven-baked pork and dried bean Casserole turns simple pork, beans, onions, and broth into a rich, thick, savory dinner with tender pork, creamy beans, and glossy gravy. It feeds a crowd without stretching the budget, and most of the cooking happens quietly in the oven. You’re going to love how comforting and unfussy it is.
Why You’ll Love It
- Hands-off oven cooking — most of the work happens quietly in the oven.
- Simple, budget-friendly ingredients — pork, dried beans, onions, and broth make a deeply savory meal.
- Feeds a crowd — it serves eight easily, or ten with cornbread and a salad.
- Great leftovers — the thick gravy and creamy beans hold up beautifully for the next meal.
Ingredient Notes
Use dried white beans here: navy beans, Great Northern beans, or cannellini all work. Navy beans are usually inexpensive and available at every grocery store from here to kingdom come. Great Northerns make a slightly larger, softer bite. Cannellini are lovely too, though sometimes they cost more than feels worth paying for a bean. That’s just stubbornness.
Pork shoulder is ideal because it gets wonderfully tender without drying out. Boneless country-style pork ribs work just as well, especially if they’re on sale. Both are excellent; it just depends what has the better sticker price that week.
The broth matters more than you’d think with such a short ingredient list. Low-sodium Chicken or pork broth gives you room to season the casserole yourself. Boxed broth works well here. Homemade is wonderful if you have it, naturally.
The onions need to be yellow onions, sliced thinly. They settle down under the beans and pork and become part of that thick gravy. Don’t use sweet onions unless that’s all you have; they’re not terrible, just a little too sweet for what I want here.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried white beans—navy, Great Northern, or cannellini—about 2 cups, picked over and rinsed
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder or country-style pork ribs, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cups low-sodium Chicken or pork broth, plus a little more water if needed later
- Kosher salt, about 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons to start, though I taste and adjust
- Freshly ground black pepper, about 1 teaspoon—or however much looks right to you
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Instructions
Soak the beans the night before. Put the dried beans in a large bowl and cover them with cool water by at least 2 inches. Leave them on the counter for 8 to 12 hours, overnight is easiest. Then drain them and rinse well. Don’t cook them in that soaking water; pour it out. It always looks a little questionable by morning anyway, and no thank you.
Heat the oven and grease your dish. Set an oven rack in the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a deep 3- to 4-quart casserole dish—stoneware or enameled cast iron is especially nice here. An old brown dish with tiny crackle glaze works beautifully.
Make your onion-and-bean base. Spread the thinly sliced onions across the bottom of the casserole dish. Scatter the drained beans evenly over the onions. It may seem like an awful lot of beans at this point, but they soften and settle in as they cook. The onions underneath help them cook evenly and melt into the broth later.
Season and tuck in the pork. Pat the pork chunks dry with paper towels. Season them generously all over with the salt and black pepper, then nestle the pork down among the beans and onions. Try to distribute it so every future scoop gets some meat.
Pour in the broth. Add the 4 cups of broth over everything. The liquid should come just level with the beans and pork, or barely cover them. If it doesn’t, add a little water until it does. Press things down gently with a spoon, but don’t mash the beans around. They’ve got a long afternoon ahead of them.
Cover tightly and bake for 2 1/2 hours. Use a lid if your dish has one, or cover tightly with a double layer of foil. Bake for 2 1/2 hours. This is when the pork starts relaxing into tenderness and the beans begin soaking up all that savory broth. Your kitchen will smell wonderful. It will also make you hungry too early, so maybe have a handful of crackers and keep moving.
Check the liquid, then keep going. Carefully remove the casserole from the oven and uncover it away from your face—the steam is no joke. Stir gently from the bottom to loosen anything settling there. The beans should be mostly submerged in brothy gravy. If things look dry, add 1/2 to 1 cup of hot water or hot broth, stirring gently.
Bake uncovered for 45 to 75 minutes more. Return the casserole to the oven uncovered. Stir it once or twice during this final stretch. You’re waiting for the pork to become fall-apart tender, the beans to turn creamy inside, and the liquid to reduce into a thick gravy that coats a spoon. The edges should bubble and get a little golden where the gravy meets the dish. Don’t rush it. Undercooked beans are one of life’s smaller disappointments, but a disappointment nonetheless.
Rest before serving. Taste the gravy and add more salt and pepper if it needs it. Let the casserole sit for 10 to 15 minutes before you serve it. The gravy thickens as it settles.
Variations
If you forget to soak the beans overnight, use the quick-soak method. Put the beans in a pot, cover them with water by 2 inches, bring them to a boil for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat. Cover the pot and let them sit for 1 hour. Drain, rinse, and continue with the casserole. Start checking a little earlier during the final bake, since quick-soaked beans can soften faster.
Add a teaspoon of dried thyme or a bay leaf with the broth. A small spoonful of tomato paste can give the gravy a deeper color. It’s good, honestly. But the plain version is hard to beat.
You can add a splash of Worcestershire sauce with the broth, or layer a few slices of bacon or a ham bone with the onions if you want a smokier flavor. A mixed-bean version can work too, using pintos or kidney beans alongside the white beans, but different beans soften at different rates. Red lentils can vanish completely and make the whole thing sort of muddy. Not bad exactly, but not something worth repeating.
If you use red kidney beans in any mixed-bean version, boil them briskly in fresh water for at least 10 minutes before baking. That’s not a place to wing it.
Storage & Reheating
Cool the casserole and refrigerate leftovers in a covered container for up to 4 days. It freezes well for up to 3 months, too, though I recommend dividing it into smaller containers unless you enjoy trying to thaw a frozen brick of beans.
The gravy will thicken considerably in the refrigerator. That’s normal. Reheat it gently in a 300°F oven, covered, with a splash of water or broth, stirring once or twice until hot throughout. You can also warm it on the stovetop over low heat, stirring often so it doesn’t stick on the bottom. Add a little liquid as you go.
Final Notes
Serve this with cornbread if you’re feeling traditional, or a crusty loaf of bread for swiping through the gravy. A sharp little green salad with vinegar dressing is nice alongside it, and so are peas warmed in butter, roasted carrots, cabbage—whatever is around. Put hot sauce on the table. Maybe pickle relish or a splash of vinegar for a little brightness with the rich food.
Mostly, though, let it be what it is: a big, humble casserole that takes its time. The kind of dinner that doesn’t ask much from you besides a little planning and an afternoon at home. And if the kitchen windows fog up while it bakes, well… that’s not the worst thing in the world.
Oven-Baked Pork and Dried Bean Casserole
Ingredients Â
- 1 pound dried white beans navy, Great Northern, or cannellini; about 2 cups, picked over and rinsed
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder or country-style pork ribs trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
- 2 large yellow onions peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken or pork broth
- 1/2 to 1 cup hot water or hot broth as needed if the casserole looks dry during baking
- 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt to start, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste
InstructionsÂ
- Put the dried beans in a large bowl and cover them with cool water by at least 2 inches, then leave them on the counter for 8 to 12 hours or overnight before draining and rinsing well.
- Set an oven rack in the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325°F, then lightly grease a deep 3- to 4-quart casserole dish.
- Spread the thinly sliced onions across the bottom of the casserole dish and scatter the drained beans evenly over the onions.
- Pat the pork chunks dry with paper towels, season them generously all over with the kosher salt and black pepper, and nestle them down among the beans and onions.
- Pour the 4 cups of broth over everything so the liquid comes just level with or barely covers the beans and pork, adding a little water if needed and pressing everything down gently with a spoon.
- Cover the casserole tightly with a lid or a double layer of foil and bake for 2 1/2 hours.
- Carefully remove the casserole from the oven, uncover it away from your face, and stir gently from the bottom to loosen anything settling there.
- If the beans are not mostly submerged in brothy gravy or the casserole looks dry, add 1/2 to 1 cup of hot water or hot broth and stir gently.
- Return the casserole to the oven uncovered and bake for 45 to 75 minutes more, stirring once or twice, until the pork is fall-apart tender, the beans are creamy, and the liquid has reduced into a thick gravy that coats a spoon.
- Taste the gravy and add more salt and pepper if needed, then let the casserole sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving so the gravy can thicken as it settles.