Maple & Lard Baked Beans

A sweet and savoury Québec-style baked beans recipe, re-adapted in Australia.

Maple & bacon baked beans dish • Photography © Bottle and Brush Studio 2023

We all know this iconic comfort dish, but in Québec, you'll find old-fashioned maple baked beans served with a classic lumberjack-style breakfast or at sugar shacks throughout the province. Québec-style baked beans are called fèves au lard("lard beans"), although in everyday Québec French we often use the slang term bines (pronounced much like "bin").

The true origin of this ancestral slow-cooked bean dish is difficult to trace, as variations have travelled through Europe and the Americas for centuries. It is said that Indigenous peoples of northeastern North America were already cultivating different varieties of beans, and inspired French and English colonists to sweeten their bean stews with maple sap and animal fat. Later, these ingredients were often replaced by pork lard, brown sugar or molasses, and sometimes tomato sauce. By the early twentieth century, the dish had been commercially canned for worldwide production, often without the pork and maple syrup.

Baked beans homemade in Australia • Photos © Bottle and Brush Studio 2022

There are countless regional versions across Canada and the United States, but the traditional bines served in Québec sugar shacks are typically made with ingredients such as lard salé (fatty salted pork), white navy beans and maple syrup.

In Australia, I've adapted the recipe using ingredients that are easy to find locally, like borlotti beans or other types of white beans. This hearty recipe is far from the can of baked beans sitting in the pantry. It makes enough to feed a small army, and any leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen to enjoy later with toast and eggs at any time of the year.

The recipe is now available in my cookbook Québec Kitchen Abroad!

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