Baked Beans Casserole is a tasty cookout side dish. Easy beef and bacon baked beans in a sweet and smoky sauce. Great recipe for leftovers.
Our award-winning Southern Baked Beans are an ultimate summer cookout Side Dish! These meaty, cowboy beans are just as tasty and you’ll find they are so easy to make.
Sabrina’s Baked Bean Casserole
You’ll love how easy this casserole comes together with canned beans, ground beef, bacon, and a handful of pantry ingredients. It’s the perfect potluck dish to feed a crowd on a budget, or make it ahead and pop it in the oven when you need a hearty side dish. This BBQ bean casserole is a great round two recipe for cookout leftovers like Burgers or Pulled Pork!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 slices bacon , chopped
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 1 jalapeño , diced
- 30 ounces baked beans
- 15 ounces pinto beans , drained and rinsed
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar , packed
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add oil to a large cast iron skillet on medium high heat.
- Add beef and bacon and cook until browned, about 6-8 minutes.
- Remove beef mixture, add onion and jalapeño, and cook for 4-5 minutes until translucent, stirring occasionally.
- In a large bowl mix beef mixture, onion mixture, baked beans, pinto beans, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Pour into 13×9-inch baking dish and bake for 60 minutes.
Nutrition
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Table of Contents
About this Recipe
Baked Bean Casserole is a go-to crowd pleasing side dish that takes bland, canned baked beans and packs them with flavor. The jalapeños add just a slight kick to the sweet and tangy sauce, but you can leave them out and it will still be delicious. Use your favorite store bought BBQ sauce for this Baked Bean Casserole or easily make a Homemade BBQ Sauce if you have some extra time.
Chef’s Note
This Baked Beans Casserole recipe can be finished on the stovetop instead of the oven. Prepare the meat mixture and onion mixture in a large dutch oven and cover and simmer for 45-60 minutes over low heat. You can also make our Baked Beans recipe in a slow cooker or Instant Pot with our variations below. However you make it, this side dish is sure to be a winner at your next potluck or cookout!
Baking Tips & Tricks
These Baked Beans are a great dish to make ahead of time and store for later! Prep an unbaked casserole ahead of time and refrigerate up to 2 days for an easy side dish you pop into the oven right before your party. You can also freeze Baked Bean Casserole ahead of time and bake from frozen, adding an additional 10-15 minutes cooking time.
How to Store
- Serve: Baked Bean Casserole can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it needs to be stored.
- Store: Once Baked Beans are cooled, refrigerate covered or in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Cool Baked Beans Casserole completely before storing in a freezer-safe container or baking pan covered tightly with plastic wrap and foil. Freeze casserole for up to 3 months and reheat from frozen in the oven. You can also thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Alternate Cooking Technique
Slow Cooker
- In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium high heat.
- Brown ground beef and bacon for 6-8 minutes. Transfer beef and bacon to slow cooker.
- Cook onion and jalapeño in skillet for 3-4 minutes, until soft.
- Add onion mixture and remaining ingredients to beef mixture in slow cooker.
- Stir and cover with lid. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours.
- Optional: Cook uncovered for an additional 30 minutes on high to thicken sauce.
Instant Pot
- Add vegetable oil to Instant Pot and turn on Sauté function.
- Once oil is hot and shimmering, cook beef and bacon until browned.
- Remove beef mixture and cook onions and jalapeño 3-4 minutes. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Drain all but 1-2 tablespoons grease and scrape any browned bits from side of pot.
- Add ground beef mixture and stir remaining ingredients to pot.
- Secure lid and seal the pressure valve. Cook on Manual High Pressure for 3 minutes.
- Quick release pressure when done cooking and stir before serving.
- If sauce is too thin, turn Instant Pot to Soup Function and simmer 5-10 minutes to reduce.
Variations
- Meat: Chop up cookout leftovers like hot dogs and hamburgers instead of ground beef. You can use veggie “ground beef” crumbles and leave out the bacon for a vegetarian Baked Beans Casserole.
- Beans: Swap 1 can baked beans with other canned beans like kidney beans, butter beans, chickpeas, or white beans. You can also use canned pork and beans, just scrape off any fat so the casserole isn’t greasy.
- Cheese: Cheese makes everything better! Top your Baked Bean Casserole with shredded cheddar cheese and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.
- Sauce: You can use any BBQ sauce or mustard you like, swap in tomato sauce for ketchup, or add a tablespoon molasses to change up the sauce. Instead of jalapeños, try Sriracha or leave out the spicy peppers if you prefer a milder bean casserole.
- Cornbread Topping: You could make a Cowboy Beans Casserole by baking the cornbread batter on top of the beans too. Cook cornbread mixture until a toothpick comes out clean and serve like a Texas-style chili casserole.
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I’m disabled and have limited energy to cook, so I made a SUPER simplified version of this recipe on the stove with ground turkey, a can of baked beans, barbeque sauce, brown sugar, and onions. I loved it! It reminded me of a barbeque flavored chilli. It pairs well with cornbread, too!