Best EVER Baked Beans

May 24, 2018 47 Comments
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These are the BEST EVER Baked Beans that have won 4 bbq competitions! Prepped in just 15 minutes that are going to be the hit of your summer barbecue.

Just like with the immediately popular BBQ Pulled Chicken and Easy Pulled Pork you can serve this summer favorite with KFC Coleslaw (Copycat), Three Bean Salad and Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese for the easiest and most delicious summer cookout meal made indoors!

Best Ever Baked Beans Recipe Best EVER Baked Beans Recipe

That’s right, these baked beans have won 4 competitions. And I’m not even talking about the office pot luck competition, we are talking about fun local bbq competitions. Back in the day before kids we used to love going to bbq competitions.

There were so many fun local ones and some huge ones. Finding our favorites was a job we took seriously. We started entering these beans into them a year before we moved and reality set in with full time careers and kids.

How do you make baked beans? You’d be surprised at how easy this recipe really is! They’re sweet, thick, rich, deeply flavored with molasses, a bit of salt from bacon and a hint of spice from the hot sauce. They’re everything and more that you could want from baked beans and I GUARANTEE these are going to be the hit of your barbecue.

Can you double this baked bean recipe?

The best part is the recipe can be easily doubled too. Just make sure your pan of beans are equally shallow. If you pour these into a deep baking dish you won’t allow the appropriate surface area of cooking and thickening to take place and the beans will be too soupy.

Another IMPORTANT note, rinse your beans (except the can of baked beans). This reduces the sodium significantly. It also will cut back drastically on how gassy you’ll feel after eating the beans. This is a step you dont want to skip. I just pour all the cans into a large colander then rinse at once, shaking the colander well while running it under water.

Want a deeper flavor? Swap the ketchup for bbq sauce, I love using stubbs or Tony Roma’s Original BBQ Sauce.

If you want to skip the bacon you can, just be sure to caramelize your onions well, the more flavor you can add to the beans the better.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans:

After the step of browning the onions and garlic add all the ingredients into the slow cooker together and stir. Cook on low for 7 hours, then uncover and cook an additional 1 hour on high heat to thicken.

Baked Beans RecipeAre baked beans good for you?

Beans are high in protein and fiber which are part of a healthy diet, but the beans are not considered “good for you” as a general rule because of the added bacon, sugar and fat in the recipe. A healthier option would be beans which are less saucy, with far less sweeteners. But with summer bbq, these baked beans are the perfect counterpart to a great grilled piece of steak or chicken.

How long do you bake beans in the oven?

The beans will bake in the oven for a full hour covered with foil. The foil is removed and the beans will bake for an additional 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken up and for a caramelization to take place on the top layer of the beans.

How do you make baked beans from scratch?

This recipe calls for one can of baked beans as a starter which is not necessary. You can also just add one additional can of beans and pump up the other sauce ingredients up by 25% (we did this in competitions). The ease and familiar flavor of adding the can of baked beans just seemed to be the flavor profile most of my clients preferred.

Which beans do you use to make baked beans? You can work with most types of beans, the most popular are butter, great northern, kidney and pinto beans. Some people will use all of one kind, but this recipe has a good mix which allows for different textures and flavors as well. Beans such as kidney beans have a much firmer skin than those of pinto or butter beans which are creamier.

Best EVER summer baked beans recipe

More fun Easy Summer BBQ Recipes:

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Best Ever Baked Beans Recipe
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Baked Beans Recipe

5
  • Yield: 12 Servings
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Course: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: American
These are the BEST EVER Baked Beans that have won 4 bbq competitions! Prepped in just 15 minutes that are going to be the hit of your summer barbecue.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound bacon diced
  • 1/2 yellow onion chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped finely
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 can (15 oz) pinto beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (15 oz) butter beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (15 oz) baked beans
  • 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans drained and rinsed
  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Tabasco)
  • 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a large cast iron skillet cook the bacon on medium high heat.
  3. Remove the bacon and let cool.

  4. Drain half the fat, then add the onion to the skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes or until it just begins to caramelize.

  5. Add in the garlic and bell pepper and cook an additional 30 seconds, stirring well.
  6. In a large mixing bowl add the bacon, onions, garlic and the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
  7. Pour the beans into a 9x13 baking pan and bake, covered with foil, for one hour.

  8. Uncover and bake for an additional ten minutes.

Nutrition Information

Yield: 12 Servings, Amount per serving: 277 calories, Serving Size: 1 , Calories: 277g

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Bacon Baked Beans Recipe

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Comments

  7. bean were really good i add some little smokes cut in half. made 9×13 pan every one loved the bean will make again thank for recipes

    Rating: 5
    Reply

      1. Forest, not in my neighborhood! Canned beans are only for last-minute emergencies. In NOLA all the original families use dried.

        I made this recipe. It’s pretty good but I did “up” it in a few places AND I used dried beans, pre-cooked then added to the sauce.

        Reply

    2. Bush’s Baked beans are great! They have been on the market since 1933. That’s 85 years! I doubt very much soaking, rinsing and boiling your own dried beans at home can compare to the ease or the flavor in this Baked bean recipe. Yes it may be a younger generation recipe and it is a great one!

      Reply

  12. this recipe is delicious. I’m not a butter bean fan so I used extra pinto beans. I made the beans for my 4th of july BBQ and they were a hit. They were actually better the next day if that is even possible.

    Rating: 5
    Reply

  13. I made beans from dry in my instant pot and then baked them following the recipe they came out delicious!

    Reply

  14. These were a hit on the 4th of July! We used a slightly different combination of bean types and sizes and wound up cooking for 2 hours for a thicker sauce. A keeper! Thank you!

    Rating: 5
    Reply

  15. Instead of transferring to a foil-covered pan, can you bake these covered in the deep iron pot that you saute the bacon and veges in? Also, I have some hard sauce made with good bourbon and brown sugar I’d like to use up. How would I need to adjust recipe for that? Thanks!

    Reply

    1. You can definitely use a deep iron pot instead of transferring. I’m not sure about the additional sauce though. I don’t feel comfortable giving a recommendation on adjustments because I’ve haven’t tested it and wouldn’t want to steer you wrong. If you decide to play around with it and try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Good luck!

      Reply

  18. Hi Sabrina,I am working on a project to encourage people to participate in the 2018 election in Colorado by voting on all the issue measures on the ballot. Colorado gives voters a lot responsibility for making laws by asking them to decide on issues other than candidates. One of our ideas is to create a “Ballot Bash in a Box”. The box will contain a few decorations, branded with our logo (the effort is called Count Me In!), a thumb drive with a video about why it is important to vote, and some recipes. The material will not advocate for any position on the issues, it will just ask people to be sure to express their opinion by casting a vote.I would love to include this bean recipe under a different name, “Ballot Box Baked Beans”. I would credit you or Dinner then Dessert, which every you prefer. I will not want to use the recipe without your permission.BTW, the beans are terrific! We think so good they will inspire folks to vote.Carol Hedges

    Rating: 5
    Reply

    1. Yes, after the step of browning the onions and garlic add all the ingredients into the slow cooker together and stir. Cook on low for 7 hours, then uncover and cook an additional 1 hour on high heat to thicken. Enjoy!

      Reply

  21. I made this recipe for a Labor Day picnic and everyone loved it. So many people said they were the best baked beans they had ever had.

    Rating: 5
    Reply

  22. My husband made these beans for a work picnic and they are amazing!! Absolutely the best baked beans we’ve ever eaten, and they were a HUGE hit at the picnic.

    Rating: 5
    Reply

  24. Sabrina…I want to make these beans for Thanksgiving, but a couple of folks there are vegetarian….so I will have to skip the bacon….have you tried making this without the bacon?

    Reply