Baked Beans

Baked Beans are elevated to new heights with the addition of bacon, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, and more. Choose your favorite brand of baked beans and style of barbecue sauce for rave reviews!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings to 8 servings

Calories 462kcal

Author John Kanell

Equipment

Large skillet
9x13 baking dish

Ingredients

6 slices bacon chopped (168g)
1 onion diced (260g)
1 bell pepper diced (172g)
3 garlic cloves minced
2 (28-ounce/794g) cans pork and beans
½ cup barbecue sauce (120ml)
¼ cup ketchup (68g)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving drippings in skillet.
Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic to skillet and sauté over medium heat until tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the beans, barbecue sauce, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and transfer to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle cooked bacon on top.
Bake until bubbly and thickened like syrup, about 1 hour. Let cool slightly before serving.

Notes

Turn the bacon while cooking. This will help the bacon to cook evenly and to get nice and crispy. Let the bacon come to heat and release its initial fat before turning. At this point, it will be easier to turn and won’t stick to the bottom of the skillet.
Reserve the bacon drippings. Do not clean out the skillet after scooping the bacon out. The drippings will help the peppers and onions sauté up nicely without sticking to the skillet as well as add delicious flavor and dimension to the recipe.
Baking the beans in the Dutch oven. If you opt to make the beans in the Dutch oven, you can bake the beans directly in the pot as long as the Dutch oven has oven-safe handles and an enameled or non-stick finish.
Use a crock pot to keep them warm. Once the beans are baked, you can put them in a crockpot to keep them warm for your gathering, or to reheat them if made ahead of time.
Swap out the bacon for ground beef. For a heartier version, replace the bacon with 1/2 pound ground beef. Brown the beef with the onion and vegetables and a tablespoon of oil.

Nutrition