These are my Best Baked Beans – my go-to recipe with bacon, brown sugar, and mustard – that I take to potlucks and whip up for summer barbecues. The tender beans are a wonderful blend of sweet, smoky, and savory, and the perfect side dish for all your summer cookouts!
Looking for more backyard barbecue sides to round out your menu? Be sure to try our Lemon Tarragon Pasta Salad, Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon, and Deviled Egg Potato Salad!
Best Baked Beans Recipe
Summer cookouts are the best, aren’t they? Some of my best memories of summer revolve around celebrations with family and friends where everybody loads up a paper plate with their favorite potluck salads and sides, then grabs a spot in the shade to eat and chat.
I’m probably weird, but baked beans have always been one of my favorite summer foods. Particularly when there are Ruffles plain potato chips on the plate that I can use to scoop up the beans and eat them with in lieu of a spoon or fork. I think it’s the salty, crunchy chips with the sweet & savory, tender beans that makes the combo irresistible to me.
If you haven’t tried using potato chips as your utensil of choice, I highly recommend it. It’s delicious AND better for the environment than plastic!
To me, baked beans are almost required for a really great cookout. They got with everything from hamburgers & hot dogs to grilled chicken & pork chops.
These are the best baked beans because they have just the right amount of sweetness with the rich, savory addition of a full pound of bacon. You can make them in the oven, or throw them in the smoker for an extra layer of incredible flavor.
I start with good ol’ pork n’ beans as my base because they are just so classic and yummy. But then I doctor them up with all the other good stuff like bacon, peppers, onions, and brown sugar.
How to Make the Best Baked Beans
- Chop and fry the bacon: I like to slice the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces so I can just stir it around in the frying pan until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Fry the onion & green pepper: These two vegetables add so much amazing flavor, especially when sauteed in some of the bacon grease from frying the bacon.
- Combine all of the remaining baked bean ingredients: You can finish these beans in a 9×13-inch pan or a large skillet. If I’m doing them on my Traeger smoker, I like to use disposable aluminum pans, just for easy cleanup.
- Bake or smoke the beans until thick and bubbly: The flavors really develop as the baked beans cook, and the longer you bake or smoke them, the thicker they will be. Whether in the oven or on the smoker, just cook at 325 degrees F for 1 to 2 hours until thick and hot all the way through. If you prefer thicker beans, let them go for closer to two hours.
- Smoked beans: Usually when we smoke these baked beans it’s because we are already smoking some other kind of meat. You can smoke the beans with almost any type of wood you are already smoking with except for mesquite. And they can smoke longer at a lower temperature if you need them to.
Can you Make Baked Beans in the Slow Cooker or on the Stovetop?
Although the oven or the smoker are my two favorite methods of making baked beans, you can also cook them in your slow cooker on LOW heat for 4-6 hours, or in a large dutch oven on the stovetop by covering with a lid and simmering the beans for an hour.
More Popular BBQ Side Dish Recipes
- Cottage Cheese Jello Salad
- BLT Pasta Salad
- Grilled Corn Salad
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn Recipe
- Summer Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Poppy Seed Dressing
- Raspberry Pretzel Salad
- Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
- Asian Slaw with Ginger Peanut Dressing
- Italian Pasta Salad from Tastes Better From Scratch
- Creamy Cucumber Salad from Lemon Tree Dwelling
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 60 ounces pork and beans 4 cans
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven or smoker to 325 degrees F.
- Chop bacon and fry in a large pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high by stirring with a wooden spoon until crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels using a slotted spoon, then remove all but about ¼ cup of the bacon drippings.
- Add the onion and green pepper to the pan with the bacon grease and sauté over medium heat until they have softened and begin to caramelize, around 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook and stir for another 30 seconds.
- Add beans, reserved bacon, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and black pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, then transfer the pan to the oven or smoker if using a large, oven safe cast iron skillet, or pour the beans into a large 9×13-inch pan first before placing in the oven or smoker.
- Bake for 1-2 hours until the beans are hot and bubbly and have achieved the thickness you desire. Keep in mind that the beans will continue to thicken slightly as they cool.
Excellent recipe! I made these beans for our office holiday luncheon today to go with a home-smoked brisket. I put out a call on my old fashioned cooking group on Facebook for recipes because Iโve never made baked beans before and I wanted a recipe to knock everyoneโs socks off. A kind person posted a link to your recipe. Wow! These baked beans hit the ball out of the park! Thank you very much for sharing!
I’m so glad these were such a hit for you!
These beans are the best โฆThanks sharing the great recipe..
Best baked beans Iโve ever tasted! Truly scrumptious
Iโm excited to make this recipe!! Is it a meal that can be prepared a day ahead and still be good?
Absolutely!
Fantastic recipe as is! Very tasty, thank you!
The tender beans are a wonderful blend of sweet, smoky, and savory
This looks Delicious! Can’t wait make it! Thanks!
WOW, Your recipe made so easy to cook them and make them look ok k professionally done! Thank You!
I made these beans this evening, I added a pinch of red peeper flakes. They were amazing!! I had them sitting on the stove to cool and my husband and son kept taking bites. I was hoping to have some to freeze but no such luck. Absolutely wonderful!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Followed the recipe but also added 2 chipotle peppers with adobo sauce.Major yum!! Thank you so much for sharing. Thought I was going to be able to freeze some leftovers……. NOT.
Ok, I may be the only person who made a vegan version of these beans, but here it is. OMITTED the bacon, sub vegan Worcestershire sauce and vegetarian canned beans. It was absolutely delicious! We enjoyed it at a “vegan” bbq with portobello mushroom burgers and lots of plant based sides. It was a hit!
Can this be assembled the night before and kept in fridge; then cooked in the oven the next day without altering the taste?
Absolutely!
Thank you for this recipie, it is a hit and a welcome addition to this Nash’s cookbook!
Hey! So fun to meat another fellow Nash! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
Hello Amy,
I just discovered your website and am looking forward to trying your recipes. I have a few questions regarding your “Baked Bean” recipe: do you favor a particular brand of “Pork & Beans” to use in the recipe?
Thank you!
No, I don’t have a particular favorite brand for this recipe. I usually just use whatever is on sale!
This is a keeper. My family and co-workers love them. Thank you for sharing!