Favorite Baked Beans {with Bacon}

Favorite Baked Beans with Bacon! These are the baked beans that EVERYONE loves! Loaded with a sweet, brown sugar sauce and seasoned with black pepper bacon. These beans are the perfect side for all your BBQs.

 

These Baked Beans are always a hit with family BBQs. They are easy to make and loaded with flavor thanks to the bacon and brown sugar sauce they are simmered in. These beans are the perfect side when serving some Pulled Pork.

How to make Baked Beans:

1. Pre-cook the bacon: cook the bacon briefly, just enough to get a small amount of grease, the bacon will cook completely in the beans later on. 
2. Saute the onion in the bacon grease. Add some green bell pepper or diced jalapeno if wanted.
3. Sauce: Add beans and make the sauce for the beans by combining light brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, molasses, your favorite BBQ sauce, mustard, salt and lots of coarse black pepper. 
4. Bake: let the beans cook. Can be cooked in a slow cooker, oven, or smoker. 

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What beans do I use for baked beans? 

Traditionally baked beans are made using Navy beans. Navy beans are a smaller, white colored bean. They have a smooth, dense texture. Another popular option would be pinto beans, which are larger in size and have light brown color. 

How to make baked beans using CANNED beans:

• Save time with this recipe and use canned beans. 
• Don’t drain: Use the liquid from the cans to help create a thick sauce for the beans to cook in. Less Salt: When using canned beans less salt is needed in the sauce. 

How to make baked beans using DRIED beans:

• Soak: Plan ahead and soak the beans overnight to soften them for cooking. 
• Parboil: Add the beans to a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil, let the beans cook for an hour.
• Strain: Strain the beans and reserve the cooking liquid to use to make the sauce for the baked beans. 

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Cooking Methods:

• Oven: If using dried beans: Cover the beans with foil and bake at 300℉ for 2 hours. Uncover and bake an additional 30-45 minutes. If using canned beans: cover and bake at 350℉ for 1 hour, then uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.
• Smoker: Pour the bean and sauce mixture into an aluminum baking dish or large cast iron skillet, top the beans with the diced bacon. Place in smoker and cook at 225℉ for 2-3 hours, longer if using dried beans, until the bacon on top has rendered and the sauce for the beans is nice and thick.
• Slow Cooker: cook the bacon until almost crisp (the slow cooker method won’t allow the bacon to crisp so in this method we want to cook the bacon). Saute the onion in the bacon grease. Add the beans, bacon and onion together in the slow cooker. Mix the ingredients for the sauce and stir together.Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours for canned beans. LOW for 6-8 hours for dried and soaked beans. 

Layering the bacon on top of the beans while they bake makes sure that the bacon cooks up nice and crisp while all of the flavoring drips down into the beans!

More BBQ Side Dish Recipes:

• Creamy Southern Coleslaw
• Homemade Mac and Cheese
• Potato Salad {Texas BBQ Style}
• Classic Macaroni Salad