Sweet and Spicy, these Baked Beans are full of flavor and covered with bacon. Friends have called these the best baked beans they have ever had!
Summer is here! It is time for grilling and of course all the amazing side dishes that go along with a good cookout! I was slow to understand the allure of baked beans because I didn’t grow up with them but my husband absolutely loves them.
This year I set out to make him the perfect baked beans and he says I’ve nailed it. Mine are covered with a layer of bacon and wonderfully flavorful. Some jalapeno gives a touch of a kick without getting carried away. You can always adjust the level of spice to suit your family. Even Jack is getting in on the action and eating these by the fistful. (I mean that quite literally as he finds them hard to get unto his fork or spoon at 17 months.
Summer is already almost a third over. Don’t waste any time making up a pan of these to go with one of your summer dinners. You won’t regret it!
Have a great week guys. Thanks for stopping by to cook with me!
Tools In This Post: I save a lot of dicing time when I cook by using the this Vidalia Chop Wizard. I use it for peppers, onions, and tomatoes. It makes a even dice and does so in moments. After the last move I got ride of over 1/3 of my kitchen stuff but this little guy stayed if that tells you how much I love him!
If you are at a loss as to what to serve with these excellent baked beans check out my tips on grilling great hamburgers. They go quite well together!
Baked Beans with a Kick
Ingredients
- 1 pound thick cut bacon or pepper bacon
- 1 large sweet onion diced
- 1 bell pepper diced (your favorite color)
- 3 jalapeno peppers with or without seeds diced – optional
- 2 cans pork and beans 28oz (I used Van Camps) - keep cans upright so you can pour liquid off
- ¾ cup sweet BBQ sauce I used Sweet Baby Ray's
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp. liquid smoke
- 1 tsp. black pepper coursely ground
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to just below the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 F.
- Dice onion, bell pepper and jalapenos. If you include the seeds of the jalapenos, beans will have more spice.
- Cut bacon into pieces about ½” – 1” long. Stirring enough to make sure the bacon does not burn, fry over medium-high heat in a cast iron skillet or other heavy frying pan until the bacon is about half way cooked. Do not discard bacon fat. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon chunks and pile on paper towels to drain.
- Add the diced onion, bell pepper and jalapenos to the bacon grease in the frying pan. Continue to fry over medium-high heat stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes until the veggies have softened.
- Meanwhile open the cans of beans and drain up to 1” of liquid off the top of each can. Pour the remainder of the beans and liquid into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, liquid smoke and black pepper. Add the veggies when they are done.
- Gently fold the mixture together with a rubber spatula until it is thoroughly mixed. Pour it into a 9”x13” casserole dish or equivalent pan. Scatter the bacon over the top.
- Bake 1-2 hours until the sauce is the thickness of syrup (cooking time is up to your personal taste). After baking let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Helpful Recipe Notes
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Nutrition Estimate
A Note on Nutrition
Nutritional info is an imperfect estimate. Please take it with a grain of salt.
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