Easy Hearty Cowboy Baked Beans

These easy cowboy baked beans will become your new favorite. They’re super hearty, full of savory ground beef, bacon, and a delicious tangy sauce. Plus, they’re super easy to make!

This is the side dish I bring every time we have a summer cookout or family get together. The sweet and smoky taste from the brown sugar and BBQ sauce is just too good. I have never had these baked beans left over after my summer gatherings.

It’s really easy to make them in a baking dish or a big cast iron skillet. They taste like you spent all day cooking them on a campfire, but it takes you barely any time at all to make them.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• Filled with savory ground beef and crispy bacon.
• A perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and smoky flavors.
• Perfect for feeding a large hungry crowd at potlucks.
• Only requires 15 minutes of active prep time.
• Great to serve alongside any grilled summer meats.

Ingredients You Need

You’ll only need a handful of simple, hearty ingredients to make this delicious side dish. Here are the ingredients you will need:

• Ground beef: Using lean ground beef will add great texture and make these otherwise simple baked beans into a very filling meal.
• Bacon: Thick cut bacon will add a lovely salty crunch that pairs perfectly with the sweet sauce.
• Onion: Cooked down with the meat, a diced yellow onion will give the dish a beautiful savory taste.
• Baked beans: Using canned baked beans as your starting point will save you a ton of time in the kitchen by skipping the need to soak and simmer the beans for hours.
• Barbecue sauce: Adding your favorite store bought BBQ sauce will give the dish an immediate tangy, smoky flavor.
• Brown sugar: Adding a small amount of brown sugar will bring out the sweetness and help to caramelize the beans in the oven.

How to Make It

Here’s how easily these loaded, savory beans can be made for your next family cookout.

Cook the Meats

Cook your chopped bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Then remove the bacon pieces, leaving a bit of grease in the pan, and cook the ground beef and diced onion until cooked through.

Drain and Combine

Drain off any excess grease from your skillet so that your beans don’t end up oily. Then, return the bacon pieces to the skillet along with the cooked beef and onion.

Mix the Beans

Add your canned baked beans to the skillet with the meat mixture. Add in your BBQ sauce, brown sugar, and a tablespoon of mustard, then mix well to combine.

Prepare for Baking

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spread the beans in a lightly greased 9×13-inch baking dish. If you cook in an oven-proof cast iron skillet, just leave it in the skillet. 

Bake and Serve

Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. You want the sauce thick, hot and bubbly at the edges when it’s served.

Tips for Success

• Use a smoky BBQ sauce to bring out the flavor of the bacon.
• Do not drain your baked beans before adding them to the recipe.
• If the beans are browning too much in the oven, loosely tent the dish with foil.
• Add hot sauce or diced jalapeño peppers if you like your food spicy.
• Allow the beans to rest for 10 minutes after they come out of the oven so that the sauce has time to thicken up a bit.

Storage Instructions

• Store: Store leftover beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. They taste even better the next day.
• Freeze: Cool and place beans in a covered, freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
• Reheat: Reheat leftovers gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Individual servings can be heated in the microwave until hot and bubbly.

Serving Suggestions

• Serve with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs at your next summer barbecue.
• Serve with pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw.
• Serve in a slow cooker set to warm at a potluck.
• Serve over thick slices of cornbread for a filling, easy meal.

Easy Hearty Cowboy Baked Beans

Jennifer

You will love these easy hearty cowboy baked beans. Loaded with ground beef, bacon, and a sweet and savory sauce, they are the ultimate potluck side dish.

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Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main

Servings 10

Equipment

• Skillet
• 9×13-inch baking dish (or large oven-proof skillet)

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 6 slices thick-cut bacon chopped
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 small yellow onion finely chopped
• 2 cans baked beans 28-ounce cans, do not drain
• 3/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish, unless you’re going to bake in an oven-proof skillet.
• In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until crispy. Transfer bacon to a plate using a slotted spoon. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the skillet.
• Add ground beef and diced onion to the skillet. Cook until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain off excess fat.
• Return the cooked bacon to the skillet with the ground beef and onion. Add baked beans, barbecue sauce, brown sugar and yellow mustard to the skillet. Mix well.
• Pour into a prepared 9×13-inch baking dish (or skillet).
• Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes, or until sauce is thick and bubbly at the edges.
• Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

*Nutritional information is a calculated guesstimate. Please note that this can change with different brands and modifications you may make to the recipe. For the most accurate information, use a nutritional calculator with the exact brands and measurements you’re using with each recipe.

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