Now that summer cookouts are in full swing, it's all about firing up the grill for a barbecue or packing up some food to bring to a potluck. To go along with your hamburgers and hot dogs, you'll need some necessary side dishes: potato salad, coleslaw, a green salad, and more. Oh, and how could I forget about the cold beer and cocktails? It doesn't get more American than that. A side dish that I feel like is often forgotten, but is super yummy, are baked beans. Whether you enjoy this dish loaded with brown sugar and cooked bacon, or you simply like to spice up some canned beans, these baked bean recipes won't disappoint!
Grab some barbecue sauce, a cup ketchup, some bacon grease, green bell peppers, yellow mustard (or dijon if you're fancy), a cup molasses, a baking dish, and some prep time. These carbohydrates are super easy to throw together in a total time of just a few minutes. Check out our best baked bean recipes below.
1. Pork and Beans
It doesn't get much easier or delicious than this. For an easy baked beans recipe this pork-n-beans whips up in a flash! Combine bacon pieces, diced yellow onion, tomato sauce, molasses, apple cider vinegar, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper in a cast iron skillet. Canned beans (navy beans or cannellini beans) are used for this, so there's no need to worry about boiling them.
You also don't have to drain that thick liquid from the can because it is important to help create a velvety sauce.
2. Slow Cooked Boston Baked Beans
Loaded with a ton of aromatics and herbs, the low and slow cook for these Boston baked beans is worth the wait. The thick sauce is created from the beans breaking down, so there's no need to thicken with ketchup.
3. Maple Baked Beans
Sweet, salty, and seriously comforting, these maple baked beans have to make a spot on your table! These homemade baked beans make the perfect side and are even better the next day.
You'll start by soaking great northern or cannellini beans in cold water for at least four hours and then combining with diced yellow onions, maple syrup, dark brown sugar, and dry mustard. The bean mixture is layered between salt pork or bacon slices in a Dutch oven or casserole dish.
4. Slow Cooker Baked Bean Trio With Bacon and Peppers
Colorful from the poblano and bell peppers and filled with three different types of canned beans, you'll love how simple and flavorful this dish is.
Sauté the veggies and toss them into a crock pot with the canned beans, fire roasted tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and bacon pieces and in about two hours one of your favorite side dishes is complete.
5. Trisha Yearwood's Baked Beans Casserole
Country superstar and Food Network host Trisha Yearwood sure knows how to cook up a hearty meal. Her baked beans recipe using some ingredients like: ground beef, bell peppers, BBQ sauce, and canned pork and beans is so simple to put together for a crowd and can actually count as a full meal.
6. Spicy Baked Beans
With smokiness from the bacon, sweetness from the brown sugar, and spiciness from the jalapeño peppers and cayenne pepper, you'll love all the levels of flavor in this dish. Feel free to adjust the kick of heat to your taste.
7. Slow Cooker Bourbon Baked Beans
Throwing everything in the slow cooker makes life so much easier, especially when there's bourbon involved. You can use any kind of canned beans for this- kidney beans, black beans, or cannellini beans. This sweet and hearty side dish will go perfectly with anything you decide to grill.
8. Hearty Cowboy Baked Beans
Sure the ingredients list might seem a little long, but it's totally worth it. The combination of the meats, beans, spices, BBQ sauce, and brown sugar make this hearty dish fit for not only cowboys, but for a big crowd, too.
Just throw everything into a Dutch oven or crock pot and be sure to bring this to your next summer cookout.
9. Root Beer Baked Beans
Not only do these baked beans have a bunch of flavorful spices and ingredients, but the magic ingredient is of course the root beer. Root beer is obviously sweet, but also has a lot of flavor profiles going on, so it's naturally great to use for baked beans.
Have a few extra bottles of root beer on hand while you wait for the beans to cook.
10. Crock Pot Coconut Curry Vegan Baked Beans
Vegans can enjoy one of summer's staple side dishes too with this recipe. Filled with spices, coconut milk, brown sugar, and pinto beans, you might forget about the meat and dairy because it's just so hearty and comforting.
This post was originally published on July 9, 2018.
