Cowboy Baked Beans Recipe
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This Cowboy Baked Beans Recipe is ideal for a dish that's hearty, savory, and has the perfect amount of tangy sweetness. It makes for the perfect side dish to pair with all of your favorite comfort foods!
Perfect for a summer cookout or family gatherings, this hearty recipe results in the best baked beans every time! The addition of ground beef and lots of warm spices make these beans savory, filling, and a guaranteed family favorite.
Table of Contents
Quick Look: Cowboy Baked Beans Recipe
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 1 hour
- 👨👩👧👦 Servings: 8
- 📊 Calories: ~335 kcal per serving
- 🥣 Ingredients: ground beef, bacon, kielbasa, onions, bell pepper, BBQ saucem ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, worcestershire,
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy, great for potlucks and cookouts
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
One-Pot Recipe: All of the cooking and baking is done in the same Dutch oven or large skillet, which makes cleanup simple and easy.
Easy to Customize: You can easily leave out any of the ingredients you don't love, or add even more seasonings or mix-ins to your beans!
Budget-Friendly Comfort Food: This recipe uses lots of ingredients you probably have in your kitchen already, and you'll be left with so many portions of amazing beans!
For even more bean recipes, try my Sweet and Spicy Baked Beans or these Slow Cooker Pinto Beans.
Ingredients Needed
- Bacon: I like to use a thick cut smokey bacon.
- Kielbasa: Any kind of sausage works, but kielbasa is great to double down on the smoky flavor.
- Ground Beef: ground chicken or turkey can also be used.
- Onion: Yellow onion or white onion work best here.
- Bell Peppers: Any color is fine.
- Garlic: I prefer to use fresh minced garlic, but jarred garlic can be convenient in a pinch.
- Pork and Beans: You can use plain beans if you prefer, but a pork and beans blend helps make this dish even more hearty.
- BBQ Sauce: Feel free to use whatever barbecue sauce you prefer, or even make your own!
How to Make this Cowboy Baked Beans Recipe
- Step 1: In a Dutch oven or other oven-safe, heavy-bottom pot, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Remove and set aside.
- Step 2: In the same pot, cook diced kielbasa and remove, also setting aside.
- Step 3: Add ground beef, onions, and green peppers to the Dutch oven. Cook until browned.
- Step 4: Mix in garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant. Remove from heat and drain excess grease using paper towels.
- Step 5: Mix in the pork and beans, cooked bacon and sausage, BBQ sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire.
- Step 6: Stir until combined, then bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- Other kinds of sausage would also work well for this dish.
- I use pork and beans, but you can use any kind of beans you prefer. Black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, and cannellini beans are all great options!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- To reheat beans, pop them back in the oven at 350 or microwave in individual portions. You could also cook them in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. You may need to add a splash of water to prevent them from drying out.
Recipe FAQ's
This recipe imitates the kind of accessible and hearty bean dishes that cowboys and ranch hands might make over the campfire to refuel after a long day of hard work.
Dry baked beans are usually a result of overbaking, not using quality beans, or simply not adding enough liquid to the mixture. Something else to try might be baking covered with aluminum foil for the first 20 minutes or so to retain some of the liquid.
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Cowboy Baked Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 6-8 slices bacon cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 (13.9 ounce) Klebasa sausage diced see notes
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup green bell pepper diced
- 4 cloved garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 (28 ounce) Cans of pork and beans do not drain
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Heat a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom pot on medium-high heat and add the diced bacon; cook until crispy, then remove to a paper towel to drain.
- Add in the diced kielbasa sausage and cook just until slightly browned and remove to the paper towel.
- Add in the ground beef, onions, bell peppers, and cook until browned. Add in the minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper, and cook just until fragrant. Turn off the heat and remove any extra grease using a paper towel and tongs or drain in a strainer.
- Add in the pork and beans, BBQ sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, and mix until combined.
- Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes. Serve!
Notes
- Any kind of sausage will work.
- If you don't have an oven-safe pot or skillet, transfer the baked beans to a 9x13 baking dish.
- This can be prepped a day or two ahead, you will have to add some baking time because it will be cold.
