These beans are the perfect side dish for any BBQ! They have a sweet, smoky flavor and don't forget about the fresh cooked bacon! They will fast become a crowd favorite! Heat them in you slow cooker or on your stovetop. No oven needed!
Chop/dice yellow onion. Chop your strips of bacon into small pieces. Set aside.
Heat a non-stick skillet on med-low heat, and add bacon. Let the bacon cook in its own fat for about 10-15 minutes until it starts to brown. Then add butter and onion. Sauté together until onion is translucent and bacon is browned and slightly crispy on edges. Set aside.
In a large pot or dutch oven, pour in both cans of beans (try and remove the weird peices of fake bacon if possible!). Heat on medium heat. Add bacon and onion (I would highly recommend scraping the pan to get every drop of bacon/onion goodness). Stir.
Add in brown sugar, mustard, and seasonings (adding more or less of each to taste).
Continue to cook on low-medium until heated through and flavors have fully developed. About 30 minutes.See notes below for baking option.
SLOW COOKER OPTION: Saute the onion and bacon as the recipe states, then pour all of the ingredients into your slow cooker and mix well. Let it heat on low for 2-3 hours.
Notes
Any brand of beans works great. I like the baked bean varieties the best because they come with some flavor in the canned sauce that is the perfect base that you can easily build on. I ALWAYS remove the weird fake bacon looking pieces!
Any type of BBQ sauce works, so go with the flavor you like, whether its honey, mesquite or sweet and tangy.
I always use fresh bacon and sauté it with the onion. You can skip this step and use precooked bacon, or dehydrated bacon bits. I always use fresh bacon and love the flavor the fresh cooked bacon brings as well as the texture of the fresh cooked bacon.
The brown sugar may need to be increased if you are wanting the beans really sweet so adjust as needed, along with the other seasonings. I always wait until they have cooked 20 minutes to make adjustments to the flavor.
These are delicious on the stovetop, and no baking is needed. But you can bake them in the oven in a 9x13 pan on 375 for 30 minutes. OR heat in a crockpot on low for 2-3 hours, and keep them ready to serve on warm.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.