If I had to pick just ONE side dish for a summer BBQ, I would pick baked beans without hesitation.
I LOVE baked beans!
And even though I’ll eat almost any baked beans, there is really nothing like the taste of making them from scratch — except for the fact that I never have the time to make them from scratch!
So over the years, I’ve come up with a very simple recipe for “Semi-Homemade” Baked Beans — and they honestly taste like the real deal!
As with almost all of my recipes, you may feel free to alter, tweak, change, and adapt the ingredients to fit your family’s taste buds… but this is how we do it in the Dekker house.
Ingredients:
- 4-6 slices of bacon cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 28 oz. can store-bought baked beans {it doesn’t matter what kind}
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/4 c. ketchup
- 2 T. mustard {any type}
- 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
1. Place bacon pieces into a large, high-rimmed frying pan and cook over medium heat until they start to brown.
2. Add chopped onion and continue cooking until bacon is cooked and onions are soft.
3. Drain and return back to frying pan
4. Dump entire can of baked beans into the frying pan and stir into the bacon and onion mixture.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a low boil, stirring constantly.
At this point, the mixture will probably be somewhat “watery” which is a tell-tale sign of store-bought baked beans.
So the trick here is to let them simmer for while. Not only will they really thicken up, but the brown sugar, bacon, and onion flavors will infuse the beans and create the most delicious, flavorful, and even “caramelized” tasting beans!
6. Once they come to a boil, turn the heat down to medium low and let the bean mixture simmer for 10 -15 minutes, stirring occasionally {this is a great time to work on the rest of the meal}
7. Eat and enjoy!
Once they are nice and thick, serve them up with your favorite BBQ foods and enjoy the heavenly taste of baked beans “from scratch”. You’ll be on the only one who knows they were from a can!
And if you’re looking for more simple, delicious BBQ side dishes, here are 30 of my favorites to try.
What is your favorite BBQ side dish?
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Amanda says
We make a recipe a lot like this one. We add in cooked and drained ground venison (or beef). Just an idea of you are looking for a meat to have with your baked beans.
Andrea says
thanks for the tips — sounds yummy! We don’t get venison that often, but could definitely try this with beef!
Marcy says
Having an end of summer party this weekend, and baked beans have been requested. Do you think a crockpot could be used, after cooking the bacon and onions?
Andrea says
definitely… you could even just use the crumbled bacon from Costco if you don’t feel like cooking bacon!
Babbie says
My favorite side dishes is beans and cold salad very good with Barbecue
Aa. says
I really can’t find good quality canned beans, so what I do when I have a free weekend: I soak over night the beans, then I boil them (at the beginning, I change the water twice or 3 times), and then I freeze them in one meal portions.
It works really well!
Shelly says
I just made these and what a great recipe, will be making it at my next cook out! They really do taste home made even though their semi home made. Thanks so much for posting it.