Cowboy Baked Beans
Cowboy Baked Beans are loaded with ground beef, beans and BBQ sauce for an easy baked side dish that is great for cookouts and potlucks!
Cookout Side Dish Recipe
Over the years, I’ve always been asked to bring my Southern Baked Beans to all the summer cookouts and family gatherings. They’re easy to make delicious, but, I think *maybe* their reign of supreme baked beans may be over now that I’ve perfected these Cowboy Baked Beans. These are a beefier, heartier version of those baked beans, and I gotta tell ya, they passed the friends and family test (and they are tough customers, ha!)
Questions You May Have
You sure can. Just a note on making them in the Crock Pot, the sauce does not get as thick as when making in the oven so it will definitely stay more liquid-y. The liquid doesn’t evaporate and reduce like in an oven. They’re still good, just not thick. Follow my directions in this recipe for Crock Pot Baked Beans on how long to cook, etc.
The main difference between this recipe and a regular baked bean recipe is that this has ground beef and a small kick of heat from the green chiles. The green chiles honestly don’t add much heat at all (and I can say that confidently as I am very sensitive to spice because I have terrible acid reflux) but you can leave it out if you’re worried about any heat.
I have to tell you though, I made these both ways (with and without the diced green chiles) and everyone overwhelmingly preferred the one with the chiles even though they didn’t know how I had made them differently.
Yes. These beans reheat well, making them a great make ahead dish for parties, cookouts, and holidays.
They pair well with burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, oven baked ribs, grilled ribs, pulled pork, cornbread, macaroni salad, potato Salad, or coleslaw.
You can cook them longer if you would like them to be thicker, totally up to you. Do be advised that they will continue to thicken as they cool.
Store leftover Cowboy Baked Beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven until warmed through. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Ingredients Needed: (See Recipe Card Below For The Full Recipe)
- ground beef– I used lean ground beef. You could swap it out for other ground meat like ground pork, ground sausage, or ground chicken.
- sweet onion – don’t like onion? Just leave it out or maybe try using a shallot. It is a much more mild onion flavor that has a slight garlic taste to it.
- green bell pepper – don’t like bell peppers? Leave them out or switch to a color you prefer.
- garlic powder
- smoked paprika – or you can use regular paprika but the smoked is going to add a good flavor here.
- canned pork and beans – see my ingredient image below so you can see the kind to looks for.
- diced green chiles– these are optional. As I said above, I do not think these add a bunch of heat at all. I get the mild version.
- bbq sauce– you can use whatever brand of barbecue sauce that you enjoy, like Sweet Baby Ray’s as I did, or use some Homemade BBQ Sauce.
- light brown sugar– I used light brown sugar, but, you can use dark brown if that’s what you prefer. Dark brown sugar will just have a deeper molasses flavor.
How To Make Cowboy Baked Beans
Cook the ground beef
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a large skillet with deep sides cook the ground beef with the onion and bell pepper until there is no pink left and the veggies soften, 10-12 minutes. Drain any excess grease, put back into the skillet. Add the garlic and smoked paprika, stir to combine and cook for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
Add beans and sauce
Add the beans, green chiles, bbq sauce, and brown sugar and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.
Bake the beans
Add the bean mixture to the baking dish. Bake for 1 hour or until the top gets sticky and they thicken.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Craving More Recipes?
- Root Beer Baked Beans
- Sausage Baked Beans
- Homemade Baked Beans
- Cowboy Butter Potatoes
- Cowboy Casserole
Cowboy Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion, small diced (can use ½ a yellow onion)
- 1 green bell pepper, small diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular)
- 4 (16 ounce) cans pork and beans
- 4 ounce can diced green chiles, undrained (optional)
- ¾ cup bbq sauce
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large skillet with deep sides cook and crumble the 1 pound ground beef with the 1 small sweet onion, small diced and 1 green bell pepper, small diced until there is no pink left and the veggies soften (about 10-12 minutes.)
- Drain any excess grease, put back into the skillet.
- Add the 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, stir to combine and cook for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
- Add 4 (16 ounce) cans pork and beans, 4 ounce can diced green chiles, undrained, 3/4 cup bbq sauce, and 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed and stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer.
- Add the bean mixture to the baking dish.
- Bake for 1 hour or until the top gets sticky and they thicken slightly.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Please refer to my Question and Answer section and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
