These smoky barbecue baked beans use simple ingredients to create complex flavors. This baked beans recipe is smoky, sweet, and has just the right amount of heat. Make these as the perfect complement to your next outdoor barbecue, potluck, or summer party.
These smoky barbecue baked beans get their smoky flavor from the bacon, chipotle chilis, and smoked paprika and are cooked in the oven. No smoker required here. The barbecue flavor comes from the rest of the ingredients, and the recipe doesn’t call for a separate BBQ sauce.
Making these beans from scratch is more time consuming than just getting a canned product, but this gives you endless control over your preferences. You can tweak the amount of smoky flavor, spiciness, meatiness, and sugar.
Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of baked beans, but these BBQ baked beans taste incredible. Starting with dry beans gives you more control over how tender the finished dish will be. What I loved about this recipe for baked beans is that the beans still have just a bit of bite to them and texture, where most of the baked beans I’ve had before just turned to mush in my mouth.
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🥘 Ingredients for Barbecue Baked Beans
The following list of ingredients is what I used to make this baked bean recipe, and where applicable I’ll mention some substitutions. For more information on variations, scroll down to the recipe variation section. No barbecue sauce is required either, since a lot of the ingredients go towards making one within the dish.
Beans – For this recipe, use dry navy beans, also known as pea beans or haricot beans. Other options include great northern, cannellini, pinto, red kidney beans, or a mixture. Some of these cannot be swapped out without changing cooking times however, so keep that in mind since the recipe is based on navy beans.
Bacon – You can use any preferred brand or flavor of bacon here, but I do prefer a good thick cut for this.
Vegetables – I use a mixture of sweet onion, garlic, and poblano here. You could switch the sweet onion for yellow, white, or red onion, and replace the poblano with red or green bell peppers. I really like the flavor of the poblano here, so recommend trying it the first time.
Chipotle – I love the addition of canned chipotle chilis here. They give the dish a bit of a bite and really add to the smoky flavor. I use two chipotles and a tablespoon of the adobo sauce they’re packed in.
Tomato – I use an 8oz can of tomato sauce here, but you could also use ketchup if you prefer. Cut back to a ½ cup if using ketchup since it contains extra sugar and vinegar.
Sugar – Use a combination of molasses and dark brown sugar. They add sweetness, but also color, and the molasses adds just a bit of bitterness to balance other flavors. Do not use blackstrap molasses.
Vinegar – Apple cider vinegar adds just a bit of tang to the recipe, but you could also use white vinegar.
Mustard – I use Dijon mustard here, but yellow mustard is fine as well.
Worcestershire – Use a few teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce to add to the layers of flavor.
Seasoning – For seasoning, I only add salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika.
Water – You’ll need water to soak the beans, and more water to boil the beans before adding to the dish. After boiling the beans, don’t discard the water! Reserve that flavored water to add to the baked beans, some at the start, and some for later.
🔪 How to Make Baked Beans
Starting with the dry beans, pick through them, removing any debris, broken, or shriveled beans. Rinse under cold water, then place into a pot of clean, cold water, at least 6 cups or so. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, cover, and remove from the heat, and let sit for at least an hour.
Alternatively, you can place the beans into a pot of cold water and let them soak overnight.
Once soaked, drain the beans, and rinse them again. Place back into the pot with a fresh 6 cups or so of cold water with a bit of salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for an hour.
When the beans have about 30 minutes left, start preparing the rest of the ingredients and preheat your oven to 325°F / 160°C.
In a Dutch oven, or oven safe pot, add the diced bacon and cook on medium heat until crispy, about 10 minutes or so. Once cooked, remove with a slotted spoon, and set on a paper towel lined plate to soak up some of the grease.
Add the diced onion and diced poblano (I almost forgot the poblano in the photo and added late) into the pot with the bacon grease and cook until softened, about 7-8 minutes.
Once softened, add the minced garlic, chopped chipotle chilis, adobo sauce, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Stir everything together and continue cooking for another minute or two.
Now add the tomato sauce, molasses, dark brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir together until the brown sugar dissolves.
Once the beans are done, drain them and reserve the cooking water. Add the beans and reserved bacon into the Dutch oven with the rest of the ingredients along with 1 ½ cups of the reserved cooking liquid. Stir together, cover the Dutch oven, and place into the oven.
Bake for two hours, then remove the lid and give everything a stir, adding more liquid if needed (I added another ½ - 1 cup of the bean water). Return to the oven and continue baking another 30 minutes uncovered to thicken everything up. At this point, give the baked beans a taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed, more water if they’re a bit dry, and continue cooking if the beans aren’t soft enough.
All dry beans are a bit different, so adjust the amount of water you need and the cooking time until they’re tender enough. I prefer a thicker baked bean dish and beans with a bit of bite to them. If you like a soupier baked bean dish, use more water at the start and add more when removing the cover.
Once finished baking, you can serve immediately, or wait until completely cooled and refrigerate until ready to serve. You can reheat small servings in the microwave or reheat the entire dish on the stovetop or oven. Add a bit of water when reheating to loosen everything up.
📖 BBQ Baked Bean Variations
While I absolutely loved these smoky barbecue baked beans as it is, here are a few quick variations you may wish to try.
Ingredient Variations
Vegetarian/Vegan Baked Beans – To make this recipe vegetarian or vegan, you only need to make a few adjustments. Omit the bacon, but consider replacing with a ½ teaspoon of liquid smoke to replace the smoked flavor of the bacon and use a neutral oil to cook the onion and poblano in.
Replace the Worcestershire sauce with soy sauce. Most molasses and brown sugars should be vegan but be sure to check the labels or find organic versions you know are 100% vegan.
Sweeter Baked Beans – I use less sugar than a lot of recipes call for, but still find these barbecue baked beans sweet enough. If you prefer a sweeter baked bean, you can increase the dark brown sugar to a ½ cup. Alternatively, you can add 3-4 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup instead.
Less Heat – These baked beans have a bit of a bite to them. Not super spicy, but if you want to reduce the spice level make a few tweaks. Reduce the chipotles to one and only a teaspoon of the adobo sauce or omit them altogether and use a ½ teaspoon of ground chipotle or chili powder instead. You can also replace the poblano with a green bell pepper.
Cooking Variations
Slow Cooker Method – If you want to make these with a slow cooker, you can. Follow the directions up until you place everything into the oven. Instead, transfer everything into a slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or on LOW for 6-7 hours. Remove the lid for the last 30-40 minutes of cooking time and add more liquid if they look dry at any point.
Canned Navy Beans – You can use canned beans if you want with just a few modifications. I prefer starting with dry because you can better control the tenderness of the finished dish, but canned works as well. You’ll need about 3-4 15-16oz cans of navy beans. Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the Dutch oven at the same time you would have added the cooked beans.
Increase the oven temperature to 350°F / 180°C and reduce the cooking time to about 1.5 hours covered, and 20-30 minutes uncovered.
Canned Baked Beans – Alternatively, you can use canned baked beans like Beanie Weenies or Bush’s Grillin’ Beans as well. Use 2 22oz cans and cook as mentioned above for canned navy beans. These types of beans already have some of the same ingredients used in the recipe though, so you’ll need to adjust for that.
Cut the amount of bacon in half and reduce the sugar and molasses to about 1 tablespoon. Also reduce the ketchup or tomato sauce to 1-2 tablespoons.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
The main difference in Boston baked beans is that they’re usually made with salt pork and only sweetened with molasses, nor is it made with ketchup or tomato sauce either.
Technically not, but soaking beans helps to rehydrate them and removes some of the hard to digest chemicals in beans. Pre-soaking beans helps them cook evenly and faster. If you skip soaking, you’ll need to cook them much longer to soften enough to eat.
🥗 What to Serve with BBQ Baked Beans
Smoky barbecue baked beans are typically served as a side dish, and they go especially well with grilled and barbecued food. Consider serving with:
- Hot dogs
- Hamburgers
- Pulled pork
- Pulled chicken
- Barbecued chicken
- Barbecue ribs
- Beef ribs
- Brisket
Other side dishes that complement barbecue baked beans include:
- Mac and cheese
- Cornbread
- Creamy coleslaw
- Spicy pineapple slaw
- American potato salad
- German potato salad
- Summer pasta salad
- Grilled corn on the cobb
- Grilled vegetables
- Roasted corn salad
❄️ Storing & Freezing
Once cooled completely, you can store leftover smoky barbecue baked beans in an airtight container, refrigerated, for 3-5 days.
If you have lots of leftovers and want to store them longer, you can also freeze in an airtight freezer bag for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
You can reheat small portions in a microwave with a splash of water.
If you’re reheating a large portion, or serving after refrigerating overnight, you can reheat on the stovetop or in the oven. I like the oven for more even heating. Bake, covered, for about 30 minutes at 350°F, stirring occasionally. If they’re really thick, add ¼ to ½ cup of water to help loosen them.
📋 Recipe
Smoky Barbecue Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry navy beans, picked through and rinsed
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 chipotle chilis, chopped
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, from the canned chipotles
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce, or ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar, or light brown
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, or yellow or brown mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions
- Starting with the 1 pound of dry beans, pick through them, removing any debris, broken, or shriveled beans. Rinse under cold water, then place into a pot of clean, cold water, at least 6 cups or so. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, cover, and remove from the heat, and let sit for at least an hour.
- Alternatively, you can place the beans into a pot of cold water and let them soak overnight.
- Once soaked, drain the beans, and rinse them again. Place back into the pot with a fresh 6 cups or so of cold water with a bit of salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for an hour.
- When the beans have about 30 minutes left, start preparing the rest of the ingredients and preheat your oven to 325°F / 160°C.
- In a Dutch oven, or oven safe pot, add 8 slices of diced bacon and cook on medium heat until crispy, about 10 minutes or so. Once cooked, remove with a slotted spoon, and set on a paper towel lined plate to soak up some of the grease.
- Add the diced sweet onion and diced poblano into the pot with the bacon grease and cook until softened, about 7-8 minutes.
- Once softened, add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 chopped chipotle chilis, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika. Stir everything together and continue cooking for another minute or two.
- Now add the 8oz can of tomato sauce, ¼ cup molasses, ¼ cup dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, and 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce. Stir together until the brown sugar dissolves.
- Once the beans are done, drain them and reserve the cooking water. Add the beans and reserved bacon into the Dutch oven with the rest of the ingredients along with 1 ½ cups of the reserved cooking liquid. Stir together, cover the Dutch oven, and place into the oven.
- Bake for two hours, then remove the lid and give everything a stir, adding more liquid if needed (I added another ½ - 1 cup of the bean water). Return to the oven and continue baking another 30 minutes uncovered to thicken everything up. At this point, give the baked beans a taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed, more water if they’re a bit dry, and continue cooking if the beans aren’t soft enough.
- All dry beans are a bit different, so adjust the amount of water you need and the cooking time until they’re tender enough. I prefer a thicker baked bean dish and beans with a bit of bite to them. If you like a soupier baked bean dish, use more water at the start and add more when removing the cover.
- Once finished baking, you can serve immediately, or wait until completely cooled and refrigerate until ready to serve. You can reheat small servings in the microwave or reheat the entire dish on the stovetop or oven. Add a bit of water when reheating to loosen everything up.
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