BBQ Beans
Take your plain baked beans recipe to the next level with these delicious BBQ Beans! Convenient, canned navy beans are baked with a luscious tomato sauce full of onion, bacon, and seasonings for the most scrumptious side dish you’ve ever tasted.
Today I’m taking the usual baked beans up a notch with my BBQ Beans recipe.
These take a little longer to cook than my regular Baked Beans recipe, but they are so worth the wait! This recipe is just loaded with onion, bacon, and tomato goodness along with some brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and herbs. Yum, yum.
You can use almost any white bean in this recipe, but my preference is navy beans. Cannellini or white northern work as well. And I do use canned beans, but dried beans work just as well. Be sure to soak them overnight and rinse well before cooking.
These BBQ Beans go with so many meals – burgers, hot dogs, barbecue sandwiches, fried chicken….whatever you like. Heck, I’ve had them leftover just by themselves.
🛒 Ingredient Notes
- Beans (Use any small-ish white beans that you like – navy, cannellini, or great northern beans all work well. My preference is navy beans.)
- Barbecue Sauce (I recommend a sweet barbecue sauce such as Kraft original or Sweet Baby Ray’s.)
- Red Pepper Flakes (Adjust the amount up or down to suit your preferred heat level.)
- Fresh Rosemary (In my opinion, it’s the rosemary that really makes this recipe so delicious. If you don’t have fresh, substitute one teaspoon of dried.)
You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe at the bottom of this post.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING …
“Absolute genius to place the bacon & onions in the baking dish and cook in the oven!”
— Miss P
How to Make BBQ Beans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the Bacon and Onion
- Place the onion and bacon in a 9×13 baking pan and drizzle with olive oil.
- Cook for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the onion has softened and the bacon has browned lightly.
Add Beans and Other Ingredients
- Add the beans, tomato sauce, and water, the brown sugar, barbecue sauce, red pepper flakes, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
- Stir together until well combined.
Return to the oven and bake for an additional 1 hour or until the beans are tender.
Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
🔀 Variations and Tips
- Spice up your beans even more by adding a finely diced jalapeno or a couple of minced chipotles in adobe.
- Add a bit of “tang” by stirring in a couple of tablespoons of yellow mustard.
- If you don’t have light brown sugar on hand, you can make a substitute with 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of molasses stirred together. No molasses? Try a tablespoon of maple syrup or honey.
🍚 Storage
Cover tightly and keep in the refrigerator for about 5-6 days. Reheat slowly on the stovetop or in the microwave. You can also freeze them for up to six months.
❓ Questions about BBQ Beans
To use dried beans for the recipe, you’ll need 1 1/2 cups dried beans to equal 3 15-ounce cans. Rinse the dried beans and check through them for any bad beans or foreign material. Place in a bowl with enough water to cover by two inches. Cover and let sit for at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain, rinse briefly and proceed with the recipe. Note that even after soaking, dried beans may need more time to become tender than canned beans.
Canned beans are definitely soft, but not fully cooked. The long cooking time allows for the beans to cook thoroughly and for the luscious tomato sauce to cook, thicken, and develop all its flavors.
I prefer navy beans, but you can use any variety of beans you like.
Yes! You can make BBQ beans a day or two in advance. They’re actually even better the second day.
More Questions? I’m happy to help!
If you have more questions about the recipe, or if you’ve made it and would like to leave a comment, scroll down to leave your thoughts, questions, and/or rating!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
📖 Recipe
BBQ Beans
Ingredients
- ½ large red onion thinly sliced
- 4 slices bacon cut crosswise
- Olive oil
- 45 ounces canned beans navy, cannellini, or great northern beans, lightly drained (3 15-ounce cans)
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- ⅓ cup barbecue sauce
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the onion and bacon in a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil.
- Cook for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the onion has softened and the bacon has browned lightly.
- Add remaining ingredients. Mix well.
- Return to the oven and bake for an additional 1 hour or until the beans are tender.
- Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Use any small-ish white beans that you like – navy, cannellini, or great northern beans all work well.
- I recommend a sweet barbecue sauce such as Kraft original or Sweet Baby Ray’s.
- If you don’t have fresh rosemary, substitute one teaspoon of dried.
- Spice up your beans even more by adding a finely diced jalapeno or a couple of minced chipotles in adobe.
- Add a bit of “tang” by stirring in a couple of tablespoons of yellow mustard.
- If you don’t have light brown sugar on hand, you can make a substitute with 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of molasses stirred together. No molasses? Try a tablespoon of maple syrup or honey.
Equipment
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
— This post was originally published on January 22, 2019. It has been updated with additional information.
Absolute genius to place the bacon & onions in the baking dish and cook in the oven! I usually sauté those and then mix everything together in the baking dish. You just saved me a step, and one less pan to wash.
I really do love baked beans, especially with BBQ chicken. That’s just such a classic combination.
Can’t wait to try this.
Miss P
You know I’m all for fewer pans to wash!
If the canned beans are already cooked, why do we bake them for 1hour? I usually use dry uncooked beans.
As I said in the post, you can certainly use dry beans. Just soak them and add in where the canned beans are added in the recipe. They come out just about the same though you may find they need some additional time. The baking time creates the lovely rich, sticky sauce and combines all the flavors.