CrockPot BBQ Baked Beans with Bacon (Plus Stovetop Instructions)

The best baked beans recipe gives you an easy way to make flavorful baked beans in the CrockPot or on the stovetop, using classic ingredients like BBQ sauce and bacon. You can’t go wrong with this hearty, homemade side dish that's prepped in less than 15 minutes. The sweet and smoky flavor is so good, it tastes like they were made from scratch! The tasty combination of barbecue sauce, vinegar, and canned beans makes these Baked Beans a family favorite side dish for any cookout or meal.

When I was a kid, I hated baked beans. Everyone in my family loved them, and we ate them often, but they were always just plain old pork and beans from a can. They made me gag.

I thought I was just a baked beans hater, until I found this recipe in my early twenties. I've been making it ever since.

These are NOT the baked beans you get in a can. Yes, those beans are among the ingredients, but these BBQ beans are sweet, savory, and a tiny bit spicy. These beans have a wonderfully rich barbecue bacon flavor that everyone loves. Try them. You won't be able to stop at one bowl.

Why this is the best CrockPot BBQ Baked Beans with Bacon recipe

This recipe makes a big batch of beans, so it's the perfect recipe to take to the neighbor's BBQ, your friend's picnic, and the potluck at your church. It also travels well (the sauce is thick with not too much liquid to slosh around), so you can load up your CrockPot and take it to casual get-togethers all year long.

The best baked beans recipe is easy to make. It's not quite as simple as dumping everything in the CrockPot, but the extra steps mean extra flavor! It's as easy as sautéing the onion and bacon and mixing everything in the crock. Not too hard, right? There's no babysitting and no oven required!

Speaking of the oven, you could heat yours up for an hour or two to make traditional baked beans or you could throw them in the CrockPot (or even in a stockpot on the stove!) without heating up your kitchen. Does it get any better than that?

This recipe uses common ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. And because we're using prepared BBQ sauce, there is no need for ketchup, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, salt, or pepper. It's already in the sauce!

This recipe can simmer all day in the slow cooker, or you can cook it on the stovetop in under 30 minutes. I've included both instructions below. I've done it both ways often, depending on how much time I have and how hands-on I can be during the cooking process.

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This BBQ baked beans recipe has a sweet and savory flavor that even picky eaters love. There is an onion cooked into the sauce, but there are no other veggies which my picky eaters really appreciate.

This recipe is allergy-friendly. As written, it is gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free. Of course, please be sure to check all labels to ensure that your unique ingredients are safe for your dietary needs.

What you'll need to make the best slow cooker BBQ baked beans recipe

Ingredients

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

• Bacon - Bacon is the secret ingredient in these BBQ baked beans. If you have to leave it out, add a little Liquid Smoke to replace some of the amazing flavor that bacon offers.
• Salted butter - The ingredient image above includes butter with the intent of using it to cook the onion before adding it to the beans. I have since started using bacon grease to cook the onion, and I like the flavor better this way. So no need for butter in this recipe.
• Large onion - I use Vidalia because I like the flavor, but feel free to use whatever onion you like. Yellow onion is also good.
• Fresh garlic - There is no substitute for freshly pressed garlic. The stuff in a jar and garlic powder do not taste like freshly pressed garlic. It costs about a dollar for an entire bulb, and you'll use about half of it.
• Packed brown sugar - It doesn't matter whether you use light or dark brown sugar. I generally prefer light, but you get a bit more molasses flavor with the dark, so take your pick. You can substitute half the amount of maple syrup or all of it for a keto brown sugar substitute.
• White vinegar - I prefer white vinegar but apple cider vinegar works well, too. Adding a bit of extra acid to this recipe brings out the brightness in the other flavors and keeps the sauce from tasting flat. If your barbecue sauce has a lot of vinegar in it already, feel free to leave this out.
• BBQ sauce - Sweet Baby Ray's is my current favorite brand, but I used to really like Jack Daniel's. The finished beans end up tasting a lot like the BBQ sauce you use so use a brand you really like. I do not add kosher salt or black pepper to this recipe because the BBQ is already well seasoned.
• Tabasco - This is optional. You could easily substitute Frank's or another brand of hot sauce.
• Bush's Grillin' Beans, Southern Pit BBQ flavor - This is important. These particular beans have a distinctive flavor that makes the baked beans taste good. If you can't find them, another flavor of Grillin' Beans will be okay. These beans should NOT be drained.
• Dark red kidney beans or black beans - These beans should be drained and rinsed. You can choose one or the other or use a combination of both. You can also use Great Northern beans, butter beans, navy beans, pinto beans, or cannellini beans (white kidney beans) instead or in combination. Use whatever you like!

How to make the best crock pot baked beans recipe

CrockPot instructions:

1. Partially cook the bacon using your preferred method. I like to bake mine at 400º for 9 minutes. Drain on paper towels and then coarsely chop. Reserve 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease and discard the rest.
2. Add the bacon grease to a large skillet. When hot, add the chopped onion to the bacon grease over medium heat and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chopped bacon and cook for 3-4 additional minutes, until bacon is fully cooked.
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3. Press garlic into skillet; stir and cook for one additional minute.
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4. Use the vinegar to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet, then stir in the brown sugar and continue to stir until the sugar is all dissolved.
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5. Continue to cook until mixture is bubbly.
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6. Pour the Grillin' Beans into the crockpot with their liquid. Drain and rinse the other beans and add them to the Grillin' Beans. Top with BBQ sauce and Tabasco.
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7. Add bacon and onion mixture from the skillet to the slow cooker.
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8. Mix well. Secure lid.
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9. Cook on low for 3 to 5 hours, until sauce is bubbly. Stir and serve hot.
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Stovetop instructions:

1. Partially cook bacon using your preferred method. I like to bake mine at 400º for 9 minutes. Reserve 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease and discard the rest. Set bacon aside on paper towels to dry. When dry, coarsely chop.
2. Add the bacon grease to a dutch oven or large stockpot. When hot, add the chopped onion to the bacon grease over medium heat and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chopped bacon and cook for 3-4 additional minutes, until bacon is fully cooked. Press garlic into skillet; stir and cook for one additional minute.
3. Use the vinegar to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet, then stir in the brown sugar and continue to stir until the sugar is all dissolved. Continue to cook until mixture is bubbly. Add BBQ sauce and Tabasco to skillet. Add the Grillin' Beans to the pot with their liquid. Drain and rinse the other beans and add them as well. Bring mixture to a boil; boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir, and serve hot.

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Tips for the best crockpot baked beans recipe

Different brands of barbecue sauce have different levels of sweetness, acidity, and smokiness. Don’t be afraid to adjust the amounts of ingredients (especially the sugar and vinegar) at the end to get the flavor right where you want it. You can even add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce if you think the sauce is a little flat. I've never had to do this, but it's an option.

Can I use dried beans in Crock Pot baked beans?

If you want to use dried beans in this recipe, you'll have to soak and cook them using your preferred method before adding them to the CrockPot. Dried beans won't magically cook in 3 hours in the slow cooker.

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Can I dump this in the slow cooker and go?

I guess you could, but the onions are not going to melt into the sauce, and you're not going to get the flavor of the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Your BBQ baked beans are going to taste A LOT better if you take the step of pre-cooking the bacon and then sautéing the onions in bacon fat. Like worlds better.

Can I make CrockPot baked beans vegetarian?

Of course! All you have to do is replace the bacon with some Liquid Smoke and choose a vegetarian variety of canned baked beans. (Read the labels.)

Vegetarian baked beans won't taste the same as baked beans with bacon, but you can make something reasonably similar.

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Can you make CrockPot baked beans in advance?

Yes, you can, and you have a few options.

You can cook the beans for 3-5 hours and then use the Keep Warm setting to keep them for most of the rest of the day.

If you want to make the beans for use tomorrow or the next day, you can make them as directed then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Throw them back in the slow cooker on the day you want to serve them and turn it on high for an hour. They should be heated through and bubbly.

Storing leftover crockpot baked beans

When beans are fully cooled, transfer leftovers to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.

I've read that you can freeze baked beans, but I've never tried it. If you want to give it a shot, transfer the completely cooled beans to an airtight container or a plastic freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve, move to the fridge overnight to thaw and then place the thawed beans in the CrockPot for an hour or two to heat up. Or heat them in a pot on the stove or in a dish in the microwave. Either way, once they're bubbly and heated through, they're ready to serve.

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Try these other delicious side dishes:

• Cucumber Pasta Salad - No Mayo
• Pistachio Fruit Salad AKA Watergate Salad
• Cucumber Salsa
• Creamy Macaroni Salad - Nothing crunchy in this flavorful summer salad!
• Instant Pot Potato Salad - Nothing crunchy in this one either!
• Our Favorite Broccoli Salad Recipe
• Broccoli Salad with No Mayo
• Marinated Cauliflower
• Red, White, & Blue Fruit Salad
• Frozen Pierogies with Butter and Onions
• Copycat Cracker Barrel Fried Apples
• Mexican Black Bean, Corn, & Avocado Salsa
• Homemade Air Fryer Potato Chips
• Asian Ramen Noodle Salad

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