Delicious Cowboy Baked Beans have a tangy sauce the whole family will love, and it's an easy recipe so you'll love it, too. This is a great side dish any time of the year, and we've got instructions for how to make them in your slow cooker, a Dutch oven and even on the grill.
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This is the best baked beans recipe for when you want loads of flavor, but not tons of work soaking and rinsing dry beans.
While this seems like the ideal dish to serve at backyard cookout these beans are perfect any time of year.
❤️ Why You'll Our Recipe
- Cowboy Baked Beans are a cinch to throw together and are the perfect side dish recipe for your next family reunion or potluck.
- These beans can be made on the stovetop, in your crockpot, or on the grill.
- Tons of great flavor from our amazing Cowboy Steak Rub, plus lots of crispy bacon.
Our Cowboy Steak Rub is a combination of amazing spices and herbs including paprika, cumin, dry mustard, black pepper, and more.
The best part is that you can use this mix in lots of different ways from cowboy corn casserole to petite sirloin steak so be sure to make a big batch to have one hand!
🧂 Ingredients
- canned pork and beans
- canned pinto beans
- sweet onion
- bell pepper
- tomato sauce
- ketchup
- molasses
- apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
- spicy brown mustard
- yellow mustard
- Worcestershire sauce
- Cowboy Steak Rub
- bacon
This is meant to be a brief overview of the Cowboy Baked Beans recipe. For step-by-step instructions and a full printable recipe card with ingredients, please scroll down to the teal box below.
🔪 Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Drain and rinse the pinto beans. Add to a large bowl.
- Add the (undrained) cans of pork and baked beans.
- Next, add all the remaining ingredients, except the bacon and stir to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to a large cast iron skillet, Dutch oven, or casserole baking dish.
- Bake uncovered for about 1-½ hours until the mixture is bubbly.
- Serve with crumbled bacon on top.
🥄Equipment
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Here is what you will need to make this cowboy beans recipe:
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💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions (and answers!) readers often ask about our hearty baked beans.
This delicious side dish starts with beans, onions, peppers, bacon, ketchup, mustard, molasses, and our special Cowboy Steak Seasoning Mix along with a few other ingredients.
I wouldn't call this a health food dish, however, beans are a great source of fiber. While all types of beans have lots of fiber, navy beans have the most fiber.
Personally, I love pulled pork or any grilled protein with baked beans. It's great with burgers, chicken, and steak, and of course bacon!
🍲 Storage
Store: Leftover cowboy beans should be stored in an airtight container. (These are my favorite airtight containers.) This dish is good for about 7 days if stored properly.
Reheat: Microwave individual portions or reheat the whole batch on the stove top on low.
Freeze: Cool completely and transfer to a freezer bag or freezer-safe storage container.
Thaw: Allow the beans to thaw in the fridge overnight.
Slow Cooker Instructions
Cowboy baked beans are fabulous to set and forget in your crock pot! Here's how to make this recipe in your slow cooker:
- Prepare the beans according to the directions.
- Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
- Set the crockpot to LOW for 4-6 hours.
Grilling Instructions
This truly is one of the most delicious side dishes for your summer cookout! Here's how to make them on the grill.
- Prepare the beans according to the directions.
- Transfer to a Dutch oven or heavy bottom aluminum foil pan.
- Cook on the grill over medium-high heat for about 1-½ hours until the beans are bubbly.
📖 Variations
The first time you try any new recipe we recommend that you make it just as it is written on the recipe card since that is how the cowboy bean recipe has been tested. However, the next time you make our recipe, you might want to try one of these ideas:
- For a hint of sweetness, add ½ cup of light brown sugar.
- Substitute BBQ sauce for the ketchup.
- Add whatever other canned beans you have on hand - kidney beans, black beans, white beans, garbanzo beans, etc.
- Use a little bit of liquid smoke to add more smoky flavor, but take care because a little goes a long way!
Although this is a fantastic side dish, you can also make it into a hearty meal. Add 1 pound of chopped-up sausage, hot dogs or cooked lean ground beef to make this into a hearty meal.
🍴 Serving Suggestions
Serve with our Cowboy Corn Casserole or Grilled Corn on the Cob and Grilled Top Sirloin Steak for an incredible meal. (It's really terrific will also sorts of grilled meats honestly!) Round it all out with a pan of this yummy cornbread.
😋 Similar Recipes
Next time, try one of these delicious recipes:
More Delicious Side Dishes
Not ready to make hearty side dish yet? When you do make it, please come back and comment and leave me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below!
Cowboy Baked Beans
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Ingredients
- 2 28 oz. Pork & Beans (I like B&M original baked beans)
- 1 16 oz. can pinto beans drained and rinsed
- ½ large sweet onion diced
- 1 large bell pepper finely diced
- 8 oz 1 cup tomato sauce or ½ 15 oz can
- 1 cup Ketchup
- ½ cup molasses
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- ⅛ cup spicy brown mustard heaping
- ⅛ cup yellow mustard heaping
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Cowboy Steak Rub
- ½ lb cooked bacon chopped into pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Drain and rinse the pinto beans. Add to a large bowl.1 16 oz. can pinto beans
- Add the (undrained) cans of pork and baked beans.2 28 oz. Pork & Beans (I like B&M original baked beans)
- Next, add all the remaining ingredients, except the bacon and stir to combine.½ large sweet onion diced, 1 large bell pepper finely diced, 8 oz 1 cup tomato sauce, 1 cup Ketchup, ½ cup molasses, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, ⅛ cup spicy brown mustard heaping, ⅛ cup yellow mustard heaping, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tablespoon Cowboy Steak Rub, ½ lb cooked bacon chopped into pieces
- Transfer the mixture to a large cast iron skillet, Dutch oven, or casserole baking dish.
- Bake uncovered for about 1-½ hours until the mixture is bubbly.
- Serve with crumbled bacon on top.
Video
Notes
Slow Cooker Instructions
Baked beans are fabulous to set and forget in your crockpot! Here's how to make this recipe in your slow cooker:- Prepare the beans according to the directions.
- Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
- Set the crockpot to LOW for 4-6 hours.
Grilling Instructions
This truly is one of the most delicious side dishes for your summer cookout! Here's how to make them on the grill.- Prepare the beans according to the directions.
- Transfer to a Dutch oven or heavy bottom aluminum foil pan.
- Cook on the grill over medium-high heat for about 1-½ hours until the beans are bubbly.
Nutrition
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Meal Planning
Want to add this recipe to your meal plan? Download our free printable meal plan here.
This recipe is included in Meal Plan 17 along with:
- balsamic chicken dinner
- chicken spaghetti
- bbq chicken tacos
- southwest chopped salad
- stuffed burgers
- avocado grilled cheese
... and more!
Be sure to check out all our meal plan ideas here.
More Hearty Dishes
You'll love our collection of cowboy food including grilled ribeye with cowboy butter, cowboy corn casserole, and cowboy baked beans.
These hearty dishes are great for backyard barbecues and picnics because they taste amazing and feed a crowd!
Donna says
This recipe looks delicious! I like smoky baked beans.
Sue D says
I like to use pinto beans and navy beans in baked bean recipes.
Tami Vollenweider says
I like to add Honey to my baked beans adds the sweetness and I know it's good for you!
Michelle Bauer says
My best memory of baked beans was last summer. It is what my Uncle Roy made for our BBQ... Love to add fire-roasted tomatoes, onions to my baked beans & sometimes green chiles. Also, I use veggie bacon as I'm pescatarian.
Leela says
I have memories of eating them at summer bbqs with my extended family.
Samantha Murch says
This looks so good!! I am so boring, I just usually do the Bush's baked beans original flavor heated up the way they come! I will definitely have to give this a try!