This award-winning smoked baked beans recipe was given to me by the wife of an uber-famous pitmaster who came to my book signing near Lake Austin and traded secrets with me all night long!!
Now, I can't seem to start the pellet smoker without preparing this perfect side dish, full of rich smoky flavor, so today I'm sharing the dang thing! Get ready for a barbecue side dish that friends will beg you to make over and over again.
While this classic recipe may seem like simple ingredients, it's the secret ingredient that really makes it stand out among other bbq bean recipes--pineapple, which adds sweetness while melting into this lovely mixture of sweet and spicy goodness, is balanced with jalapeno peppers for a complex side dish with sass.
If a little bit of spice isn't your thing, just remove the seeds and ribs of the jalapeno, leaving great flavor with very little heat.
Table of Contents
- How to Smoke Beans
- How To Make Easy Baked Beans
- How To Make Baked Beans a Main Dish
- What Can I Add To Canned Beans For Flavor?
- What Goes With Baked Beans?
How to Smoke Beans
We start out with chunks of bacon, sliced into squares, cooked just enough to begin crisping up. We want the bacon to go on top of the beans crispy while utilizing all of the rich flavor in the bacon fat to saute our veggies.
I start my pellet grill and fill it with wood chips while cooking the smoked bacon. If you are using an electric smoker you should do that as well so that you have plenty of time to warm up the smoker.
What Wood is Used to Smoke Beans?
The type of wood I choose is usually based on whatever else I am smoking but if it's beef brisket I will be using live oak, hickory or pecan. If I'm smoking a pork butt it's usually cherry wood. This recipe is such an easy side dish because it's versatile.
How To Make Easy Baked Beans
This is one of the best side dishes because it's so easy--it's really just a can of baked beans loaded full of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Since dry beans are a long process, we love this recipe for its speed and flexibility.
This dish is made with ketchup, brown sugar, and yellow mustard powder, which are classic bbq sauce ingredients so it's semi-homemade without going overboard.
How To Make Baked Beans a Main Dish
Sweet barbecue baked beans are practically a main dish in themselves, but the classic addition of seared hot dogs (aka frank and beans) started sometime around the civil war. We like to add 5 sliced hot dogs, seared well in a large cast iron skillet to the beans to make them more substantial.
Also, leftover chopped brisket and smoked pork butt are a perfect addition to the bean mixture if you plan on serving it for dinner.
What Can I Add To Canned Beans For Flavor?
Along with the bacon, jalapeno, brown sugar, ketchup, and pineapple in this recipe, I recommend experimenting with adding apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, barbecue sauce, garlic, red onion, Worcestershire sauce, or a teaspoon of liquid smoke to canned beans for a quick zip of flavor.
What Goes With Baked Beans?
Baked beans are a great cookout side dish and go with everything you cook outside! Baked beans go with hotdogs and hamburgers, pulled pork, barbecue sandwiches, smoked brisket, barbecue ribs, pork belly, and sausage just to name a few.
Here are some of our favorite recipes with savory flavors to pair with sweet bbq beans.
- How To Smoke A Brisket On A Pellet Grill
- Pellet Grill Pulled Pork Recipe
- Texas Twinkies Recipe
- Juicy Grilled Pork Chops with Hot Honey
- Texas Style Brisket
- Ultra Juicy Smoked Beef Chuck Roast Recipe
- Smoked Strawberry Barbecue Chicken Wings
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Award-Winning Smoked Baked Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 slices of bacon cut into ½ inch squares
- ½ cup white onion small diced
- ½ red bell pepper small diced
- 1 serrano or jalapeno pepper diced (leave seeds in for spicy)
- 55 oz. can Bush’s Baked Beans
- 8 oz. can pineapple tidbits drained, but reserve the juice
- 1 c. brown sugar
- 1 c. ketchup
- ½ Tablespoon dry ground mustard yellow
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Optional: 1 c. chopped brisket or any other favorite smoked barbecue meat chopped fine, 5 hotdogs, sliced and seared before adding.
Instructions
- In a cast iron skillet or saute pan, pour in the chopped bacon pieces and turn the heat to medium. Saute until the bacon is crispy and remove from the pan with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain.
- In the same skillet leave the bacon fat and add the diced onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until tender.
- In a disposable pan (or this can be made in the cast iron skillet), add the cooked peppers and onions cooked in the bacon grease, the canned baked beans, pineapple chunks, ketchup, brown sugar, and dry mustard.
- Stir well incorporating all of the ingredients, if it needs thinning add the reserved pineapple juice.
- Place the cooked bacon squares on top of the baked beans.
- Smoke the beans at 225° to 250° for 2 ½ to 3 hours over indirect heat. (This recipe can also be made by baking in a 350° oven for 1 hour.)
Lee says
These beans are insanely good. I wanted seconds but they disappeared at the potluck.
Sarah Penrod says
Hopefully you get your fair share next time. 🙂
Michael says
Amazing recipe- total hit and a repeat make with bbq
Kim says
Best baked/smoked beans ever!!!! Followed the recipe exactly as written. Wouldn’t change a thing.
Everyone loved them and said they were the best beans they had ever had. This is my new go to!
Kevin Jones says
We have made these beans multiple times, and they are always a hit. My wife adds ground beef to them. They are far better than beans we have ate at BBQ restaurants. The beans are one of our go to sides for sharing with our family. We also use your fajita marinade with skirt or flank steak, and I must say it is very good. It’s very nice of you to share your recipes. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. BTW, I am about to purchase a Texas made Lone Star Grillz pellet grill.
Linda says
Sarah, I want to make these for a cookout this weekend. I’d rather not for up the smoker just for the beans. Have you made these in oven before and how did they taste if you did? I’ve read the reviews several said still great beans in the oven. Also would you recommend the addition of liquid smoke if not smoked and how much? I can’t handle to much heat but want to add a little pepper heat how much would you recommend of the pepper and does omitting the seeds really help??? Thanks so much.
Sarah Penrod says
The reviewers are correct! They are still great beans in the oven.
I can definitively say I am not the biggest fan of liquid smoke due to being able to taste something chemically when I've put it into dishes in the past. I got real smoke or no smoke at all but that is a personal preference. You may want to try a small amount and see what your own thoughts are.
Get all of the seeds out and you'll be just fine. Yes, seeds make a big difference in the heat of a pepper being in the beans or not. My husband can't do a lot of heat either and I just get all of the seeds out and then rinse the pepper off with water when I am trying to remove the heat but keep the flavor of the pepper.
Hope this helps!
Valarie says
Can we prep this the night before?
Sarah Penrod says
Of course you can!
Tessa says
We have made these before and they are a crowd pleaser! Any thoughts on storage. Canning was not a good idea. Think freezing excess would work?
Sarah Penrod says
Yes, you can freeze them. I've frozen them before and reheated them about a month later. I've read that people have reheated cooked beans after 5-6 months! I don't know if I'd kept them for that long before but to each their own! 🙂
Jason says
I am about to fire up our drum smoker with B&B lump charcoal for these beans.
Sarah Penrod says
Let me know how you liked them!
darrin says
I will be trying this recipe out as were are doing BBQ (pulled pork & chicken, classic BBQ sides), for our wedding reception. Looking forward to trying this one out!
Just an FYI - the seeds in hot peppers DO NOT contain capsaicin. Capsaicin is in the pale membrane (pith) of the pepper. This has been debunked long ago.
Dina Thigpen says
Can I cook in crockpot on low?
Sarah Penrod says
Yes, that should be fine.
Terry says
I cut up two Bluegrass Mettwurst in half longways then cut them sideways about 1/8 to 1/4 pieces and fried them set aside then followed the recipe. Because I was not smoking them and cooking them in the oven I added 1 teaspoon of Liquid Hickory Smoke. I added the mettwurst before baking. Everyone at the cookout said I’m making the Baked Beans from now on, big hit tasted great.
Sarah Penrod says
Sounds like you did an awesome job!
Kevin says
These turned out perfectly! Added smoked pork as well.
Wendy Oltmanns says
I made these last night for a party and omitted the sugar. Had so many compliments about how beans are typically too sweet and syrupy but that these were perfect. Will make again!
Sarah Penrod says
Glad to hear that worked out for you Wendy! 🙂 Chef Sarah
Mike Mauger says
These are my go to beans whenever I have my smoker out. I use crushed pineapple. I like how it blends into the whole mix. I also add 1 pound of hot Italian sausage. Makes them a meal themselves. I have also experimented with other ingredients. I've double the bell pepper. They overpowered the flavor of the beans. I have substituted 1/2 cup of Tennessee Whiskey barbecue sauce, 151 proof, for 1/2 cup ofcup.
ketchup. That added a bit of zing. I liked it but I need to cook for everyone so I've only done that once. For the right crowd I would do it again. I love the beans. Thanks for the recipe!
Sarah Penrod says
Yay! Love hearing all of the customization tips. These sounds like a winner!
Jayme says
These are the only beans worth mentioning. Not another bean comes close.
Jayme says
Update, we made these again on Mother's Day. We used the whole can of pineapple since it's my favorite part. We should've halved the sugar. I really can't get over how good these are. These must've been the beans Jack had because they are magic.
Cassie says
These are the best beans I’ve ever had! A back mused bbq MUST!
Keith says
@Cassie,