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BEST EVER COWBOY BAKED BEANS

Name: Best Ever Cowboy Baked Beans
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: 16-20 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 - 28 oz cans Pork & Beans (I used B&M original baked beans); 1/2 large sweet onion, diced (Vidalia or other sweet onion is fine); 1 large bell pepper, finely diced (I used yellow, use whatever color you like); 1/2 lb bacon, uncooked chopped into pieces (I prefer uncured, nitrate, nitrite free); 8 oz (1 cup) organic tomato sauce (or 1/2 15 oz can); 1 cup organic Ketchup; 1/2 cup molasses, unsulphured; 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or replace with white vinegar); 1/8 cup spicy brown mustard, heaping; 1/8 cup yellow mustard, heaping (making with only yellow mustard increase to rounded 1/3 cup); 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; Dash of Cayenne Pepper (more if you like heat); Pinch of Kosher Salt; Couple Grinds of Black Pepper

Best Ever Cowboy Baked Beans are a delicious, hearty side dish with a western twist. Cowboy Baked Beans are a bit of spice, bit of sweet and a whole LOT of delicious…and BACON! The perfect recipe for your next summer BBQ, picnic, Father’s Day, potluck or game day; you’ll be the talk of the party.

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Everyone says theirs is the “best” and probably even the BEST EVER; I have come to learn that the best ever depends on our personal tastes. So for our family, these are truly, the Best Ever Cowboy Baked Beans.

I hope you will give these baked beans a try and maybe even a tweak them to your families taste. That is afterall, what The Fresh Cooky is ALL about! Oh and BACON! Just saying.

We’ve already established that I’m weird; I don’t like plain ol’ ham & beans, ham hocks & beans (sorry mom), bean soup, navy beans…but BAKED BEANS! Yes ma’am!! Yes please…bring on the baked beans, it’s probably because they are sweeter and have bacon in them and did I mention they are sweet and a bit spicy!?

I’ve had an ancient recipe for baked beans floating around my kitchen for decades, but when my friend at Julia’s Simply Southern featured her Southern Style Baked Beans a few weeks back and I knew I had to dust off my recipe and introduce it to her recipe. Southern girl meet, Western girl!

This recipe starts with canned beans, so the hard work (soaking, picking, cooking) is done for you. I chose B&M baked beans, because they are gluten free and do not have high fructose corn syrup. Julia’s recipe used Van Camps in Tomato sauce, try it with either brand or your own favorite brand.

My original recipe used a green bell pepper, but (excuse me) green peppers, well yup (burb). So I went with a yellow bell pepper and bottom line, I think you can use whatever color you’d like, that’s how Cowboy Baked Beans roll people.

WHAT MAKES THESE THE BEST EVER COWBOY BAKED BEANS?

**The secret’s in the sauce!**

In a large mixing bowl, I probably should have used larger than a 2 qt mixing bowl, but I managed somehow!

So in said larger mixing bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and whisk well. Remember if making gluten free make sure ketchup, vinegar, mustard, molasses and Worcestershire sauce are all gluten free.

Open can(s) of beans (I still occasionally use an electric can opener) and pour beans over sauce, no draining, you want all those delectable juices.

Toss in diced onion and bell pepper. I added about a half of a 15 oz can of tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Freeze the other half of the tomato sauce and use in Spanish Rice (or Mexican Rice), sometime when you are not making baked beans.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour baked beans into a casserole dish, I used my trusty Pyrex casserole dish because it fits into my trusty Pyrex carrier and I was taking these beans to a BBQ at a friends house. But roughly any 9 x 13 casserole dish would work just fine, if you have a 12″ or larger cast iron skillet try that or go one better and try a nice hefty cast iron dutch oven! I bet you could even cook these over a campfire!!

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Here is where it gets fun or good or AMAZING! Dice a 1/2 lb of bacon into small (bite-ish sized) pieces and toss onto the top of the beans. No need to make it pretty, but spread it out so that bacon gets crispy…cause I don’t like limp bacon!

That’s it, bake (uncovered) for 1 1/2 – 2 hours — until the beans are a bubblin‘ and the bacon is crispy. At the end of the baking process, placed mine under the broiler, on the middle rack, for about 3 minutes to really crisp the bacon!

Stir it all together or leave that showy, crisp bacon on top! Now get out there, and make up these amazing beans for Father’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th or any BBQ, potluck, picnic or game day that calls for crazy good, Best Ever Cowboy Baked Beans.

MAKE AHEAD INSTRUCTIONS

If you need to prep your beans the night before or morning of your event, simply prep your beans as directly, only hold off on putting the bacon on until just prior to baking. When ready to bake, remove from fridge and let sit on counter for 1 hour, add your diced bacon while preheating your oven and bake as directed.

Do not freeze unbaked beans, changes the texture and taste, but if you must freeze them; bake them first, cool them and then freeze them (see below)

Bean Fan? Try these recipes by some of my favorite bloggers:

Ham & Beans {by Mandy at South Your Mouth}
Nana’s Epic Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup {by Sommer at A Spicy Perspective}
Copycat Cafe Rio Pinto Beans {by my mentor and friend Norine at Norine’s Nest}
Charro Beans {by my sweet friend Nikki at Soulfully Made}

I reheated these in this cast iron oval baking dish the next day for dinner. They were just.as.good!

CAN YOU FREEZE BAKED BEANS?

Cowboy Baked Beans keep well as leftovers (if you have any), but unless you plan on eating them within a few days it’s best to freeze them in dinner sized portions! So yes, you can freeze baked beans.

Allow them to cool completely, place them in a BPA Free freezer container. Careful to leave about 1/2 – 3/4 inch of room at the top for expansion when frozen. Baked Beans are good up to 6 months frozen. Thaw overnight in fridge, transfer to oven safe baking dish and reheat in 250-300°F oven until bubbly (about 30-45 minutes) or toss in crockpot on low until warmed.

Try these sides and main dishes with your Cowboy Baked Beans.

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Yield: 16-20 servings