BBQ Baked Beans (Slow Cooker)
After searching the internet for a recipe I might enjoy and finding mostly recipes using premade canned baked beans, I decided to try my hand at making my own recipe for bbq baked beans. I think it turned out pretty well. I may tweak it in the future by trying it with different types of bacon or salted pork, or by making the barbecue sauce from scratch, but I really like it as it is now.
This is a large recipe for slow cooker bbq baked beans. The result is a delicious side dish with just the right amounts of tangy, sweet, and smoky flavour. It takes quite a while to prep and cook, but it is worth it.
I recommend starting the cooking of this recipe early in the morning. My slow cooker really is a slow cooker. It took 14 hours to cook the beans. If you have a more powerful slow cooker, your time will be shorter. Be sure to check the tenderness of your beans when stirring them. Cooking the beans ahead of time could cut your cooking time quite a bit.
I don’t have the cooking times for making these bbq baked beans in an instapot or on the stove. If you try it using either method, please let me know the cooking times and how the recipe turned out in the comments. I will add the information to the recipe and credit you for it.
I have included a few notes at the bottom of the recipe that cover pre-soaking, storing, canning, freezing, and nutritional values; including a note on how to quick soak your beans to shorten the prep time.
Now let’s make some bbq baked beans...
Slow-Cooker BBQ Baked Beans
Course: SidesCuisine: Southern20
1/2 cup servings30
minutes14
hours349
kcalThis is a large recipe that takes quite a while to make, but it is worth it. The result is a delicious side dish with just the right amounts of tangy, sweet, and smoky flavour.
I recommend starting the cooking of this recipe early in the morning. My slow cooker really is a slow cooker. It took 14 hours for the beans to be softened. If you have a more powerful slow cooker, your time will be shorter. Be sure to check your beans.
If you prefer to cook the beans ahead of time, you should be able to cut your cooking time quite a bit.
Ingredients
5 cups dried Navy Beans
1 tbsp Baking Soda (to soak the beans)
Water (to soak the beans)
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion (approx. 2 cups/ 228 g/ 8oz), chopped
1 large red bell pepper (approx. 1 1/3 cups/ 167 g/ 6oz), chopped
2 cloves of garlic (medium-sized), minced
1 package of bacon (2 cups/ 375g/ 12oz), cut into small pieces
For the sauce:1 1/2 cups golden yellow sugar (430g/ 15oz)
3/8 cup molasses (114g/ 3oz)
1/2 cups barbecue sauce (445g/ 16oz)
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar (158g/ 5.6oz)
3/4 cup water (158g/ 5.6oz) – Do not use the water from soaking the beans.
1/2 tsp garlic powder (2.5g)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (1.25g)
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper (0.6g)
1/2 tsp ground smoked paprika (2.5g), optional
Directions
- Rinse your beans and place them in a large pot. Cover with water and stir in the baking soda. Cover and soak the beans overnight in the refrigerator, or for about 8 hours at room temperature.
For information on soaking the beans, see the notes section below. - After the soaking time has passed: drain and rinse the beans, and set them aside.
- Place the oil, red onion, and garlic into a large skillet and sauté until fragrant.
- Add in the red pepper and sauté a few minutes longer.
- Add in the bacon and continue cooking until the bacon browns slightly.
- When ready, move this mixture to your slow cooker.
- The Sauce:
- Using a medium to large sized bowl: Blend together the brown sugar, barbecue sauce, molasses, apple cider vinegar, water, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika.
- Poor the sauce mixture into the slow cooker with the bacon mixture and stir.
- Time to cook:
- Add your drained beans to the slow cooker, and mix well.
- Set your slow cooker to high and let your beans cook for 12 to 14 hours, stirring occasionally. It will take less time if you have a hotter slow cooker or if you pre-cook your beans.
- If you notice your beans are drying out, it is ok to add a bit of water. It won’t change the flavour too dramatically.
- When your beans are ready, serve immediately or prepare for storage.
Notes
- Soaking: The baking soda helps soften the beans and has an added bonus of helping to reduce the gassy after effect of the beans. Adding salt when soaking the beans can help soften them faster, but it will increase the sodium content of the recipe. Older or improperly stored beans take much longer to soften. Some may not soften at all.
- Quick soaking beans: Rinse your beans under cold water, then place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring them to a boil, uncovered, over high heat. Let them boil for about 5 minutes. Remove them from the heat and let sit for about an hour. Drain and rinse the beans.
- Safety: Never keep beans in the slow cooker at a temperature lower than 60 ˚C/ 140 ˚F for more than an hour or two.
- Storage: Let the beans cool for about an hour. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
- Freezing: Allow the beans to cool to room temperature. Put the beans into airtight containers (or vacuum bags) and freeze. They will keep well frozen for about 6 months. Do not freeze your beans while they are still hot. Doing so will cause them to burst and you will end up with mush.
- Canning: Beans should be pressure canned according to the instructions on the pressure canner you will be using. It is not safe to can beans using a water bath.
- Nutrition: Each 1/2 cup (165g) serving: 349 calories. 9.4g protein, Carbs: 50.6g – net carbs, 8.7g fat, 12.7g starch, 9g fiber, 34g sugars. Fat: 8.7g – 1.1g mono-unsaturated, 0.6g poly-unsaturated, 0.2g Omega 3, 0.2g Omega 6. 13.1mg cholesterol.72mg calcium, 2.6mg iron, 13.2mg vitamin C.
Feel free to share your variations and ideas below; and if you enjoyed this recipe, please feel free to leave a comment and/or share it with your friends.
