Baked Beans with Ground Beef

Making baked beans with ground beef is such a hearty side dish for any BBQ, holiday gathering, or potluck.

This recipe uses simple ingredients, and the hamburger adds a heartiness that gives traditional baked beans more texture and beefy flavor!

If you love the idea of adding non-traditional ingredients to baked beans, wait until you try these apple pie baked beans! Who knew something sweet like that added, would make such an awesome difference!

If you love having beans as a side dish, you’ll also love this crack green beans recipe!

Jump to:

• Ingredients Needed
• How to Make Baked Beans with Ground Beef
• How to Cook Baked Beans in the Crock Pot Instead
• Storage
• More BBQ Side Dishes
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients Needed

These baked beans are made with easy-to-find ingredients and you may even have most of them on-hand! Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients.

• Canned Baked Beans – There are different flavors of baked beans and although you can use those instead of original, be cautious of how much sugar you may add, and other flavors that may be too much, if the beans already come with extra flavors. But you can also use canned pork and beans instead.
• Brown Sugar – This calls for dark brown sugar but light brown sugar can be used too.
• Mustard – Regular or Dijon mustard can be used instead if you prefer.
• Liquid Smoke – This adds incredible flavor but you can leave this out if you want to.
• Bacon – Want to use ham in these instead of bacon? No problem. They would both be great additions with the ground beef.

How to Make Baked Beans with Ground Beef

Just a few steps and these baked beans are ready for the oven.

• Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
• Sauté the aromatics. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large, oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. 
• Brown the beef. Add the beef to the same skillet, mix with the onion garlic mixture, and cook until nicely browned. Break it apart with a spatula or spoon as you go. Drain the grease from the skillet but keep or return the ground beef in the skillet.
• Put it all together. Mix the baked beans, brown sugar, honey mustard, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, BBQ sauce, and bacon into the ground beef mixture.
• Bake. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until the edges are starting to bubble and the baked beans are hot throughout. Check on the baked beans around 30 minutes, sometimes if the skillet is wide and shallow the dish will cook a bit faster.

How to Cook Baked Beans in the Crock Pot Instead

Instead of baking, transfer the browned beef and sauteed aromatics along with the baked beans, brown sugar, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, BBQ sauce, and bacon to a crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. 

Storage

• To store. Seal any fully cooled leftovers in an airtight container. You can store them in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. 
• To reheat. Allow the leftover baked beans with hamburger to thaw in the fridge (if applicable) before transferring them to a saucepan and reheating over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until warm. Alternatively, microwave smaller portions in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until heated through. 
• Can I make this ahead of time and freeze it? You can. Just before baking, transfer the contents of the skillet to an airtight container. You can freeze it for up to 3 months. When you are ready to enjoy, allow the mixture to thaw in the fridge before baking just as you normally would. Alternatively, you can also prepare the whole recipe from start to finish and freeze it that way. Just allow it to cool before freezing.  

More BBQ Side Dishes

Love easy and delicious recipes that are perfect for large groups or for a bbq? Here are some of my favorites to make for that:

Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!

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