Baked Beans with Ground Beef

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These Baked Beans with Ground Beef are sweet, smokey, and filling. It's a tasty side dish that combines canned baked beans with other ingredients to create a flavorful, easy meal. Serve it at your next barbecue or on its alone with some crusty toast.

Even after making these hamburger baked beans innumerable times, people still ask me how to make them. This technique is a classic Southern method for enhancing the flavor of canned baked beans. It's one of those meals that really makes me nostalgic about my early years, and I'm glad about it. The flavor is very deep and flavorful, and it's also a terrific recipe to eat as a main course!

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Main Ingredients
Instructions To Make Baked Beens With Ground Beef
Expert Tips:
How To Store
Variations & Substitutions
Frequently Asked Questions
More Delicious Beef Recipes You’ll Love
Recipe
Baked Beans with Ground Beef Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Basic & simple ingredients - The ingredients are basic and most likely already in your possession.
Rich and satisfying - Because ground beef is used in these beans, they are incredibly tasty and substantial. They have a flavorful, smoky, sweet, and sticky texture. They go very well with a hot dog or hamburger and potato salad.
Versatile - It can be served as a main course or as a side dish at barbecues, potlucks, and family meals.

Main Ingredients

This basic recipe calls for only a few ingredients. Here are the major items you'll need:

Ground Beef - For many outside of the South, ground beef might seem like an unconventional ingredient, but it gives the beans a substantial depth and a ton of delicious meaty flavor.
Homemade baked beans - If you would like, use navy beans, kidney beans, or butter beans, which are a bit more traditional. You may use almost any beans in this easy recipe!
Onion - I like to use yellow or white onions. One of this recipe's traditional tastes.
Garlic powder.
Ketchup - brings a depth of flavor from the vinegar and tomatoes. Additionally, the beans have a thicker texture. If you want a little more tang, you could use half barbecue sauce and half ketchup!
Mustard - An otherwise rich and sweet meal gains brightness and tang from the addition of yellow mustard.
Brown sugar - gives the beans the ideal amount of sweetness. Molasses can be used instead. Brown sugar, either light or dark.
Worcestershire sauce - gives a rich, savory umami taste. If worcestershire sauce isn't available, you can substitute soy sauce for it to have a comparable taste.
Butter - When the beans are baked, the butter melts into the dish and creates a lovely sweet sauce that coats the beans.
Salt - Since the tinned beans are already salty, add the salt sparingly. Since every canned bean is unique and some may be saltier than others, taste the beans before adding any salt.
Black pepper.
Smoked paprika (optional) - For the flavor of this substantial side dish, smoked paprika is required.
Smoked Chicken bits (optional).

Instructions To Make Baked Beens With Ground Beef

Brown the ground beef in a large pan and drain any extra fat.
Stir in chopped onion and garlic, and cook a couple more minutes until soft.

Mix in your canned beans, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire, and your seasonings. Mix it all up real good.

Put it in a baking dish, uncovered, and in the oven at 350 or 30 minutes.
Let it cool for a few minutes, then scoop and eat!

Expert Tips:

The meat Lean ground beef – It’ll keep things hearty without making the dish oily. You get all the flavor without the extra mess.
Sauté the onions low and slow – Slowly cooking the onions enhances their natural sweetness and goes great with the beans.
The BBQ sauce – Don’t miss it out, it’s really what gives it that smoky, deep flavor that you’d think it had been cooking all day (even though it didn’t).
Rest it before serving – Just 5–10 minutes is a game changer. It gets thick and the flavors get down, real nice.
Double it up for a crowd — This dish is just the thing for a potluck or cookout, and it reheats beautifully, so you don’t have to worry about leftovers.

How To Store

Cool it – Allow the dish to cool to room temperature before storing. If you seal it up while still hot, that steaminess could lead to sogginess or container-sweat (not cute).
Store in the fridge – Once the beans have cooled, add them to air-tight glass containers. Slide it in the refrigerator and you’re good for up to 4 days.
Freeze as needed – Need to save it for longer? Freeze it! Freezer bags or containers If you’re storing meals in a food storage container or ziplock bag, be sure to look for one that can be put in the freezer. If using a bag, press any excess air out of it, label with the date, and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge if cold or frozen, and heat low and slow on the stovetop or in the microwave.

Variations & Substitutions

Mix it up with other proteins – If you aren’t in a beef mood or want a leaner version, ground turkey, ground chicken or plant-based crumbles all work well.
Add Veggies – Toss in chopped bell peppers, shredded zucchini, corn, or mushrooms for additional nutrients and texture.
Change the beans — If you have black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans kicking around, you can sub in or mix them with the baked beans.
Turn up the heat – Craving something spicier? Stir in hot sauce, red pepper flakes or a chopped jalapeño to kick things up — totally optional, but so fun.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long to bake baked beans with ground beef?

Bake uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes at 350°F (175°C). It gives the sauce some time to thicken and the top gets slightly golden and bubbly. If you like it thicker and frothier, or with a bit more browning on top, you can allow it to cook for an extra minute or two — but don’t let it stray far from the oven while it nears the end of its baking time.

Can I cook baked beans in the slow cooker?

Oh yes you can make baked beans with ground beef in the crockpot! Brown the beef, and sauté the onions for another minute first, and then just dump everything into the slow cooker and let it all cook on low for 4–5 hours or on high for 2–3 hours until it’s heated through and bubbly.

Can you freeze baked beans?

Yes you can freeze baked beans, allow them to cool completely first. Then let cool and layer between wax paper in an airtight container or freezer bag, and they’ll keep for up to 2 months.

If you tried this Baked Beans with Ground Beef or any other recipe on my website, please feel free to leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. And remember to tag me on Instagram!