I love some nice, hearty, sweet baked beans. Both my mother and my mother-in-law made them on the sweet side, so that’s how I make them for my family. Baked beans are an amazing side dish for any BBQ or smoked meat meal. But did you know you could make an amazing comfort dish with nice, thick, sweet baked beans?
My mother would make her sweet baked beans, then add browned ground beef to them. Let them simmer and come together, then she would throw them in the oven with tube biscuits across the top of them. The whole dish would come to the table for us to scoop onto our plates for a hearty family meal.
Before moving to Georgia, that’s exactly how I made this comfort dish. But something amazing happened in Georgia…I was introduced to southern buttermilk biscuits! I still create this comfort dish, but the biscuits are made by themselves in a cast iron pan and the beans are scooped over the biscuit for dinner. It may sound crazy and ‘wrong’ to you, but don’t knock it till you try it 😉
Patty’s Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bacon, chopped can be regular or thick cut
- 1 large yellow onion, diced can use white
- 4 28oz canned baked beans, or pork and beans
- 4-6 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 2 Tbsp ground dry mustard
Instructions
- Chop your bacon into pieces, place in pan over medium heat and render them to crispy. Once crispy, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon onto paper towels, and sauté diced onions in bacon grease.
- Once onions are clear (or caramelized if you prefer), open the cans of baked beans. Don't shake the cans! Strain off the extra liquid at the top of each can. Dump just the baked beans into the pan over the onions.
- Next, add the amount of brown sugar you desire, your choice of BBQ sauce, and the dry mustard. Stir that well. Place the lid over the beans mixture and cook on low for 2 hours.
- You will want to stir your beans every half hour to see how thick they have become and make sure none have burned to the bottom of your pan. If some have burned to the bottom, leave them there if you don't want that taste in your beans. Stir just above them. If you like crispies in your food, stir them up into your beans.
- The beans are ready to serve when they are as thick as you want them. Enjoy!
Notes
