Baked Beans with Ground Beef

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My title is pretty bold, isn’t it? How am I so confident that my baked beans with ground beef recipe will change your life? To be fair, it changed mine and those of a few of my friends. We’re friends too, aren’t we? Therefore, it should change yours too!

In all seriousness, this is a pretty awesome southern-style recipe, which, depending on where you’re from, might just zap you right back to your childhood days. This delicious baked beans with ground beef mixture gets taken to the next level with hamburger meat, spices, onions, bell peppers, BBQ sauce, and bacon.

Southern Baked Beans with Ground Beef Recipe Overview

Alright, so what are we doing with this baked bean casserole dish? Well, for one, we’re creating something that can only be described as insanely delicious. You want to use a BBQ sauce that’s homemade, which contributes greatly to the flavor. Expect it to taste sweet, zippy, and overall wonderful!

With the addition of the red bell peppers, the beef, the onions, and the coverage of the bacon, the baked beans with ground beef begins to feel like a main meal.

However, you can serve it with other things to bring it together. Perhaps some grilled chicken, hot dogs, a pulled pork sandwich, or even toast with butter may be all you need.

I also love the fact that it’s perfect for just about any occasion you can think of. Whether it’s a family dinner, a holiday dinner, or just a night of hanging out, you have a pretty reliable meal on your hand that will likely leave everyone wanting just a bit more.

How Can You Kick Up the Flavor of Your Baked Beans?

This is where I advise people to get experimental since this is a pretty easy baked beans recipe to get through. Personally though, I will use brown sugar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, or sweet BBQ sauce as my standard flavor additions. Honestly, it boils down to the kind of spin you want on the flavor. Even ketchup would be a solid choice!

Is Ground Beef the Only Meat That Goes Well with Cooked Ground Beef?

This southern-style baked beans recipe is really about my love for ground beef and bacon. You can go for whatever option fits. Some of the more popular ones I know of are hot dogs, spicy sausage, and my Grandma Brown’s baked beans recipe that uses ham. You can even do ham hock and beans. Seriously, don’t let me be the one to limit your imagination. Play around with it and make it your own!

What if You’re Struggling to Make the Baked Beans as Thick as You’d Like Them?

One of the keys to thick baked beans with ground beef is allowing the beans to rest before serving them. Immediately after coming out of the oven, they may look runny, and that’s pretty normal. Allow them to rest for somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes, and they should look exactly the way you want them to at the end.

If you find that your baked beans are still way too runny even after they’ve had the chance to rest, then try baking them a bit more. Note, however, that mashed beans also contribute to a thicker mixture. So, if you want a quick solution, consider removing a cup of the beans and mashing them with a fork before mixing them back in.

This works because baked beans, like most other beans, are pretty starchy, meaning that they have natural thickening properties that you can take advantage of.

Southern Baked Beans with Ground Beef Recipe Ingredients

To make your hearty baked beans with ground beef, you’ll need a few things to get going. This will include yellow onion, lean ground beef, bacon, red bell pepper, canned pork and beans, sweet BBQ sauce, light brown sugar, ketchup, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce.

What Does the Baked Bean Casserole Preparation Process Look Like?

So, we’re gonna look at the baked beans with ground beef preparation in a step-by-step format a bit later. For now, though, we’ll just do a quick breakdown of things. First, we want to chop up the bacon and saute the pieces until they get crispy.

Take them out of the skillet, and get rid of any remaining grease. Throw in your ground beef to cook for a few minutes, then we’ll add your onion and bell pepper. The idea is to saute until the onions and ground beef have the appearance we want.

The Dijon mustard, brown sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, BBQ sauce, and ketchup come in here. They’ll all be mixed to combine them. The addition of your canned beans will then follow.

Have a greased baking dish on hand to move the mixture to, where it will be topped with your cooked bacon pieces.

Get some aluminum foil to cover the dish and then allow everything to bake. Once that’s done, take it out and let it rest for no less than 10 minutes for thickening before serving.

Storing Your Leftover Baked Beans with Ground Beef in the Fridge

Bear in mind that anything I say about storage is based on the assumption that you’re using at least relatively fresh ingredients. With that said, your canned baked beans with ground beef should last between three and five days in the refrigerator, once you use an airtight container for storage.

Don’t put them in the fridge before they cool though. You want them to be at least room temperature first.

A Couple of Variations to Spice Things Up a Bit

As I said, you should feel free to make any changes to the way I do the baked beans with ground beef that you want. If you want to use dark brown sugar, go for it. If you want to buy your sauce, go for it! With that said, here are a couple of ideas you can use:

1. If you like your meals spicy, then your baked beans with ground beef would benefit from some crushed red pepper flakes. You can also dice jalapenos and use them instead.
2. Maybe the flavor in the brown sugar is something you want to go all in on. If so, consider adding a little molasses.
3. If you have green peppers, they can work in place of the bell peppers.
4. Shredded cheese can be used to top the baked beans instead of bacon if you prefer to keep things on the cheesy side.
5. If you want your southern baked beans with ground beef to be more similar to a three-bean casserole, then go for a bean mixture instead of using only baked beans.

What Can You Serve with This Easy Baked Beans Recipe?

You have a few options here. Your baked beans with ground beef should pair well with a chopped salad, jalapeno cheddar cornbread, or just plain old dinner rolls. Trust me, the dinner rolls come highly recommended.

Wrapping Up: Canned Baked Beans with Ground Beef

This southern baked beans with ground beef recipe is one of my favorites and it’s for a good reason! It’s really tasty and preparing it is no challenge at all. Hopefully, you put some smiles on faces with it too!