This cowboy beans recipe is made with ground beef and bacon, all baked together in a sweet and savory sauce. A hearty side dish that pairs perfectly with grilled meats and seafood.
I’m always looking for easy and delicious side dishes to round out my meals. Some of my favorite options include corn fritters, dill potato salad, baked potato wedges and these fabulous cowboy beans.
Have you ever tried cowboy beans? If not, you’re totally missing out! This is a twist on the classic baked beans, with the addition of ground beef for a dish that’s simple yet totally satisfying.
You can enjoy these cowboy baked beans as part of a delicious dinner with baked chicken wings, bbq pork chops and grilled flank steak. These beans are also great to bring to a barbecue or potluck!
Cowboy Beans Ingredients
When you make this cowboy beans recipe you will need bacon, ground beef, onion, cans of pork and beans, mustard, brown sugar, molasses, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, fresh parsley, salt and black pepper.
How Do You Make Cowboy Beans?
To make this cowboy beans recipe, start by preheating your oven and partially cooking small squares of bacon in a large skillet. Remove the bacon from the pan and most of the bacon grease. Use the remaining bacon grease in the pan to cook the ground beef and then the onions. Season them with salt and pepper. Add canned beans, mustard, brown sugar, molasses, ketchup and apple cider vinegar to the pan and stir them to combine. Pour everything into a prepared baking dish and place the bacon on top. Bake the beans for 2 hours until the sauce thickens and the bacon cooks through. Take the cowboy beans out of the oven and garnish them with a bit of fresh chopped parsley, then enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Cowboy Baked Beans
- I typically use 90% lean ground beef, it has plenty of flavor without a lot of excess grease. If you use 80% lean beef you should drain the grease after cooking the meat.
- Feel free to assemble your ingredients and keep them in a refrigerator for up to 8 hours before you plan to plan to cook them. You will want par-cook your bacon and cook your onions and ground beef before you store them.
- I use yellow onions for this recipe; however, sweet onions would also work.
- I like to finely crumble the ground beef so that it mixes in nicely with the beans. If you prefer larger sized pieces of meat, that’s totally fine too!
- If you prefer to use a slow cooker, simply make the recipe as directed but instead of placing your beans in an baking dish, place in them in your crockpot and cook them on low for 2 hours.
Quick Tip
I recommend using kitchen shears to cut the bacon into squares, it makes quick work of this task.
Recipe FAQs
Cowboy beans stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Cowboy beans freeze well. They stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Store the beans in a resealable plastic bag or in an airtight container. Reheat your beans by thawing them in the refrigerator and pan cooking them on the stove until heated through.
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Flavor Variations
While this cowboy baked beans recipe is great as-is you can absolutely add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Beans: You can use a variety of beans in addition to or in lieu of the baked beans. Some good options include white beans, kidney beans, great northern beans, cannellini beans, black beans, pinto beans or lima beans.
- Spicy: Feel free to add some hot sauce for an additional kick. You can also stir in a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.
- Sweetener: If you want a sweeter dish or you don’t have molasses on hand, you can use maple syrup instead of molasses.
- Meat: Different types of pork can be used to flavor the beans such as salt pork, smoked sausage or diced ham. You can also swap out the ground beef for sausage or ground turkey.
- Seasonings: Feel free to add your favorite seasonings like chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder. You can substitute the yellow mustard for Dijon mustard.
These cowboy beans are a must-make recipe for those times when you need a side dish to feed a crowd. The smoky flavor just can’t be beat!
More SIde Dish Recipes To Try
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
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Baked Mac and Cheese
50 mins
Roasted Root Vegetables
55 mins
Sauteed Brussels Sprouts
15 mins
Corn Casserole Recipe
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Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Cowboy Beans Video
Cowboy Beans
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- 1/2 cup onion finely diced
- 3 15 ounce cans pork and beans partially drained
- 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves chopped
- cooking spray
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray.
- Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until partially done. Remove the bacon from the pan.
- Pour some of the bacon fat out of the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon of fat in the pan. Add the ground beef and cook for 5-6 minutes, breaking up the meat into fine crumbles with a spoon.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes or until translucent. Season the onions with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the beans, mustard, brown sugar, molasses, ketchup and apple cider vinegar to the pan. Stir until well combined.
- Pour the bean mixture into the prepared dish. Layer the pieces of bacon all over the top.
- Bake for 60-90 minutes or until bean mixture has thickened and bacon is browned and cooked through. Stir to combine.
- Sprinkle with parsley, then serve immediately.
Notes
- I recommend using kitchen shears to cut the bacon into squares, it makes quick work of this task.
- I typically use 90% lean ground beef, it has plenty of flavor without a lot of excess grease. If you use 80% lean beef you should drain the grease after cooking the meat.
- I like to finely crumble the ground beef so that it mixes in nicely with the beans. If you prefer larger sized pieces of meat, that’s totally fine too!
This was soooo good! I did add some cayenne pepper, bc we like things a little spicy.
Will definitely make again!
Substitute Molasses? I hate Molasses.
You could try maple syrup instead!
Thank You so much for letting me know.
I bet these beans are so flavorful! Definitely a comfort food for a cold winter days.
This was a simple and easy side dish to make! The flavor was phenomenal!
Oh I love these beans and especially love your addition of parsley on top. So good!
These beans sound absolutely fantastic with the addition of the beef and bacon. So many wonderful flavors with such minimal prep!
These are great with steak although I can eat them as a meal on their own.
This sounds like such a delicious and filling side dish! So full of flavour too.
That was delicious. My whole family loved it. I will make these beans again for sure.
I love baked beans with bacon, I have never tried them with ground beef. This one sounds amazing.
I mean, can beans get any more delicious than this. Fantastic recipe!
What a great recipe! This sounds like a great side dish for parties! Cant wait to make it!