Smoky, hearty, and packed with flavor, cowboy baked beans are the ultimate crowd-pleaser! With just 15 minutes of prep, this sweet and tangy dish loaded with bacon and ground beef is perfect for potlucks, cookouts, or an easy weeknight dinner.
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Cowboy baked beans are the must-make dish of the season! The casserole is hearty enough to serve as a main entrée for supper with a side of cornbread or biscuits, and equally delicious as a side dish when paired with grilled burgers, fried chicken, bbq, and hot dogs. “Bake” them in the oven or in the Crock Pot!
I make this at least once a month, love it!
– Laura
Cowboy Beans are an Easy Addition to Your Next Cookout
These aren’t your ordinary baked beans! Packed with hearty ground beef, crispy bacon, and tender veggies, cowboy beans take flavor to the next level. A rich, sweet-and-savory sauce—made with brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, and vinegar—adds the perfect balance of tang and warmth.
Best of all, this easy recipe requires minimal effort. With just 15 minutes of prep, you can have a satisfying, flavor-packed dish ready for the oven or slow cooker!
Ingredient Notes or Tips for Success
- Ground beef gives the beans a heartier texture and flavor, making them satisfying enough to serve as a dinner entree. You can sub with ground turkey, ground chicken, ground pork, or ground sausage if you like.
- Starting with canned pork and beans makes this recipe for cowboy baked beans quick and easy — no soaking or boiling required! If you can’t find pork and beans, you can substitute with cans of regular baked beans.
- This dish serves about 6-8 people as a side dish, or about 4 people as a main dish entree. If you’re feeding a larger group, double all of the ingredients and bake the beans in a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. It’s perfect for summer cookouts!
How to Make Cowboy Baked Beans
This easy cowboy baked beans recipe comes together with minimal hands-on effort. The oven (or the slow cooker) does the rest of the work! I’ve included the detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the overview:
- Brown the ground beef, onion, and bell pepper in a Dutch oven or large skillet.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients, except for the bacon.
- Transfer the beef and bean mixture to a casserole dish. Sprinkle cooked, crumbled bacon on top.
- Cover and bake for 40 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for 10 more minutes. The total cooking time may vary. For really soft, broken-down beans or a thicker sauce, you might like to leave the dish in the oven a little bit longer. Keep in mind that the beans and sauce will continue to thicken as they cool, so don’t worry if it looks a little bit soupy when it first comes out of the oven. Let the dish stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Serving Suggestions
If offering the cowboy beans as a main dish for dinner, pair them with a glass of sweet tea and a skillet of Southern cornbread, a basket of 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits, or a pan of red rice. For extra veggies on the side, try this traditional coleslaw recipe, ramen noodle coleslaw (shown here), Southern squash casserole, easy potato salad, or sweet and spicy collard greens.
The best ever cowboy baked beans are also a perfect side dish when paired with entrees such as a crispy roast chicken with vegetables, this chick fil a nuggets recipe, crock pot brisket, Mississippi pulled pork, Dr. Pepper pulled pork, grilled bbq pork chops, grilled beef tenderloin, Dutch oven bbq beef, Southern shrimp and grits, crab cakes, fried catfish, oven-fried fish, fried oysters, or fried shrimp. Then, add a strawberry jello salad or easy banana pudding for dessert.
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: assemble the casserole in advance, cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking. When ready to bake, allow the dish to sit on the counter and come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. If the beans are still cold when you put them in the oven, you will likely need to increase the total baking time.
- Storage: leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- How to Freeze: let the baked beans cool, then store in airtight containers or Ziploc freezer bags in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- How to Reheat: cover the dish and warm in a 350°F oven just until heated through, about 20-25 minutes. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes.
wonderful especially from a non baked beans person. I had these at a family barbecue and loved them . I them made them at home. Now it is a favorite dish at home and at my church pot luck. Yum
– Ruth
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Cowboy Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup total)
- 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 2 (15 ounce) cans pork and beans
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley or sliced green onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 2 to 3-quart baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef, onion, and bell pepper; cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain off the excess grease.
- Stir in the pork and beans, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer the beef and beans to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the bacon on top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the cover; continue baking for 10 more minutes. The total cooking time may vary. For really soft, broken-down beans or a thicker sauce, you might like to leave the dish in the oven a little bit longer. The beans and sauce will continue to thicken as they cool, so don’t worry if it looks a little bit soupy when it first comes out of the oven.
- Let the dish rest for 10 minutes, then serve. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or sliced green onions if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Variations
- Instead of turning on the oven, prepare this cowboy bean recipe in the slow cooker. I’ve included Crock Pot directions in the notes above.
- Replace some of the ketchup with bbq sauce if you like a bolder, smokier flavor.
- Add garlic or garlic powder to the mixture for even more savory flavor.
- Instead of bacon, give the dish a smoky flavor with the addition of smoked sausage.
- Swap out the Worcestershire sauce and use soy sauce instead.
- For added heat, season the beans with Cajun seasoning or Creole seasoning, some hot sauce, or a dash of cayenne.
- To serve a smaller family, cut all of the ingredients in half and bake the beans in a 1-quart dish.
More Bean Recipes to Try
Ham and Beans
10 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Ranch Style Beans
8 hours hrs 40 minutes mins
New Orleans Red Beans and Rice Recipe
14 hours hrs 40 minutes mins
Originally published in May, 2018, this post was updated in May, 2025.
Yummm! These look so good – and so easy!
Thanks, Kristy!!!
These look delicious and I am excited to try them!
Can leftovers be frozen for a few weeks?
Thank you
Hi, Gail! I haven’t actually tried freezing the leftovers myself, but I think that should work just fine! 🙂
Do you use dry mustard or prepared mustard in these beans?
Thanks
Hi, Judy! It’s regular prepared yellow mustard (not the dry mustard). 🙂
I made these last week for the first time and everyone LOVED THEM! I did add a green pepper coz I like ’em like that. Will make again.
Awesome! Thanks, Linda!
wonderful especially from a non baked beans person. I had these at a family barbecue and loved them . I them made them at home. Now it is a favorite dish at home and at my church pot luck. Yum
That’s great to hear, Ruth! Thank you!!
Who older than the age of maybe seven eats half a cup of these?
Hey, Fred! If you’re serving them as a side dish, they’re filling and 1/2 cup is a standard serving size on most cans of store-bought baked beans. That said, I offer the information so that you know how much the recipe yields and you can adjust your serving sizes according to how much you enjoy. No judgment if you want more! 🙂
I was wondering can u use baked beans in a can and omit the pork and beans brown sugar ketchup apple cider vinegar yellow mustard and salt cuz if I’m correct the pork and beans ketchup brown sugar apple cider vinegar yellow mustard and salt makes them into baked beans so could you take and just do the half pound ground beef the six slices of bacon The Onion and baked beans and omit the pork and beans ketchup brown sugar vinegar yellow mustard and salt would that be possible thank you for your time please get back to me ASAP Jay
Hi, Jay! You can sub canned baked beans for the canned pork and beans, but I’d still use the other ingredients as well so that the dish works. If you prefer to try it with your suggested changes, that may work too. It will just be a different dish with a different taste. Let me know if you give it a shot!
I make this at least once a month, love it!
Thank you, Laura!
Love your recipes, ❤️ easy-to-cook and not much fancy #shanty stuff in it, and it’s so good
Thank you, Eva! 🙂