Hearty Southern Baked Beans With Ground Beef

Name: Hearty Southern Baked Beans With Ground Beef
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 28 ounce baked beans (do not drain); 30 ounce navy beans ( (or bean of your choice), do not drain, approximately 2 cans); 1 pound ground beef (cooked and drained); 1 onion ( small, chopped); 1 cup barbecue sauce; 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce; 2 tablespoons yellow mustard; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 4 ounces turkey bacon (uncooked, 3-4 slices)

This hearty Baked Beans with Ground Beef takes basic canned beans and turns them into a thick, smoky beef casserole! Just stir in seasoned hamburger meat, a quick homemade barbecue glaze, and top the whole thing with crispy bacon. With just 15 minutes of hands-on prep before going into the oven, you’ll get a rich, comforting main dish or hearty side that’s completely ready in an hour!

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Recipe Name: Hearty Southern Baked Beans With Ground Beef
Ready In: 60 minutes
Serves: 9 cups
Main Ingredients: Baked beans, Navy beans (or bean of your choice), Ground beef, Small onion, Barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Yellow mustard, Salt, Black pepper, Turkey bacon
Why You'll Love It: You’ll love this recipe because it takes a standard can of cookout beans and turns it into a rich, deeply satisfying dish hearty enough to stand on its own as a main meal. By stirring savory ground beef into a quick, punchy barbecue glaze, you get the perfect balance of smoky sweetness and savory depth with just fifteen minutes of actual effort.

Baked Beans That Taste Like The Main Meal

In the South, we love to add our own spin to traditional recipes (I mean, just look at my zucchini stuffed boats!). Today, we’re talking about baked beans. Now, if you head to the UK, you’ll regularly get a small side serving of baked beans with breakfast. But this easy recipe for Southern baked beans with ground beef is a delicious main dish around here.

It’s one of the easiest Southern meals to make, as all you have to do is stir the ingredients together in a bowl. You can use a skillet or a 9×13 pan if you like. So, what ingredients do we combine to make baked beans? Besides the baked beans and ground beef, we’ve got navy beans, onion, and flavorful seasonings like barbecue sauce, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. This gives the baked beans a really delicious barbecue flavor that will have you wanting seconds!

Once you mix the ingredients, pop them into a baking dish, add a layer of bacon strips, and bake! It will be ready in under an hour. Now, I’ve included some serving suggestions below, but seeing as this is a Southern baked beans recipe, you can’t go wrong with a serving of homemade cornbrea d.

Alright, who’s ready to get baking and make this baked beans and beef casserole? I know I am!

Ingredients You’ll Need For This Baked Beans Recipe

Baked beans
Navy beans (or bean of your choice)
Ground beef
Small onion
Barbecue sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Yellow mustard
Salt
Black pepper
Turkey bacon

Expert Tips from My Kitchen

Cook the Beef Ahead: I make this for my family all the time, and my favorite time-saving tip is to keep pre-cooked, drained ground beef in the freezer. When I need to whip this up for an unexpected crowd, I can just thaw the meat and stir everything together in under five minutes!
Don’t Drain the Liquid: It might be tempting to pour off the liquid from the canned navy beans, but you want to leave it in. That starch helps bind the ground beef mixture together, ensuring the sauce thickens up into a rich glaze rather than drying out in the preheated oven.
Give It Time to Sit: When the timer goes off, the sauce might still look a little loose at the surface. Don’t panic and leave it in the oven to dry out; the sauce continues to thicken up significantly as it cools down to room temperature. Give it about ten minutes on the counter before serving.
Jazz It Up For Company: Tossing in a diced green bell pepper or a red bell pepper with the onions adds a wonderful color and crunch, while a cup of brown sugar or a splash of apple cider vinegar can push the sweet-and-tangy profile even further!

“Thanks for the delicious supper!”

“I made this tonight with hot water cornbread and hub loved it and asked me to fix it again soon. Thanks for our delicious supper!”

How to Make Baked Beans With Ground Beef

1. Prep the Base

Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray a standard 9×13 baking dish or a large cast-iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray. If you haven’t already, brown your pound of ground beef over medium-high heat in a large skillet, draining away all the excess grease.

2. Mix the Ingredients

In a large bowl, combine your undrained baked beans, undrained navy beans, and the cooked beef. Toss in your finely chopped onion, followed by the cup of BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, salt, and black pepper.

3. Stir Well

Give the whole mixture a good stir until the seasonings are completely incorporated and the beef is distributed evenly throughout the beans.

4. Top With Bacon

Pour the mixture into your prepared casserole dish. Take your slices of bacon and lay them flat across the top of the beans. As it bakes, the bacon fat will melt down into the casserole, infusing everything with a rich, smoky depth.

5. Bake

Place the dish uncovered into the oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when the edges are bubbling fiercely, the center is set, and the bacon on top is cooked through and crisp. Let it rest for a few minutes before serving it up alongside a hot pan of homemade cornbread or soft, homemade dinner rolls!

Baked Beans With Ground Beef FAQs

What complements baked beans?

Baked beans pair perfectly with classic Southern comfort foods like buttery cornbread, fluffy biscuits, or a cool, crisp coleslaw to balance out the sweetness. If you’re hosting a cookout, they are an incredible side dish for pulled pork, hamburgers, and grilled hot dogs.

Can you cook baked beans in the slow cooker?

You can make baked beans in the crockpot. The only difference is that I’d pre-cook the bacon and chop it up before adding the bacon bits and the remaining ingredients to your crockpot. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or on high for 2 to 3 hours.

Can I leave out the ground beef?

Yes, you can! If you remove the ground beef, you’ve basically got a delicious baked bean casserole.

Are baked beans ok for celiacs?

While plain beans and beef are naturally gluten-free, store-bought canned beans, barbecue sauces, and Worcestershire sauce often contain hidden wheat or barley thickeners. If you’re cooking for someone with celiac disease, just double-check the labels on your pantry staples to make sure they are explicitly marked gluten-free.

Similar Recipes

Beans are an incredibly versatile ingredient, and you can use them to make other delicious recipes like this 3 Bean Salad With Dressing or these simple Craving Beans!

Let me know what you’re having these baked beans with in the comments below!