Okay, I admit it…Million Dollar Baked Beans is a lofty title to name a recipe. But, these baked beans are a family favorite! No family summer barbecue get-together is complete without them. If I don’t make them, my family is always disappointed!
Wait a minute…it’s not summer! It’s the dead of winter! But, we’ve been craving hot dogs lately because it’s been 90 degrees here in Southern California and although it’s March 2nd, it seems like summer. So, I made hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans the other day.
Now you can save these photos on Pinterest for your next summer grilling season, once this winter weather breaks in other parts of our beautiful country! Or, do what I did – pretend it’s summer and make hot dogs and Million Dollar Baked Beans and have an indoor picnic beside your fireplace!
Oh, oh, oh – I have to tell you!! It hailed here today! Twice! Two separate times. I’m NOT making this up! Dark clouds moved in, thunder clapped and boom – hail started coming down in a torrent! Then a reprieve for about 2 hours and then, bam! Another round of hail! But, it melted as it hit the ground.
The reason I’m giving you a weather report is because this is so highly unusual! The last time it hailed here was about 10 years ago. I remember it clearly because I was having a luncheon for girlfriends at my house that day. I was vacuuming the living and it started hailing! We only had 5 guests for lunch – we don’t deal well with weather here in SoCal. We are so spoiled!
Anyway, back to my Million Dollar Baked Beans…
I call them Million Dollar Baked Beans because I use a whole pound of bacon (and bacon is expensive these days) and a lots of brown sugar, so these baked beans are decadent and rich!
The secret to these beans is twofold:
- I use a particular brand of canned beans, a small pea baked bean (B&M brand original baked beans)
- plus I drain the liquid from the canned baked beans.
By adding extra sugar, ketchup and mustard to create a new “sauce”, plus cooking them for an hour and fifteen minutes, the result is a delicious combination of sweet and sticky. I usually don’t have any left!
These are perfect, too, for a large party because some of the big box stores carry these beans in 7 pound cans. I buy mine at Smart & Final. One 7-pound can easily makes enough for 30 people, thus the perfect size for a “crowd”. I just triple the rest of the ingredients.
Here’s the recipe:
PrintBacon-Laden Million Dollar Baked Beans
Sweet and sticky, these baked beans are a delicious accompaniment to a family barbecue.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 8-10 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 – 28 ounce cans of small pea baked beans (I use B&M Original Baked Beans)
- 1 pound thick-sliced bacon
- 2 yellow onions, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced or grated
- 1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Drain the canned baked beans thoroughly, in a strainer, and set aside.
- Reserve 3 slices of bacon for garnish.
- Cut the rest of the bacon into bite-size pieces.
- Add sliced bacon and bacon pieces to large skillet.
- Cook over medium heat until crisp.
- Remove bacon from skillet and set aside to drain on paper towels.
- Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the skillet and discard.
- Return skillet to stovetop, add onions and saute’ over medium heat until onions are translucent and slightly browned around the edges.
- Add garlic and saute’ for a few minutes more
- Remove onions and garlic from heat and set aside.
- In a large oven-proof casserole dish, combine drained beans, cooked bacon bits, onions with garlic, brown sugar, ketchup and mustard; mix thoroughly.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Garnish with the reserved 3 slices of cooked bacon and serve.
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other picnic and barbecue recipes)
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- Berrylicious Ice Box Cheesecake
- Blue Jack Turkey Sliders with Bacon Jalapeno Chutney
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- Creamy Petite Pea Salad with Bacon and Cashews in Tomato Cups
- Easy Homemade Barbecue Sauce
- Easy Luau Bites
- Easy Red Wine Marinade for Beef
- Fiesta Coleslaw
- Grilled Balsamic Chicken Breast Tenders
- Grilled London Broil
- Mexican Corn Salad
- Rubbed, Roasted and Grilled Barbecue Pork Back Ribs
- Summertime Layered Salad
- Tri-colored Roasted Potato Salad
- Watermelon Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream
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