30 Minute Bourbon Baked Beans made possible by starting off using canned beans instead of dried. If you’re looking for a quick and delicious side to set out for cookouts, parties, or gamedays, this is your recipe.
Ok, full disclosure here, these take 30 minutes to bake but about 10 minutes or so to prepare, so realistically it’s 40 minutes. If I called them 40 minutes beans would it have caught your attention? The important thing is it only takes 30 minutes of baking time. These babies are the closest thing to slow cooked beans without opening up a can of the super sweet stuff on the market shelves.
There are a lot of flavors going on here and the addition of bourbon takes these over the top. You have the sweetness from the ketchup and molasses, a little spice from the mustard, and a touch of heat from some hot sauce. Want to know the secret ingredient? Liquid smoke is what keeps them coming back. Well the bourbon helps too.
I use pinto beans which tend to hold their shape better than navy beans. I’ve switched out a can for navy beans and found they broke down a bit which produced a thicker texture to the pot of beans. You can also use kidney, northern, or a combination of beans.
Diced bacon is cooked until the fat is rendered and that fat is used to cook the onions. That process takes about 5 – 8 minutes. The remaining ingredients are combined and then the pan is placed in the oven and baked for 30 minutes.
Molasses is the only additional sweetener used as the ketchup is sweet enough. This is a side dish, not a dessert.
The result is 30 minute bourbon baked beans that you’d swear took 7 hours. Since it’s baked uncovered, the edges and top are beautifully caramelized.
Tools you’ll need to make these 30 minute bourbon baked beans:
Serve these at cookouts with grilled burgers and hotdogs or game days with some oven bbq ribs, adobo slow roasted pork, or chicken wings. Don’t forget the salads too. Your guests will think you’re a rockstar.
Life is too short for mediocre food!
30 Minute Bourbon Baked Beans
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 6 slices thin OR 3 slices thick bacon diced*
- 1 large sweet onion about 2 cups, diced
- 1 cup ketchup
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup bourbon
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 cup water
- 2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed**
- 1 (15 ounce) can navy beans, drained and rinsed**
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400°.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until the fat is rendered and the bacon is browned and almost crisp. Add the onions and cook until golden and softened, about 5 - 8 minutes.
- Stir in the ketchup, molasses, bourbon, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, salt, pepper, water, and hot sauce.
- Add the beans and stir. Bring it just to a boil then remove from heat. Time to bake...
- If you’re using an oven safe skillet, place in oven. Otherwise, transfer the beans into a baking dish. Bake the beans, uncovered for 30 minutes until the edges are bubbling and it has a nice thick consistency. If it’s too runny for you, bake another 5 minutes. If you want a dark caramelized top, broil for a minute or two.
- Before serving, I like to mash the beans a bit by pressing down a few times with a spoon. Because these haven’t baked for 7 hours and only 30 minutes, the beans will have a firmer texture. Mashing breaks up some of the beans and gives it the same texture you would expect from longer cooking or baked beans in a can. The beans thicken as it cools.
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