These easy bacon baked beans are super simple to make and pack a punch in the flavor department. Fantastic for BBQs, potlucks, or just an easy summertime side dish. You’ll love this easy homemade baked beans recipe.

There is just something about baked beans that SCREAMS summer to me.

I mean, in our family we ate baked beans year-round BUT summertime is their real-time to shine.

And in my opinion baked beans get even better when you throw in bacon.

This easy bacon baked beans take canned beans and jazz them up with the addition of spices, maple syrup, brown sugar, and of course, bacon.

The best part is that these beans are that you just mix it all up, put it in the oven, and in an hour you’re rewarded with a big skillet of beans!

How easy and quick is that?

Trust me, you’ll love these simple throw-together baked beans.

What are baked beans?

Baked beans are a traditional dish made by slowly cooking white beans in a thick sauce until the beans are soft and tender.

My maple baked beans are totally from scratch and take over 6 hours to cook.

And since we don’t always have 6 hours to make baked beans from scratch this easy bacon baked beans give you all that slow cooking flavor in just an hour!

Making easy bacon baked beans

All need is a few ingredients and BOOM the best baked beans you’ll ever have!

You’ll need the following:

• 1 (28 ounce) can of baked beans
• Thick sliced bacon, cooked and chopped
• Red onion
• Garlic
• BBQ sauce
• Ketchup
• Yellow mustard
• Maple syrup
• Dark brown sugar

All simple ingredients many might have on hand in their pantry.

My preferred brands are Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, Heinz ketchup, French’s yellow mustard, and real maple syrup. However, in a pinch maple-flavored syrup can be used.

Changes and substitutions for homemade baked beans

This recipe is a great example of what you can do to jazz up canned baked beans.

If you’re not a fan of some of the ingredients here are a few simple changes you can make:

• In place of yellow mustard use dark brown mustard for a deeper mustard flavor.
• Use all ketchup or all BBQ sauce if you enjoy those flavors.
• Use liquid smoke in place of meat to add a meaty smoked flavor without the meat.

The best canned baked beans

This is a very personal choice but I prefer Bush’s traditional baked beans.

They are easy to find and available at almost any grocery store.

You can even find them in bulk food stores and available online at shops like Amazon.

Making beans in the slow cooker

Since the beans are already fully cooked you’re really just baking together all the flavors and thickening up the beans.

You can easily add it all to the slow cooker and cook on high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 8 hours.

This is also a great option if you’re short on oven space.

Cooking on the stovetop

You can totally cook this on the stovetop.

You’ll keep the recipe the same but instead of adding it to the oven, you’ll just warm it up on the stovetop.

Doing it this way will cut down on cooking time by over half.

Meat and non-meat options for homemade baked beans

The addition of bacon adds a bit of smoky flavor to the sweet beans.

If you’re not a fan of bacon you could easily substitute with a smoked ham hock, turkey bacon, or diced ham to bring in the same smoked flavor.

If you’re looking for a vegetarian option you can add a little liquid smoke to bring in the same flavor minus the meat or pork.

More bean recipes

• Love baked beans but wanna use your Instant Pot? Try my Instant Pot Baked Beans.
• Craving sweet and savory beans? Try my Molasses Bacon Baked Beans.
• Want deep bbq sauce flavors with meaty beans? Try my BBQ Bacon Calico Beans.
• Need an easy way to cook dried pinto beans? Try my Instant Pot Pinto Beans.